Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitLab VS GitKraken

Compare GitLab VS GitKraken and see what are their differences

GitLab logo GitLab

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

GitKraken logo GitKraken

The intuitive, fast, and beautiful cross-platform Git client.
  • GitLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-17
  • GitKraken Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-21

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.

GitKraken features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    GitKraken provides an intuitive and visually appealing interface which makes it easy for users to navigate and manage repositories.
  • Robust Git Integration
    GitKraken offers seamless integration with Git, supporting various Git commands and workflows with ease.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    GitKraken is available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing consistency for users working in different environments.
  • Built-in Merge Conflict Resolution
    The tool includes advanced features for resolving merge conflicts, simplifying a commonly complex part of version control.
  • Integration with Issue Trackers
    GitKraken works well with popular issue trackers like Jira, GitHub Issues, and GitLab Issues, enhancing project management capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of GitKraken

  • Cost
    While GitKraken offers a free version, its premium features, which might be essential for advanced users, come with a subscription fee.
  • Resource Intensive
    GitKraken can be heavy on system resources, which might lead to slower performance on less powerful hardware.
  • Limited Customization
    Compared to some other Git clients, GitKraken offers fewer options for customization and configuration, which might be limiting for power users.
  • Learning Curve
    New users, especially those not familiar with Git concepts, might find the initial learning curve steep despite its user-friendly interface.
  • Periodic Updates
    Updates and new releases, while beneficial, can sometimes introduce bugs or change the interface in ways that disrupt user workflow.

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.

GitLab videos

Introduction to GitLab Workflow

More videos:

  • Review - GitLab Review App Working Session

GitKraken videos

GitKraken Git Client Tutorial For Beginners

More videos:

  • Review - 10 ways GitKraken Glo Boards outshines Trello for developers
  • Review - GitKraken Glo Boards - Intro to Kanban-style Issue Tracking for Devs

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitLab and GitKraken)
Code Collaboration
73 73%
27% 27
Git
62 62%
38% 38
Software Development
100 100%
0% 0
Git Tools
0 0%
100% 100

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 GitKraken

GitLab Reviews

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

The Top 11 Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Tools
GitLabโ€™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 GitLabโ€™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...

GitKraken Reviews

Top 7 GitHub Alternatives You Should Know (2024)
GitKraken is a popular Git client and collaboration platform for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Source: snappify.com
Best Git GUI Clients of 2022: All Platforms Included
The tool has a built-in code editor where you can start a new project and edit the files directly in GitKraken. Plus it lets you track your tasks as it can sync with GitHub in real time, organize tasks in the calendar view, and mention team members to notify them about updates.
Boost Development Productivity With These 14 Git Clients for Windows and Mac
GitKraken is another top-of-the-line tool among git clients due to its efficiency, reliability, and stylish user interface (UI). The tool is equally popular among expert and novice developers.
Source: geekflare.com
Best Git GUI Clients for Windows
GitKraken is one of the best-known Git GUI tools for Windows, Linux, and Mac. Specialists favor this software for its reliability and efficiency, and its stylish interface also helped this solution become so popular. It simplifies all the basic tasks, making it possible to perform the necessary actions and fix errors with one click.
Source: blog.devart.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitLab seems to be a lot more popular than GitKraken. While we know about 144 links to GitLab, we've tracked only 4 mentions of GitKraken. 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 (144)

  • Git and Unity: A Comprehensive Guide to Version Control for Game Devs
    We use GitHub here as an example, but there are also other hosts you could explore like GitLab and BitBucket. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Proudly Found Elsewhere
    Expertise. The SaaS provider is declaring: "I am good at XYZ; I can deliver it better than any of my competitors, and I constantly work to improve how I deliver it." Who do you think can better run GitLab, your already overworked Operations team, or GitLab itself? - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • What Is Static Code Analysis and How Does It Work
    Integration Capabilities: How easily does it plug into your daily workflow? Look for deep integrations with your IDE, source control (like GitHub or GitLab), and especially your CI/CD pipeline. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Navigating the NVIDIA Tech Ecosystem
    Connect your GitLab account for seamless version control. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Web Check CI: Catch Browser Compatibility Issues Before They Break Production
    Web Check CI stands out because it is the first CI/CD module of its kind available for GitLab! It's built on Google's Baseline initiative, the new standard for web platform compatibility. Instead of guessing which features are safe to use, developers get authoritative answers based on real browser support data. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
View more

GitKraken mentions (4)

  • Native Git Support in Zed
    I'll have to try this out. I'm currently a huge GitKraken[1] fan. [1] https://gitkraken.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • The Terrible UX of Git (2021)
    The Git CLI is terrifying and awful. It's far too easy to clobber your own work -- and that of others -- when the whole point of it was to prevent that. While you still need to really deeply understand several git concepts to use it, GitKraken[0] is the best GUI tool I've used in daily practice. It integrates well with git hosts and has an attractive and mostly comprehensible interface. Accordingly, it isn't free... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Beautiful and crazy ways to see git-log?
    I like GitKraken partially because it was originally loosely based on the look/feel of Guitar Hero. Source: about 4 years ago
  • How I became a Software Developer - 5 Years Later
    This experience was also invaluable because I had a walking fountain of knowledge sitting next to me and was really cool about answering my questions and pointing out all code style errors in countless PR reviews. I cannot count the amount of times he had to explain me the whole rebase workflow. What really helped me improve my Git knowledge was GitKraken and other similar tools. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitLab and GitKraken, 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.

SourceTree - Mac and Windows client for Mercurial and Git.

BitBucket - Bitbucket is a free code hosting site for Mercurial and Git. Manage your development with a hosted wiki, issue tracker and source code.

GitHub Desktop - GitHub Desktop is a seamless way to contribute to projects on GitHub and GitHub Enterprise.

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

SmartGit - SmartGit is a front-end for the distributed version control system Git and runs on Windows, Mac OS...