GitHub vs GitLab: Which is the Best One in 2024?

GitHub and GitLab are the two famous code management platforms. Among these two the former has a greater number of users and the latter has its own niche.

GitHub was developed by P. J. Hyett, Tom Preston-Werner, Scott Chacon, and Chris Wanstrath with Ruby on Rails. As it was developed first, it became home to different open-source code repositories.

Contrary to that, GitLab was launched after some time. Ukraine developers Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Valery Sizov developed it. This is a useful platform designed for code repository services and a set of project collaboration tools.

What is GitLab?

GitLab is a DevOps platform and Git repository based on the cloud. It makes it super smooth for developers to not only test their code but also monitor and deploy it. In the beginning, the main USP of GitLab was a cloud-based Git repository but with time it has changed and added more features.

Now with time, GitLab developers get a number of DevOps features such as many application development tools, continuous integration, and security. It was basically an open-source and self-hosted GitHub alternative but now developers can use it for free and paid SaaS plans based on the cloud.

GitLab is an excellent platform for teams that hire Java developers with its DevOps tools and strong code management skills. GitLab offers them the infrastructure that smoothens the development processes and increases collaboration.

GitLab Features

Smooth and effortless repository maintenance on a server
Powerful authentication and UI features
The code repository is imported from Google Code or Bitbucket
Improved user permissions and branch protection
This open-source repository platform is a community edition
It has multiple tools for issue tracking, group milestones, time tracking, and more

GitLab Advantages

Offers easy code maintenance
GitLab is an open-source license
It supports the CI/CD lifecycle
Offers self-hosting capabilities on each plan
Has user-friendly package distribution services

GitLab Disadvantages

Its repositories have many common issues
The interface of GitLab is comparatively slower
It lacks some of the enterprise-level software development features
With this platform, developers need to manage bugs throughout the software lifecycle

What is GitHub?

GitHub is a repository hosting platform based on Git and has more than 40 million users. It was the biggest source code back in 2020 and it helps to make the projects public. It means that any publicly shared code will be open to all.

GitHub can be used for wikis, issue tracking, and documentation, other than the basic code repository. It is also used for private projects. This development platform is an original Git and cloud-based that helps to monitor as well as test the code changes.

GitHub was developed using Ruby on Rails, so companies looking to hire Ruby on Rails developers may find GitHub particularly appealing for hosting their projects because it has a strong ecosystem and valuable integrated features.

GitHub Features

It has integrated third-party APIs for bug-tracking and cloud-hosting
GitHub has specified milestones and labels for your project
It helps to publish as well as host websites
One of the powerful features of this platform is the Syntax highlight
With GitHub, it is easy to compare branches and get a comprehensive comparison view

GitHub Advantages

GitHub offers rapid third-party provider integration
Makes documentation sharing simple and easy
Offers extensive support for SVN, HG, and TFS
It has a powerful open-source codebase structure
Offers advanced and swift search in the repository framework
It has both free and paid services

GitHub Disadvantages

It lacks a wide range of development functionalities
GitHub has space limitations
It lacks effective REST and RESTful API development
GitHub is not totally free of cost
When it comes to a private repository, it is an expensive option

GitLab vs GitHub

GitLab and GitHub both are famous Git repository hosting services based on the web. However, developers have different approaches to managing code repositories, so they often compare these two.

Historically, GitHub focuses more on code collaborations and hosting. But recently there have been some features added to the platform such as project management tools and CI/CD workflows.

Contrary to that, GitLab is an all-in-one DevOps platform that has many features such as issue tracking, CI/CD pipelines, and project management, along with Git repository hosting.

As these are two similar platforms having different approaches, there is a need for a comparison between them, be it for developers or end users.

Flow

GitHub
In GitHub vs GitLab, GitHub flow has more focus on speed and it makes it an ideal option for projects and teams that want to move and adapt quickly. In this flow, there are different feature branches that come off from the main branch of production and then these branches merge back into the main branch when they are ready to go.

GitLab
Contrary to that, GitLab flow focuses more on reliability and stability. It often has stable ‘staging’ branches before the production process, such as ‘release’ and ‘pre-production’ branches. It means there is no need to merge feature branches into the production branch. First of all, you need to merge them into a staging branch where they are tested one by one before moving them to production.

Self-Hosting

GitHub
GitHub is not offering a self-hosted version at this moment, not even for the enterprise plan.

GitLab
Whereas, GitLab offers a self-hosted version of its platform. There is no need for an enterprise plan for this as there are free plans available for self-managed.

Third-Party Integrations

GitHub
The GitHub platform doesn’t have each feature or every functionality and they focus more on their core offering. With a marketplace of over 21k custom GitHub Actions and over 800 integrations and apps, it lets you add any functionality easily.

GitLab
In GitLab versus GitHub, the former has a complete platform and they claim in theory that they offer everything that developers need and they don’t have to reach any third-party integrations or tools. Although GitLab does support some.

Pricing

Both of these platforms offer free plans but to upgrade beyond the free plans here are the pricing details.

GitHub
GitHub starts with its Team plan at $4 per user or month. The enterprise plan of GitHub is $21 per user or month. GitHub is a cheaper platform as compared to GitLab and charges less for a very similar feature.

GitLab
While GitLab pricing starts its Premium plan at $29 per user or month. The enterprise plan of GitLab is $99 per user or month.

Conclusion

Both GitLab and GitHub are powerful tools to collaborate on software projects and manage code. The choice completely depends on the project’s needs. If you’re working on an open-source project, GitHub is the better choice as it has a larger community. On the other hand, if you’re working on a private project, GitLab is the ideal option as it has stronger tools for private repositories.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is more secure, GitHub or GitLab?

Both of these platforms have powerful security to prevent unauthorized access and protect user data. However, GitLab provides better security features such as static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), pre-configured CI/CD pipelines, container scanning, and more.

Which one is more suitable for small development teams?

GitHub is more user-friendly and simple for smaller teams. It holds expertise in collaborating on projects and hosting code. GitLab, on the other hand, offers more features than necessary.

Do GitHub and GitLab support project management?

GitLab offers more detailed project management such as project milestones, issue tracking, and Kanban boards. GitHub also has issue tracking features and project boards but for more complex project management needs, it needs integration with external tools.

Which one offers better integration options in GitLab versus GitHub?

GitLab offers better integration options for the whole DevOps lifecycle. However, GitHub has a wide ecosystem and it offers different integrations via its marketplace.

Which one offers better documentation and community support?

GitHub with a larger user base, has a vast community-generated documentation, tutorials, and forums. GitLab also offers active community and documentation but GitHub gets an edge because of the size.