GitLab

GitLab is an open source code repository and collaborative software development platform for large DevOps and DevSecOps projects. GitLab is free for individuals.

GitLab offers a location for online code storage and capabilities for issue tracking and CI/CD. The repository enables hosting different development chains and versions, and allows users to inspect previous code and roll back to it in the event of unforeseen problems.

GitLab is a competitor to GitHub, the code repository that hosts Linus Torvalds Linux kernel development, among many other projects. Because GitLab is developed on the same Git basis of version control, it functions very similarly for source code management.

GitLab provides end-to-end DevOps capabilities and for each stage of the software development lifecycle. GitLab’s continus integration (CI) capabilities enable development teams to automate building and testing their code. Security capabilities are included with scan results presented to the developer within their native CI pipeline/workflow, and a dashboard assists with vulnerability management for the security professional. Users can also take advantage of fuzz testing with GitLab's acquisitions of Peach Tech and Fuzzit. 

GitLab supports both public and private development branches and is free for individuals. In contrast, some competitors, such as GitHub, charge for private repositories, while others, such as Bitbucket, charge for additional users over the five allowed for free on a private repository.

GitLab's release cadence occurs on the 22nd of each month. For a list of release posts. including patch releases, developers can check the blog category releases on the GitLab website. Future releases, and their important features, can be found on GitLab’s upcoming releases page.