GitLab vs. IBM Instana

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
GitLab DevSecOps platform enables software innovation by aiming to empower development, security, and operations teams to build better software, faster. With GitLab, teams can create, deliver, and manage code quickly and continuously instead of managing disparate tools and scripts. GitLab helps teams across the complete DevSecOps lifecycle, from developing, securing, and deploying software. Differentiators, as described by Gitlab: Simplicity: With GitLab, DevSecOps can…
$0
per month per user
IBM Instana
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Instana, an IBM company since the December 2020 acquisition, provides APM services for SOA, microservices, containerized applications and Kubernetes, and cloud native applications, as well as discovery and monitoring for IT assets.
$75
per month per host
Pricing
GitLabIBM Instana
Editions & Modules
GitLab Essential
$0
per month per user
GitLab Premium
$29
per month per user
GitLab Ultimate
$99
per month per user
SaaS
$75
per month per host
Self-Hosted
$93.80
per month per host
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
GitLabIBM Instana
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
GitLabIBM Instana
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
GitLabIBM Instana
Version Control Software Features
Comparison of Version Control Software Features features of Product A and Product B
GitLab
8.6
3 Ratings
18% above category average
IBM Instana
-
Ratings
Branching and Merging9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Version History8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Version Control Collaboration Tools8.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Pull Requests8.73 Ratings00 Ratings
Code Review Tools8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Access Control9.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated Testing Integration8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue Tracking Integration8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Branch Protection9.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
GitLabIBM Instana
Small Businesses
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
InfluxDB
InfluxDB
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Perforce Helix Core
Perforce Helix Core
Score 6.3 out of 10
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
GitLabIBM Instana
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(122 ratings)
9.0
(27 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
GitLabIBM Instana
Likelihood to Recommend
GitLab
We started to use GitLab for hosting git source code repositories of our projects only but slowly we started to use it to store container images, packages, dependency proxy as well infrastucture registry and it is now well suited for Continuous Integration in our projects, It wasn't that good in Continuous Deployment before 12.0 version but after 12.0 it is amazingly good for Continuous Deployment as well since it keeps deployment information in a well organized manner which can be configure in ci yaml configuration.
Read full review
IBM
I would recommend IBM Instana based on its strengths in automating application performance monitoring, dynamic tracing, and its ability to handle modern, containerized environments effectively. The automatic discovery and mapping feature, along with AI-powered anomaly detection, provide valuable insights for proactive issue resolution. However, I would consider factors such as the organization's specific technology stack, scalability requirements, and budget constraints. Conducting a thorough evaluation, including a trial or proof of concept, would be essential to ensure that IBM Instana aligns with our unique needs and contributes positively to our technology and business objectives.
Read full review
Pros
GitLab
  • GitLab excels in managing code versions, allowing easy tracking of changes, branch management, and merging contributions.
  • It helps maintain code stability and reliability, saving time and effort in the development or research workflow.
  • Powerful code review features, enabling collaboration and feedback among team members.
  • Robust project management features, including issue tracking, kanban boards, and milestones.
Read full review
IBM
  • Collecting Kubernetes and Infra level logs and presenting in easy to understand visuals.
  • Tracing the end-to-end journey of an event and also categorizing by technology and Endpoints
  • Built-in and custom alerts help to monitor almost all of scenarios without much additional configuration.
  • Ability to create Applications to logical group important flows
Read full review
Cons
GitLab
  • CI variables management is sometimes hard to use, for example, with File type variables. The scope of each variable is also hard to guess.
  • Access Token: there are too many types (Personal, Project, global..), and it is hard to identify the scope and where it comes from once created.
  • Runners: auto-scaled runners are for the moment hard to put in place, and monitoring is not easy.
Read full review
IBM
  • I believe that the "live" option in monitoring does not truly update the status in real-time, thus I must manually update to feel comfortable.
  • The call analysis tool might be improved, third-party resources are restricted, and the pricing is slightly more than competitors in comparable categories.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
GitLab
Gitlab is the best in its segment. They have a free version, they have open-source software, they provide a good service with their SaaS product, they are a fully-remote company since the beginning (which means they are fully distributed and have forward-thinking IMO). I would certainly recommend them to everyone.
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Usability
GitLab
I find it easy to use, I haven't had to do the integration work, so that's why it is a 9/10, cause I can't speak to how easy that part was or the initial set up, but day to day use is great!
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
GitLab
At this point, I do not have much experience with Gitlab support as I have never had to engage them. They have documentation that is helpful, not quite as extensive as other documentation, but helpful nonetheless. They also seem to be relatively responsive on social media platforms (twitter) and really thrived when GitHub was acquired by Microsoft
Read full review
IBM
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
GitLab
GitLab is easily the preferred tool when it comes to versioning and source control. With other tools the UI often feels outdated and clunky leading to inefficiency and confusion. With some of the sleeker tools such as GitKraken, while the aesthetic is pleasing, the experience is plagued by a lack of support, lack of optional plugins, and a plethora of bugs that cause unnecessary legwork to resolve. GitLab is the best of both aesthetic and functionality
Read full review
IBM
We chose IBM Instana for several reasons, and the most important one is that we didn't have to make changes in our code for nearly all of our applications for it to work. We are happy with the decision we made to use IBM Instana.
Read full review
Return on Investment
GitLab
  • We were able to streamline our project's codebase which made us very organised and laid out a proper plan for development.
  • Our deployment and infra pipelines are well structured now making our process 10x faster.
  • We are more focused into project building rather infra, as infra is totally on autopilot mode. Which has enabled us to grow our ROI by records.
Read full review
IBM
  • System down time is shortened as our ability to troubleshoot issues goes up.
  • Potential downtime is stopped as we are able to slow down calls/ availability of calls in response to monitoring the dashboard.
  • We are able to react to issues quickly through the smart alert system rather than manual checks.
Read full review
ScreenShots

GitLab Screenshots

Screenshot of GitLab, a comprehensive DevSecOps platform.Screenshot of Security DashboardScreenshot of Merge Request