Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Phabricator VS GitLab

Compare Phabricator VS GitLab and see what are their differences

Phabricator logo Phabricator

Phacility - Phabricator

GitLab logo GitLab

Create, review and deploy code together with GitLab open source git repo management software | GitLab
  • Phabricator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-13
  • GitLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-17

GitLab

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

Phabricator features and specs

  • Comprehensive Toolset
    Phabricator offers a wide range of tools including code review, repository hosting, bug tracking, project management, and more, all integrated into one platform.
  • Customizability
    Users can customize workflows, forms, and other aspects to fit the specific needs of their projects.
  • Powerful Code Review
    Phabricator provides advanced code review features like inline comments, custom fields, and audit trails, making it a robust tool for maintaining code quality.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Phabricator allows organizations to host their instance, providing control over data and customizations without licensing fees.
  • Multi-repository Support
    It supports multiple version control systems (Git, Mercurial, and Subversion) and allows managing multiple repositories within the same project.

Possible disadvantages of Phabricator

  • Complex Setup
    Phabricator can be challenging to install and configure, requiring a good level of technical knowledge and infrastructure.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users might find it difficult to navigate and use all the features due to its extensive functionalities and less intuitive user interface.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to other platforms, Phabricator has fewer integrations with third-party tools, which might be a limitation for some teams.
  • Dependency on Phacility's Future
    Phacility announced that they will cease operations, which means the future maintenance and updates of Phabricator could be uncertain.
  • Performance Issues
    For large-scale projects with many users and repositories, Phabricator may experience performance issues and could require significant resources to run smoothly.

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.

Phabricator videos

Phabricator code review session at Wikimedia Hackathon Zurich

More videos:

  • Review - Phabricator and Lando Brownbag July 2 2018
  • Review - Nizameddin Ordulu - Phabricator: An all-in-one tool for code review

GitLab videos

Introduction to GitLab Workflow

More videos:

  • Review - GitLab Review App Working Session

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Phabricator and GitLab)
Code Collaboration
12 12%
88% 88
Git
13 13%
87% 87
Software Development
15 15%
85% 85
Project Management
18 18%
82% 82

User comments

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Reviews

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

Phabricator Reviews

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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...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitLab seems to be a lot more popular than Phabricator. While we know about 133 links to GitLab, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Phabricator. 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.

Phabricator mentions (3)

  • Migrating from Phabricator to Azure Devops. Have some questions.
    My company has used Phabricator, which is an alternative to Azure Devops, for about 5 years. A few days ago they announced that the project won't be maintained anymore, so we are looking into alternatives. We have around 50 devs+product folks that use Phabricator at the moment. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Is there any "Unified HUB SOlution" in this Microservices era?
    You also mention Gitlab is close to what you would like - maybe Phabricator is even closer: https://phacility.com/phabricator/. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Is there an alternative to open project with the next characteristics ?
    Https://phacility.com/phabricator/ I think checks most of those boxes, maybe all. Source: about 4 years ago

GitLab mentions (133)

  • 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 14 hours 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 / 29 days 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 / about 1 month ago
  • Understanding Open Source Developer Support Networks
    The foundation of OSS is its community. OSDSNs offer platforms like GitHub and GitLab that encourage communication and collaboration, creating a sense of belonging among developers. These platforms are essential for managing projects and enhancing motivation within the community. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Navigating the Financial Landscape of Open Source Projects
    The open core model involves offering a core open-source product while providing premium features as part of a separate, paid product. This model encourages community involvement by allowing free access to the foundational version. Meanwhile, it supports sustainability by charging for advanced features tailored to specific market needs. GitLab exemplifies this model, offering a free version alongside premium... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Phabricator and GitLab, 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.

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

Redmine - Flexible project management web application

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.

CodeClimate - Code Climate provides automated code review for your apps, letting you fix quality and security issues before they hit production. We check every commit, branch and pull request for changes in quality and potential vulnerabilities.