GitLab Pricing Overview

GitLab has 3 pricing edition(s), from $0 to $99. A free trial of GitLab is also available. Look at different pricing editions below and read more information about the product here to see which one is right for you.

GitLab Essential

$0

Cloud
per month per user

GitLab Premium

$29

Cloud
per month per user

GitLab Ultimate

$99

Cloud
per month per user
Pricing for GitLab

Offerings

  • HasFree Trial
  • HasFree/Freemium Version
  • HasPremium Consulting/Integration Services

Entry-level set up fee?

  • Setup fee optional

GitLab Support Options

FeatureFree VersionPaid Version
Live ChatAvailableAvailable
Forum/CommunityAvailableAvailable
FAQ/KnowledgebaseAvailableAvailable
Social MediaAvailableAvailable
Video Tutorials / WebinarAvailableAvailable
PhoneUnavailableAvailable
EmailUnavailableAvailable

What TrustRadius Research Says

GitLab Pricing 2022

Software development teams are the backbone of groundbreaking startups and the core of every tech company. The best part of the industry is the abundance of devops platforms out there that offer affordable software and services.


One of those awesome platforms is GitLab. They have the functionality to develop and maintain software in a single application. Gitlab's goal is to revolutionize workflows for developer teams, and continue to fund their open-source software.

All About GitLab

GitLab.com is listed on TrustRadius as an application lifecycle management (ALM) tool, a devops platform, and a version control software. You can use GitLab for code review, application security testing, and even to host static websites.


GitLab offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) version and a self-managed open source version that you can choose to run on GitLab or elsewhere. The open-source version is also periodically updated, see instructions here for a new installation.


You should not confuse GitLab open-source community edition with GitLab’s open-source program which requires application approval. GitLab’s open-source program is for open source organizations or projects that want access to GitLabs collaboration and premium features. GitLab also has special solutions for startups, and education which do require filling out an application.


If you want to explore more about Gitlab you can go here. We also included GitLab’s demo video.

How Much Does GitLab Cost?

GitLab offers three different plans, ranging from $0 to $1,188 in cost per user a year. These are GitLab SaaS plans. Their free, open-source option is self-managed and is not reflective in the plans.



There is no credit card required for the free SaaS version. The paid tiers are all billed upfront for the year. On the website, you will see the cost per user per month, but understand there are actually no month to month plans. All plans are billed annually.


GitLab Pricing Plans

Free

Premium

Ultimate

Cost

$0

$228 per user, billed annually

$1,188 per user, billed annually


The Free plan is the open-source MIT license running on GitLab’s public cloud. You get 5GB of storage, 10GB of transfer per month, and 400 CI/CD minutes for pipelines per month. This plan is great for individuals and new learners. While the plan is meant for individual users, teams with separate projects can certainly benefit from their own accounts.


Premium subscriptions come with enterprise agile planning, 10,000 CI/CD a month, group-level project templates, and limited support. This plan is great for small businesses and small team collaboration. It is less suited to larger organizations with devops teams.


The Ultimate subscription is upgraded with advanced security features, free guest users, 50,000 CI/CD a month, and more. This is the best plan for mid-size teams developing products for a larger company. It’s designed to help protect and grow your projects.


If you want to see a breakdown of every single GitLab feature, you can go here. If you want to learn more about the nuances behind GitLabs pricing decisions you can access their very detailed company pricing information here.


When you decide to sign-up/purchase a plan, you will be prompted to answer whether you want to use GitLab SaaS, or the self-managed open source version. The open-source version is a linux package that requires linux experience, and can be run on a virtual machine or GitLabs public cloud.


The difference is that one is free but you maintain it, the other option GitLab will maintain in exchange for your subscription. For more information on running your self-managed version like installation process and how to use it with kubernetes deployments, go to GitLabs installation page.

GitLab vs GitHub

It’s the fox versus the cat. The question of whether to choose GitLab or GitHub is a hard one as both have quality tools and offer the same services. GitLab has an open source edition that you can manage yourself. GitHub is not open source, but they have unlimited free public repositories and an enormous community. They are also the perfect place to host projects and share code.


The reality is developers rarelychoose between the fox and the cat, most actually just have both. The real question is which do you use for very specific uses.


In this case who has the better subscription plans? GitHub is 100% cheaper, that’s a fact right off the bat you can see in the table below. GitHub also offers more flexible pricing models, including month to month and annual subscription options. It’s definitely better for users that may not be able to afford $1,000 upfront.


GitHub Pricing Plans

Free

Team

Enterprise

Cost

$0

$4 per user per month

$40 per user per year

$21 per user per month

$210 per user per year

GitLab Pricing Plans

Free

Premium

Ultimate

Cost

$0

$228 per user, billed annually

$1,188 per user, billed annually


In terms of features, GitLab has more storage per repository with 5GB for their Free version and 10 GB for other plans. GitHub has a repository limit of 100GB, but they firmly recommend your repository be under 5GB. This is because the server can’t handle it if so many users have massive repositories.


If you don’t properly manage the size of your repository, you will be asked to downsize. GitHub wants to avoid that conversation which is why even though repositories can handle more, you’re risking it if you push your size past 5GB. GitHub is again not open source, so they can have you downsize if they see fit. For more information about file size and repository size requirements on GitHub go here.


GitLab also has better UI features, while GitHub lets you run free and fail on your own. GitLab offers managed services with extensive features, but GitHub paid tiers also offer great control. GitHub’s Free Tier offers 2,000 CI/CD minutes monthly while GitLab only offers 400 minutes. On the other hand, GitLab Premium plan has 10,000 minutes while GitHub’s Team plan only goes to 3,000.


The choice between subscriptions comes down to personal preference. You should use GitLab’s open source option or GitHub’s free plan if budget is the main concern. GitHub’s community is a bigger resource for new startups that need help to get started, but GitLab’s community is diverse as well. GitLab might better suit devops teams looking for more feature rich plans.


If any of you are still unsure or were looking for other comparisons, see our other Devops products here. There you will find end user reviews for other great git repository platforms like Jira, Bitbucket, and more.

More Resources

For those of you that want to see a general comparison of the entire platforms of GitLab and GitHub, instead of a price comparison, you can see this article here. You can find more platforms like GitLab on our product lists for application lifecycle management, devops platforms, and version control software.


If you have used any of the platforms discussed here please leave a review to help other buyers make informed decisions.