GitHub dominates with 100M+ developers and superior ecosystem integration, while GitLab offers an all-in-one DevOps platform with built-in CI/CD and self-hosting options at lower cost.
GitHub vs GitLab — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Choose GitHub if you need the largest developer community, superior third-party ecosystem, and prefer simplicity with excellent collaboration features. Choose GitLab if you want an all-in-one DevOps platform with included CI/CD, lower total cost of ownership, self-hosting flexibility, and comprehensive security scanning built-in.
Web-based Git repository hosting and collaboration platform owned by Microsoft
Unified DevOps platform with integrated CI/CD, container registry, and project management.
Structured comparison data for GitHub vs GitLab with 155 attributes.
Built-in Code Scanning & Security Features
Free Monthly CI/CD Minutes (Private Repos)
Maximum CI/CD Pipeline Minutes (free tier/month)
GitHub vs GitLab — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for GitHub vs GitLab.
Is GitHub or GitLab better for open-source projects?
GitHub is significantly better for open-source with 100M+ developers, 94M+ public repositories, and the GitHub Trending page driving discovery. GitLab is suitable for open-source but has lower visibility due to smaller community (30M developers). Most major open-source projects (Linux kernel, Kubernetes, React) host on GitHub.
GitLab has lower total cost of ownership. GitHub Pro starts at $4/user/month but CI/CD costs $0.008/minute (easily $50-300/month for active teams). GitLab Premium at $29/month includes unlimited CI/CD, making it 60-80% cheaper for CI/CD-heavy workflows. For self-hosting, GitLab Community Edition is free vs GitHub Enterprise's $231/month minimum.
Yes, both offer self-hosted versions. GitLab provides free Community Edition self-hosting with unlimited private repos. GitHub Enterprise Server requires paid licensing starting at $231/month minimum. GitLab's self-hosting is more cost-effective and feature-complete in the free tier.
GitLab's CI/CD is built-in and included at all tiers with unlimited execution minutes. GitHub Actions requires separate setup and per-minute billing ($0.008/minute). For complex DevOps workflows, GitLab provides integrated deployment, security scanning, and infrastructure management; GitHub requires integrating 5-10 third-party tools.
Which is better for enterprise security?
GitLab offers superior built-in security at lower cost with SAST, DAST, container scanning, and dependency scanning included in Premium ($29/month). GitHub requires expensive Advanced Security add-on ($45/month per repository). For enterprises with 50+ repos, GitLab is 70%+ cheaper while offering more comprehensive vulnerability scanning.