GitLab is a jack of all trades, master of most
May 27, 2021
GitLab is a jack of all trades, master of most
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with GitLab
GitLab is actively in use in various development departments throughout the company. Developers use it as a source code repository as well as a continuous integration and continuous deployment system. Non traditional groups such as the database teams are also using portions of GitLab to support their operations as well. GitLab allows us to centralize source code management, CI/CD, and artifact management.
- Top tier source code management.
- Built in CI/CD tools allowing simple automation of builds and deployments.
- Built in security tools such as SAST and DAST scanners.
- Built in artifact management allowing storage of containers and virtually any other artifact you can create.
- The permissions system i adequate, but could use some additional flexibility. As it is, there are only predefined roles a user can be put into.
- The issue tracking system is somewhat immature. It's effective for tracking bugs and enhancements, but is not very usable as a project management system.
- The community version is free and can be run as a container. This has significantly reduced the cost to get started with the app.
- The integrated CICD system is allowing development teams to increase their development speed as code is automatically tested and built when new versions are committed.
Cost aside, the current field of source code management systems is exceptional. GitLab, however, rises above them all. The community version has all of the basic features needed by virtually any company and the pricing for additional features is in line with the value obtained.
Azure DevOps Server continues to lag behind the SaaS version. Missing features and workflow breaking bugs plague the on-premises product.
Bitbucket's product is limited, at best, as Atlassian strives to push its entire lineup. Pricing is based on the number of users and the cost can be prohibitive.
GitHub is a great alternative, provided you want to store your repositories in the public domain. Private repositories are reasonably priced, though the featureset pales in comparison to what GitLab provides.
My current business is not yet a customer of GitLab's paid plans. However, I have used their entire featureset in the past. The SAST and DAST scanners are excellent tools for most development shops. The current version of their SAST scanner support the majority of mainstream languages. The dependency scanner allows you to scan for known vulnerabilities in the various libraries you're using with your code. And the container scanner handles similar scanning at the container level. Overall, GitLab's security features scan each layer of the development pipeline, allowing you to identify issues before they're deployed.
GitLab has the same features as most other code repositories. Commits, merge requests, etc. The product supports the same basic workflows you see throughout other products as well. Code is editable via the built-in web IDE as well, allowing more flexibility for quick changes. Finally, code snippets are available so developers can share necessary code with other teams.
Do you think GitLab delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with GitLab's feature set?
Yes
Did GitLab live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of GitLab go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy GitLab again?
Yes