We compared Gitlab and Microsoft Azure DevOps based on our user’s reviews in four categories. After reviewing the collected data. you can find our conclusion below:
Comparison Results : GitLab is the preferred option due to its comprehensive product that eliminates the need for multiple solutions and offers a single platform for various management tasks, including source code, build, test, artifact, and deployment management. The platform also has better integration with other platforms, more cloud-native capabilities, and a lower initial setup cost. However, Microsoft Azure DevOps is particularly useful for agile delivery and project management due to its easy navigation, customization, and integration with other Microsoft tools.
"The dashboard and interface make it easy to use."
"It is scalable."
"The most valuable features of GitLab are ease of use and highly intuitive UI and performance."
"We use the Git repository and tagging feature. We are a product-based company and use this solution to move to a forward or backward tag."
"It is very flexible and easy because you can store data on cloud."
"Everything is easy to configure and easy to work with."
"The most valuable functionality of GitLab, for me, is the DevOps. Besides the normal source control based on Git, I find the Auto DevOps features most important in the solution."
"CI/CD is valuable for me."
"It is possible to add third-party extensions to increase the usability of the product."
"I like the tracking and that we can monitor our velocity."
"Azure DevOps is effective for repository management and code collaboration. We can create branches, differentiate between code versions, save and review code later, get PR approvals, and more. All these features are valuable."
"Stable and scalable solution for work planning and code collaboration. It's fast, and it offers a good user experience."
"Azure is an advantage when working with other Microsoft solutions."
"The most valuable aspect of Azure DevOps for me is its robust version control functionality, which is critical for our workflow."
"The simplicity is very good and the customer experience is also great."
"Microsoft has good integration with its other products, such as Office, Teams, et cetera."
"When deploying the solution on cloud and the CI/CD pipeline, we have to define the steps and it becomes confusing."
"The tool should include a feature that helps to edit the code directly."
"Atlassian offers more products than GitLab. GitLab offers source control management, version control and collaboration between developers. Atlassian offers features on top of this as well as more integration points for developers."
"I would like more Agile features in the Premium version. The Premium version should have all Agile features that exist in the Ultimate version. IBM AOM has a complete Agile implementation, but in GitLab, you only have these features if you buy the Ultimate version. It would be good if we can use these in the Premium version."
"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."
"GitLab could improve by having more plugins and better user-friendliness."
"It can be free for commercial use."
"It would be better if there weren't any outages. There are occasions where we usually see a lot of outages using GitLab. It happens at least once a week or something like that. Whatever pipelines you're running, to check the logs, you need to have a different set of tools like Argus or something like that. If you have pipelines running on GitLab, you need a separate service deployed to view the logs, which is kind of a pain. If the logs can be used conveniently on GitLab, that would be definitely helpful. I'm not talking about the CI/CD pipelines but the back-end services and microservices deployed over GitLab. To view the logs for those microservices, you need to have separate log viewers, which is kind of a pain."
"Microsoft Azure DevOps should create some training materials."
"The solution should have fewer updates."
"The tool was developed for Agile project methodology, but I've noticed that there has also been a try to incorporate what is typically done in MS Project, which is for more sequential Waterfall projects. The problem with that is that it is half-baked for Waterfall projects. If you're going to do it, then either go all the way and allow us to use the tool for both or don't do it at all."
"They could provide clearer guidance on deployment practices for the product."
"The communication could work better, especially for the development team."
"The solution can improve by adding integration with on-premise tools. The only built-in repository options are GitHub and DevOps."
"I would like to see more customization available to the administrator."
"Its price can also be reduced. It would be great if they are a little bit more competitive in terms of pricing because many open-source products are currently available in the market."
GitLab is ranked 2nd in Release Automation with 70 reviews while Microsoft Azure DevOps is ranked 1st in Release Automation with 124 reviews. GitLab is rated 8.6, while Microsoft Azure DevOps is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of GitLab writes "Powerful, mature, and easy to set up and manage". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Azure DevOps writes "Good support, helpful management capabilities, and great Kanban boards". GitLab is most compared with Bamboo, AWS CodePipeline, SonarQube, Tekton and TeamCity, whereas Microsoft Azure DevOps is most compared with Jira, TFS, Rally Software, ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management and OpenText ALM / Quality Center. See our GitLab vs. Microsoft Azure DevOps report.
See our list of best Release Automation vendors and best Enterprise Agile Planning Tools vendors.
We monitor all Release 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.
