GitLab or GitHub? Which platform is right for you
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GitLab or GitHub? Find out which platform is right for you
Jason Spriggs
Published on 7 January 2026
9 min read
Jason Spriggs
Published on 7 January 2026
9 min read
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Get to know GitLab
Get to know GitHub
Going head to head: GitLab vs GitHub
So GitLab or GitHub?
In the dynamic landscape of software development, version control systems (VCSs) play a crucial role in ensuring collaborative and efficient management of source code. Git, designed to track changes to a repository across all its versions, forms the technological backbone, while GitHub and GitLab have become the two leading platforms built on top of it.
They may share Git as their backbone, but GitHub and GitLab have evolved into distinct ecosystems with different philosophies, strengths, and approaches to DevOps. As organisations standardise on cloud-native architectures, automation, and AI-augmented development, choosing the right platform has a direct impact on developer productivity, security posture, and operational efficiency.
This guide walks through the major differences across user experience, hosting options, integrations, CI/CD, security features, AI capabilities, and pricing so you can determine which platform aligns best with your engineering needs.
Get to know GitLab
GitLab positions itself as an "all-in-one DevSecOps platform." Since 2011, it has unified various stages of the software development lifecycle in a single interface, offering features to support planning, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
What does GitLab offer?
GitLab combines project management, version control, CI/CD, security scanning, package management, compliance reporting, and infrastructure provisioning under one interface. Rather than stitching together many third-party tools, GitLab emphasises end-to-end visibility and built-in automation.
Key strengths include:
- Integrated CI/CD (one of GitLab’s strongest differentiators)
- Security testing baked into pipelines (SAST, SCA, dependency scanning, DAST depending on tier)
- Self-hosting flexibility for organisations with strict regulatory requirements
- Powerful RBAC, compliance, and governance tooling
- GitLab Duo (AI-assisted development and security capabilities)
GitLab offers three editions: Free, Premium, and Ultimate, designed for organisations with different maturity levels across DevOps and security.
Get to know GitHub
GitHub, founded in 2008 and acquired by Microsoft in 2018, is the world's largest developer ecosystem. With its intuitive UI, strong community roots, and deep integration across the Microsoft ecosystem, GitHub remains the preferred choice for open-source projects and many enterprise teams.
What does GitHub offer?
GitHub focuses on collaboration, transparency, and extensibility with:
- The world's largest open-source community
- Clean and intuitive UI, great for teams of all skill levels
- GitHub Actions, its CI/CD engine
- GitHub Packages, Wikis, PR reviews, and Discussions
- GitHub Copilot and Copilot Workspace, leading AI tooling for developers
GitHub excels when teams want a simple, modern developer experience powered by an enormous ecosystem of third-party integrations through GitHub Marketplace.
Going head-to-head: GitLab vs GitHub
Now that you're familiar with what these two awesome platforms are all about, let's compare them across six core areas: user experience, hosting, integrations, CI/CD, AI capabilities, and pricing.
1.User experience
Both GitLab and GitHub provide consolidated platforms for collaborative coding, but how they go about it differs slightly.
GitLab
GitLab consolidates planning, coding, security, and release into a single interface. This is ideal for organisations seeking an integrated "platform engineering" approach where workflows, security checks, and governance are standardised.
Pros:
- Single UI for the entire DevSecOps lifecycle
- Strong project management and issue tracking
- Built-in compliance and auditing features
GitHub
GitHub is known for its simplicity and user-friendly design. Developers, especially those working in open-source tend to prefer GitHub’s experience for code reviews, pull requests, and community collaboration.
Pros:
- Clean and intuitive interface
- Massive ecosystem and community
- Seamless Copilot (AI) integration
2. Hosting
When it comes to hosting, both services offer a range of cloud-based and self-hosted options to suit your own preferences and needs. Your choice will probably come down to scalability and security needs, compliance requirements, and the amount of control you want over the environment.
GitLab
- GitLab.com (SaaS): Fully managed updates and scaling
- GitLab Self-Managed: Full control, suitable for regulated industries, air-gapped networks, and custom infrastructure
- Highly flexible for hybrid and on-prem environments
GitHub
- GitHub.com (SaaS): The most common option
- GitHub Enterprise Server: Self-hosted, with strong Microsoft/Azure integrations
- Ideal for organisations already invested in Azure or Microsoft security stack
3. Integrations
Both GitLab and GitHub are set up with a wide range of integration solutions so you can add the functionality you need to make either service work better for you, whether increasing automation or improving collaboration between teams.
