CircleCI vs GitLab comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
CircleCI Logo
1,878 views|1,711 comparisons
66% willing to recommend
GitLab Logo
9,891 views|7,811 comparisons
98% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between CircleCI and GitLab based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Build Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed CircleCI vs. GitLab Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
reviewer0972521
Corné den Hollander
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The ability to automate the build process in a seamless way and run workflows effortlessly. It supports parallel builds so it can scale well. Also, it covers the basics of any build and integration tool, including email notifications (especially when tests are fixed), project insights, etc.""The solution offers continuous integration and continuous delivery.""Enables us to detect exactly which build failed and why, and to push multiple builds to our production environment at a very fast rate.""Some of the most valuable features include container-based builds, integration with Bit Bucket and being able to store artifacts.""It's a stable product.""The automation workflow in CircleCI related to third-party applications is very good and allows standardization of applications."

More CircleCI Pros →

"This product is always evolving, and they listen to the customers.""CI/CD and GitLab scanning are the most valuable features.""CI/CD is valuable for me.""The scalability is good.""It speeds up our development, it's faster, safer, and more convenient.""CI/CD is very good. The version control system is also good. These are the two features that we use.""I like GitLab's security and SAS tools.""Git hosting has an integration with ACD which is why we liked this solution in the first place."

More GitLab Pros →

Cons
"Billing is a mess.""Integration with Microsoft Azure is one area for improvement. Azure is growing in its user base, and supports various cloud infrastructure components such as Service Fabric, App Service, etc. Some of Azure’s deployment models (like Kudu) require a steep learning curve, but if CircleCI would come up with such features (deployment to App Service) out of the box, it would be amazing.""The solution’s pricing could be better.""There needs to be some improvement in the user interface of CircleCI."

More CircleCI Cons →

"As GitLab is not perfect, what needs improvement in the solution is the Wiki feature of the groups or the repertories because currently, it's not searchable by default. You'll need an indexing service such as Elasticsearch to make it searchable, and that requires too much work, so for me, it's the main feature that should be improved in GitLab. In the next version of the solution, from the top of my head, the documentation could be improved. Besides the Wiki, it would be good if there's documentation that would be automatically generated based on the code repository. In other words, there should be some tutorials from GitLab for developers in the next release.""I would like to see better integration with project management tools such as Jira.""The user interface could be more user-friendly. We do most of our operations through the website interface but it could be better.""We do face issues in our company when we run out of disk space.""The integration could be slightly better.""There is room for improvement in GitLab Agents.""GitLab's UI could be improved.""I believe there's room for improvement in the advanced features, particularly in enhancing the pipeline functionalities."

More GitLab Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The price of CircleCI could be less expensive."
  • More CircleCI Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I think that we pay approximately $100 USD per month."
  • "The price is okay."
  • "It seems reasonable. Our IT team manages the licenses."
  • "Its price is fine. It is on the cheaper side and not expensive. You have to pay additionally for GitLab CI/CD minutes. Initially, we used the free version. When we ran out of GitLab minutes, we migrated to the paid version."
  • "It is very expensive. We can't bear it now, and we have to find another solution. We have a yearly subscription in which we can increase the number of licenses, but we have to pay at the end of the year."
  • "I don't mind the price because I use the free version."
  • "We are using its free version, and we are evaluating its Premium version. Its Ultimate version is very expensive."
  • "The price of GitLab could be better, it is expensive."
  • More GitLab Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Build Automation solutions are best for your needs.
    768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The solution offers continuous integration and continuous delivery.
    Top Answer:Beware of skyrocketing bills as CircleCI does not provide transparency into how they charge refills. Their monthly billing statement is almost unreadable and their online dashboard doesn't provide… more »
    Top Answer:We've had occasional connectivity issues with cloud resources and build failure due to its own internal system setup and environment. That costs us credits. Support engineers do not thoroughly read… more »
    Top Answer:The tool helps to integrate CI/CD pipeline deployments. It is very easy to learn. Its security model is good.
    Top Answer:For small-scale usage, GitLab offers a free tier. For enterprise pricing, GitLab is more expensive than GitHub, as it's not as widely adopted. GitLab is the preferred choice for many developers… more »
    Top Answer:GitLab could consider introducing a code-scanning tool. Purchasing such tools from external markets can incur charges, which might not be favorable. Integrating these features into GitLab would… more »
    Ranking
    11th
    out of 41 in Build Automation
    Views
    1,878
    Comparisons
    1,711
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    342
    Rating
    4.0
    1st
    out of 41 in Build Automation
    Views
    9,891
    Comparisons
    7,811
    Reviews
    50
    Average Words per Review
    402
    Rating
    8.6
    Comparisons
    TeamCity logo
    Compared 32% of the time.
    Tekton logo
    Compared 21% of the time.
    Jenkins logo
    Compared 10% of the time.
    GitHub Actions logo
    Compared 8% of the time.
    AWS CodePipeline logo
    Compared 3% of the time.
    Microsoft Azure DevOps logo
    Compared 48% of the time.
    Bamboo logo
    Compared 5% of the time.
    AWS CodePipeline logo
    Compared 5% of the time.
    SonarQube logo
    Compared 5% of the time.
    Tekton logo
    Compared 4% of the time.
    Also Known As
    Fuzzit
    Learn More
    Overview
    CircleCI's continuous integration and delivery platform helps software teams rapidly release code with confidence by automating the build, test, and deploy process. CircleCI offers a modern software development platform that lets teams ramp quickly, scale easily, and build confidently every day.

    GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that enables teams to collaborate and deliver software faster. 

    It provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, from planning and development to testing, deployment, and monitoring. 

    With GitLab, teams can streamline their workflows, automate processes, and improve productivity.

    Sample Customers
    Shopify, Zenefits, Concur Technologies, CyberAgent
    1. NASA  2. IBM  3. Sony  4. Alibaba  5. CERN  6. Siemens  7. Volkswagen  8. ING  9. Ticketmaster  10. SpaceX  11. Adobe  12. Intuit  13. Autodesk  14. Rakuten  15. Unity Technologies  16. Pandora  17. Electronic Arts  18. Nordstrom  19. Verizon  20. Comcast  21. Philips  22. Deutsche Telekom  23. Orange  24. Fujitsu  25. Ericsson  26. Nokia  27. General Electric  28. Cisco  29. Accenture  30. Deloitte  31. PwC  32. KPMG
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Retailer10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise60%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business44%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise52%
    Buyer's Guide
    CircleCI vs. GitLab
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about CircleCI vs. GitLab and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    CircleCI is ranked 11th in Build Automation with 5 reviews while GitLab is ranked 1st in Build Automation with 70 reviews. CircleCI is rated 6.6, while GitLab is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of CircleCI writes "Unhelpful support, unclear billing, and has offers ability to track usage". On the other hand, the top reviewer of GitLab writes "Powerful, mature, and easy to set up and manage". CircleCI is most compared with TeamCity, Tekton, Jenkins, GitHub Actions and AWS CodePipeline, whereas GitLab is most compared with Microsoft Azure DevOps, Bamboo, AWS CodePipeline, SonarQube and Tekton. See our CircleCI vs. GitLab report.

    See our list of best Build Automation vendors.

    We monitor all Build Automation reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.