GitHub vs GitLab: pricing, plans, and positioning compared
Verified pricing and side-by-side plan structures. Updated daily.
Side-by-side comparison
GitHub Developer & Infrastructure | GitLab Developer & Infrastructure | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $4/mo | $29/mo |
| Annual discount | — | — |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Number of tiers | 3 | 3 |
| Positioning | The dominant developer platform (source control + code review + CI/CD + package registry), owned by Microsoft ($7.5B acquisition, 2018). Positioned as the alternative to GitLab and Bitbucket for the vast majority of open-source and enterprise software teams. Distinctive for its Copilot AI product ($10-$39/user/mo) that became Microsoft's fastest-growing AI SKU. Priced free (unlimited public + private repos) up to $21/user/mo Enterprise. Real cost bloat: GitHub Actions minutes and Copilot seats scale with team activity. | Complete DevOps platform (source control + CI/CD + security + monitoring), publicly traded (GTLB), ~$8B market cap. Positioned as the alternative to stitching GitHub + Jenkins + Snyk + Datadog together. Distinctive as the largest all-remote public company (2,000+ employees, no offices) and for its self-hostable Community Edition. Priced free-$29/user/mo Premium + $99/user/mo Ultimate. Popular with regulated industries needing self-hosted DevOps. |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Plan-by-plan comparison
| # | GitHub | GitLab |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Free Monthly: 0 · Annual: 0 unlimited repos, 2K Actions min/mo | Free Monthly: 0 · Annual: 0 unlimited repos, 400 CI/CD min/mo |
| 2 | Team Monthly: 4 · Annual: 4 code owners + protected branches | Premium Monthly: 29 · Annual: 29 advanced security + code owners |
| 3 | Enterprise Monthly: 21 · Annual: 21 SSO, audit logs, advanced security | Ultimate Monthly: 99 · Annual: 99 compliance + portfolio management |
