Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitLab VS BitBucket

Compare GitLab VS BitBucket and see what are their differences

GitLab logo GitLab

Create, review and deploy code together with GitLab open source git repo management software | GitLab

BitBucket logo BitBucket

Bitbucket is a free code hosting site for Mercurial and Git. Manage your development with a hosted wiki, issue tracker and source code.
  • GitLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-17
  • BitBucket Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

GitLab

Release Date
2014 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Dmitriy Zaporozhets
Employees
1,000 - 1,999

GitLab features and specs

  • Integrated DevOps Platform
    GitLab provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, which simplifies the workflow and reduces the need for multiple tools.
  • CI/CD Capabilities
    It offers powerful Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) features, enabling automated testing and deployment.
  • Self-Hosted and SaaS Options
    GitLab can be hosted on your own servers or used as a cloud-hosted service, providing flexibility depending on your needs.
  • Strong Security Features
    GitLab includes various security features such as code quality analysis, vulnerability management, and compliance management.
  • Robust Community and Support
    There is a large community and extensive documentation available, along with professional support options.

Possible disadvantages of GitLab

  • Complexity for New Users
    The extensive features and functionalities can be overwhelming for newcomers, requiring a steep learning curve.
  • Resource Intensive
    Self-hosting a GitLab instance requires substantial server resources, which can be costly.
  • Price
    While there is a free tier, the advanced features are part of the paid plans, which can be expensive for small teams or startups.
  • User Interface
    Some users find the interface less intuitive and harder to navigate compared to other platforms like GitHub.
  • Performance Issues
    Large repositories or high usage can sometimes lead to performance issues, especially on self-hosted instances.

BitBucket features and specs

  • Integration with Atlassian Suite
    BitBucket integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian products like Jira, Confluence, and Trello, enabling end-to-end project management and enhanced collaboration capabilities.
  • Unlimited Private Repositories
    BitBucket offers unlimited private repositories, which is a significant advantage for developers and organizations that prioritize privacy and want to manage multiple projects securely.
  • Built-in CI/CD
    BitBucket Pipelines provides integrated continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) right out of the box, making it easier for teams to automate their workflows and deploy code faster.
  • Cost-Effective
    BitBucket offers competitive pricing plans, including a free tier that supports small teams with essential features, making it accessible for startups and small to medium-sized businesses.
  • Strong Branch Permissions
    BitBucket allows for granular branch permissions, enabling teams to control who can read, write, and merge their code, enhancing security and boosting code quality.

Possible disadvantages of BitBucket

  • User Interface
    Some users find BitBucket's user interface less intuitive compared to competitors like GitHub and GitLab, which can lead to a steeper learning curve for new users.
  • Performance Issues
    There can be occasional performance issues, particularly with larger repositories or heavy traffic, which can slow down the development and deployment processes.
  • Smaller Community
    BitBucket has a smaller user community compared to GitHub, which may result in fewer third-party integrations, plugins, and community-driven support resources.
  • Limited Marketplace
    The BitBucket Marketplace offers fewer integrations and extensions compared to its competitors, which might limit customization options for advanced users or larger teams.
  • Less Popular for Open Source Projects
    BitBucket is less popular for hosting open-source projects compared to platforms like GitHub, which might be a drawback for teams looking to engage with a broader open-source community.

Analysis of GitLab

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GitLab is generally considered a good platform, especially for teams looking for an integrated set of tools for software development and DevOps. Its features and flexibility make it a strong choice for many organizations.

Why this product is good

  • GitLab is a popular DevOps platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for software development, including version control, issue tracking, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and more. It is valued for its open-source model, strong security features, user-friendly interface, and a wide range of integrations. GitLab's all-in-one approach allows teams to manage their entire DevOps lifecycle from a single application, which can help improve collaboration and efficiency.

Recommended for

    GitLab is well-suited for developers, DevOps engineers, project managers, and teams that require robust CI/CD capabilities, strong security features, and an open-source platform that can be self-hosted or used as a cloud service. It is particularly beneficial for organizations looking for a comprehensive solution to streamline their development workflows.

Analysis of BitBucket

Overall verdict

  • Bitbucket is a reliable and effective platform for version control and code collaboration, especially for teams already using Atlassian products.

Why this product is good

  • Bitbucket is considered good for several reasons. It provides robust support for Git and Mercurial repositories, offering a flexible platform for development teams. It integrates well with Atlassian's suite of tools, such as Jira and Confluence, enhancing project management capabilities. Bitbucket also offers strong branch permissions and code review capabilities, which are essential for maintaining code quality in collaborative environments.

Recommended for

    Bitbucket is recommended for software development teams that need strong integration with Jira and Confluence, teams looking for private repository support, and organizations that prioritize customizable workflows and detailed permission settings.

