Code hosting and CI · Comparison
GitHub vs GitLab
2 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.
Side by side
| Metric | GitHub | GitLab |
|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the pricePrivate repositories, pull request reviews and 3,000 CI minutes for $4 per user, with a free plan that has no user cap. | Saves engineering timeCode hosting, CI with 10,000 minutes, SAML SSO, audit events and approval rules in one $29 Premium seat, also available self-managed. |
| Overall score | 9.2Best | 7.2 |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan |
| Card to start | –Not measured | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $4/user/mo | $29/user/mo |
| Pricing model | Per seat | Per seat |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing units | Users, plus CI minutes beyond the plan | Users, plus compute minutes beyond the plan |
| Free plan | Unlimited users, 2,000 CI minutes/mo | 5 users per private group, 400 CI minutes/mo |
| 10 developers, 3,000 CI minutes/mo | $40 (Team) | $290 (Premium, billed annually) |
| CI minutes on the entry paid plan | 3,000/mo; then $0.006/min (Linux 2-core) | 10,000/mo; then $10 per 1,000 |
| Security scanning add-ons | Secret Protection $19 and Code Security $30 per active committer/mo | Basic SAST and secret detection in all tiers; full scanning in Ultimate (custom price) |
| SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 | Both (SOC 2 Type 2 report listed on Enterprise) | Both |
| EU data residency | Enterprise (GHE.com: EU, Australia, US, Japan) | GitLab Dedicated (region of your choice), by demo |
| SAML SSO | Enterprise (from $21/user/mo) | Premium |
| Self-managed version | GitHub Enterprise Server, covered by Enterprise | Free, Premium ($29) and Ultimate |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, GitHub lists the lowest price here for 10 developers and covers the scenario on its $4 Team plan. SAML SSO starts on Enterprise, and scanning is an add-on. | From its public pages, GitLab includes the most CI minutes and team controls in its entry paid plan, at the highest listed price here for 10 developers. Full scanning sits in Ultimate, priced by sales. |
Evidence: GitHub: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; GitLab: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
When to pick each
In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.
From our GitHub review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick GitHub when
- You want the lowest listed price per developer and a free plan without a user cap.
- Pick GitLab when
- You need SAML SSO, audit events and approval rules on the entry paid plan, or 10,000 included minutes.
From our GitLab review
Checked Oct 15, 2026- Pick GitLab when
- You need SAML SSO, audit events and approval rules without an enterprise plan, or 10,000 CI minutes.
- Pick GitHub when
- Price per developer matters most, or you want a free plan for more than five people.
Entry price
Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.
- GitHubLowest priceTeam$4/user/moPer user; 3,000 CI/CD minutes/mo
- Required reviewers, code owners and repository rules in private repositories
- 2 GB Packages storage
- Secret Protection and Code Security as add-ons
- Web-based support
- GitLabPremium$29/user/moPer user, billed annually; 10,000 compute minutes/mo
- SAML SSO, group audit events and merge request approval rules
- Priority support
- $12 of promotional GitLab Credits per user/mo for AI features
Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: GitHub 2026-10-15, GitLab 2026-10-15.
Which one fits
- If you need to start today without a sales call
- GitHubSelf-serve sign-up; the highest score of the 2 self-serve products here (9.2/10).
- If you want to try it without entering a card
- GitLabFree plan, no card needed; scored 7.2/10.
- Lowest starter price
- GitHub$4/user/mo for the Team plan.
- Highest overall score
- GitHub9.2/10 (Excellent). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.
Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score
Full reviews
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