GitLab is a web application and software code repository management system for Git.

GitLab offers a solution for storing code and developing large-scale software projects together. The repository includes a version control system to accommodate various development chains and branches, allowing developers to check the code and roll back to a stable version of the software in case of unforeseen problems.

GitLab is a competitor to GitHub, which, among many other projects, hosts the development of the Linux kernel by Linus Torvalds. Since GitLab is developed on the same version control (Git) basis, the principle of their operation is similar. GitLab supports both public and an unlimited number of private development branches.

GitLab versions

There are two free versions:

1. 1. Community Edition. Ideal for personal projects or small teams.Advantages:
      • One tool with a software development environment
      • It can be used to manage private repositories
      • There is no limit on the number of users

Disadvantages:

1. • No customer support
   • Linux administrator knowledge is needed to install and configure the server (knowledge of Docker and containers is also recommended)
   • You must allocate a server
2. The free version is available in the public cloud. Ideal for private/small projects when you don’t want to set up the server yourself.Advantages:
   • The same as in the previous free version

   Disadvantages:

   • No customer support
   • There is no support for SLA (Service Level Agreement) and availability obligations
   • No security obligations
   • No performance obligations
   • Space limitation (10 GB)
   • Updates are performed automatically, and users cannot change the installation time (to a more convenient one) or avoid updates.

These disadvantages can be eliminated using any of the paid versions.

The paid versions can be installed locally (on the client’s server) under firewall protection or in a secure private cloud.

There are two options:

1. Enterprise Edition Starter. This is the basic Enterprise version, which costs $39 per user per year (or $3.25 per month). It includes customer support with a response time of no more than 1 business day, as well as additional features such as:
   • Full support for user and group authentication using LDAP, Active Directory, Kerberos and Atlassian Crowd
   • Full analytics
   • Audit log
   • Global code search (allows you to quickly find code snippets)
   • Super powerful search using Elasticsearch
   • Full integration with Jenkins CI
   • Preventing unwanted git push and merge
   • Managing large binary files using the application
   • Importing a project from GitLab.com to your private GitLab instance
   • A new type of read-only user (auditor), etc.
2. Enterprise Edition Premium. At a price of $199 per user per year (or $16 monthly) This version offers fast customer support response time and provides it 24/7. Includes all the Enterprise Starter features listed above, as well as:
   • GitLab Geo
   • File blocking mechanism
   • High availability support
   • Getting help updating the GitLab server