GitLab videos

Introduction to GitLab Workflow

More videos:

  • Review - GitLab Review App Working Session

BitBucket videos

Bitbucket tutorial | How to use Bitbucket Cloud

More videos:

  • Review - Jira & Bitbucket Pull Request and Code Review Part-3 (Last Part)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitLab and BitBucket)
Code Collaboration
61 61%
39% 39
Git
57 57%
43% 43
Software Development
55 55%
45% 45
Project Management
77 77%
23% 23

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitLab and BitBucket

GitLab Reviews

  1. Reinhard
    · Boss at CLOUD Meister ·
    perfect for Freelancers!

The Top 11 Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Tools
GitLab’s in-context testing solution simplifies the development process by automating both application and infrastructure management on a single platform.Why We Picked GitLab: We like GitLab’s automation of testing and compliance across development workflows. Its in-context testing minimizes license costs and reduces the learning curve.
The Top 10 GitHub Alternatives
GitLab is a web-based DevSecOps (take that, Call of Duty) platform that allows software development teams to plan, build, and ship secure code all in one application. GitLab offers a range of features and tools to support the entire software development lifecycle, from project planning and source code management to continuous integration, delivery, and deployment.
The Best Alternatives to Jenkins for Developers
CI/CD GitLab, as a complete DevOps platform, provides an integrated CI/CD solution along with its other features. If your team is already using GitLab for controlling versions and managing projects, the addition of GitLab CI/CD can be very smooth. The offering in CI/CD by GitLab is quite customizable and it backs up many programming languages as well as application test...
Source: morninglif.com
Top 7 GitHub Alternatives You Should Know (2024)
Most of the listed alternatives offer free tier plans for individuals or small teams. Tools like GitLab and Bitbucket allow users to host unlimited repositories without cost.
Source: snappify.com
Best GitHub Alternatives for Developers in 2023
While GitLab features an extensive set of capabilities, this can also serve as a weakness since beginners may find the developer tool overwhelming to begin with. The user interface compounds this issue by being outdated and unintuitive. GitLab could benefit from more third-party integrations, and its performance tends to struggle when dealing with large repositories or CI/CD...

BitBucket Reviews

The Top 10 GitHub Alternatives
Bitbucket offers several hosting options, including Cloud, Server, and Data Centre. Each option has its own unique features and benefits. For example, Bitbucket Cloud is hosted on Atlassian’s servers and accessed via a URL. It has an exclusive built-in CI/CD tool, Pipelines, that enables you to build, test, and deploy directly from Bitbucket.
Top 7 GitHub Alternatives You Should Know (2024)
Most of the listed alternatives offer free tier plans for individuals or small teams. Tools like GitLab and Bitbucket allow users to host unlimited repositories without cost.
Source: snappify.com
Best GitHub Alternatives for Developers in 2023
Bitbucket Pipes provides over 50 plug-and-play integrations (code quality, deployment, incident management, etc.) for extended CI/CD workflow automation. Speaking of integrations, Bitbucket integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian programming tools like Opsgenie and Confluence, as well as third-party tools like CircleCI, GitHub and Jenkins.
Let's Make Sure Github Doesn't Become the only Option
The Pull Request workflow is so dominant now that it’s considered the default path for code to permanently enter into a repository. You can see a similar features in GitHub’s smaller competition Codeberg, GitLab, BitBucket, and Gitea. These competitors don’t offer other, major code collaboration tools, and their Pull Request-like features aren’t just there to help users come...
Free Data Science Tools for Students and Educators in 2020
You can get free unlimited private Git repositories at Bitbucket. If you already have a GitHub Pro, you may wonder why Bitbucket

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitLab should be more popular than BitBucket. It has been mentiond 135 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitLab mentions (135)

  • Cross-Compiling Haskell under NixOS with Docker
    I attended the AWS Summit 2025 in Singapore. I enjoyed the event. There were booths from various companies which I found interesting, such as GitLab and ClickHouse. More importantly, I got to meet very interesting people. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • GitLab: templates for Merge Requests
    GitLab is a well-established tool that hardly needs any introduction. This article is more like some notes to my future self. - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • India Open Source Development: Harnessing Collaborative Innovation for Global Impact
    Indian developers have embraced platforms like GitHub and GitLab, which serve as global meeting points for coding projects. Developer communities such as FOSSAsia and Open Source India regularly organize hackathons, webinars, and code sprints that bring together enthusiasts to tackle both local and global problems. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Open Source Funding: Strategies, Case Studies, and Best Practices
    In this article, we explore funding methods that empower projects such as Red Hat, GitLab, and Blender. Our discussion focuses on overlaying robust financial models with community-led efforts while incorporating advanced technologies like blockchain and smart contracts for secure, transparent fund distribution. With clear definitions, tables, bullet lists, and real-world examples, we aim to provide a holistic view... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • The Hidden Challenges of Building with AWS
    💡** My Take:** If you’re not ready to spend hours debugging AWS configurations, you might want to consider other cloud options, such as DigitalOcean or Gitlab for CI/CD. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

BitBucket mentions (78)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitLab and BitBucket, you can also consider the following products

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Gitea - A painless self-hosted Git service

Jira - The #1 software development tool used by agile teams. Jira Software is built for every member of your software team to plan, track, and release great software.

SourceForge - The Complete Open-Source and Business Software Platform.

CircleCI - CircleCI gives web developers powerful Continuous Integration and Deployment with easy setup and maintenance.

Phabricator - Phacility - Phabricator