GitLab
- Native integrations with Kubernetes, Jira, Slack, and SSO providers
- A robust API for custom integrations
- Strong focus on DevSecOps integrations (e.g., container scanning, IaC security)
GitHub
- GitHub Marketplace with thousands of apps and actions
- Deep Microsoft/Azure ecosystem integration
- Strong cloud-native toolchain support (AWS, Azure, GCP, HashiCorp, etc.)
GitHub typically wins on breadth; GitLab wins on integrated DevSecOps depth.
4. CI/CD capabilities
Whichever VCS you use, you're going to need an effective CI/CD pipeline in place to build, test, deliver, and deploy code changes automatically. Together with your VCS, this enables a continuous and instant feedback loop that helps you deliver real value more quickly to customers.
GitLab CI/CD
One of GitLab’s biggest differentiators:
- Fully integrated pipelines
- Easy to configure with .gitlab-ci.yml
- Built-in security scanning
- Suitable for complex enterprise workflows
GitHub Actions
Introduced in 2018, now widely adopted:
- Extremely flexible automation engine
- Massive marketplace of reusable workflow actions
- Integrates well with GitHub Packages, Azure, and container workflows
GitLab wins for end-to-end DevSecOps automation. GitHub wins for ecosystem flexibility and community-driven workflows.
5. AI capabilities
GitLab Duo
- AI-assisted code suggestions
- Security vulnerability explanations
- Pipeline optimisation suggestions
- Enterprise-controlled hosting
GitHub Copilot
- Market-leading generative AI coding assistant
- Copilot Chat and Copilot Workspace support planning, coding, debugging, and documentation
- Deep VS Code and JetBrains integration
GitHub currently leads the AI developer experience, but GitLab leads in AI + security integration at enterprise scale.
6. Pricing
Now you know what these tools are capable of, let's look a bit closer at what they cost. First up, both GitLab and GitHub offer free plans with unlimited public and private repositories. If you’re a small team or just want to test the platforms out, these are great options. However, if you're looking for more advanced features and storage capabilities, you’re going to need to get your wallet out.
GitLab
- Free: Unlimited repos, basic CI/CD
- Premium ($29/user/month): Advanced automation, project management, support
- Ultimate ($129/user/month): Security, compliance, governance, and advanced DevSecOps features
GitHub
- Free: Unlimited repos
- Team ($4/user/month): Protected branches, advanced tools
- Enterprise ($25/user/month): Advanced security, SSO, compliance, insights
Overall:
- GitHub is cheaper for Teams
- GitLab’s Ultimate tier is expensive but includes a full DevSecOps platform
[Pricing correct as of January 2026]
So GitLab or GitHub?
Still a little unsure? Don't worry. To sum up, here are some good indications to give you an idea of which service to choose.
Choose GitLab if you:
- Need an all-in-one DevSecOps platform
- Want strong security and compliance out of the box
- Prefer self-hosting or air-gapped deployments
- Need integrated CI/CD without relying on third-party tools
- Want enterprise-grade RBAC, governance, and security posture management
- Are standardising on a platform engineering model
Choose GitHub if you:
- Prioritise a clean, modern, developer-friendly UI
- Rely heavily on open-source workflows
- Want industry-leading AI coding assistance (Copilot)
- Use Azure or Microsoft tooling
- Prefer flexible marketplace-driven integrations
- Need strong community engagement or public collaboration
Still not sure? Adaptavist can help
Choosing the right platform affects your entire engineering lifecycle from planning to deployment to security. As a GitLab Select, and Professional Service Partner, and an expert in GitHub, GitLab, CI/CD automation, secure DevOps, and platform engineering, Adaptavist can help you evaluate, implement, and optimise the right ecosystem for your organisation.
Our DevOps solutions include:
- GitLab and GitHub advisory and implementation
- DevSecOps frameworks and governance
- CI/CD pipeline design and automation
- Platform engineering and infrastructure automation
- Coaching, training, and capability uplift
- DevOps-as-a-Service
Whether you’re modernising your toolchain, migrating platforms, or building a scalable DevSecOps capability, our experts are ready to support your transformation journey. Complete the form below and one of our team will be in touch.
Written by
Consulting Team Lead
Jason, an award-winning DevOps consulting team lead, providing architectural vision and technical expertise. At Adaptavist, Jason and his team implement a wide range of industry-leading technologies and processes for clients.