Gitlab vs Github

GIT is a version control system that allows developers to keep track of code changes, however developers want to share code and to do that you need a code sharing platform.

Github

Born in 2008 Github is a website that allows you to upload and share your code using Git. It was the first Git hosting platform and after it was acquired by Microsoft is still the most widely used Git hosting platform out there.

After Github was purchased by Microsoft users worried that it would lose it’s “open source” nature and some started to look for other platforms like Gitlab.

Gitlab

Gitlab was launched in 2011 and in an attempt to stand out from Github it promises a complete tool for the devops lifecycle with features such as –

Issue Trackers
Continuous Integration
Continuous Delivery
Runners

It provides a single interface to the whole platform and is currently used by 100’s of thousands of organisations.

Is Gitlab Free?

Gitlab is free to use if you just want the Git repositories, they charge to use the Devops tooling.

Both Github and Gitlab provide public and private repositories.

With Github you can only have unlimited public repositories, and unlimited private repositories with a limit of 3 developers. More info here – https://github.blog/2019-01-07-new-year-new-github/
Within the repository you are limited to a total file size of 100Mb

Gitlab also provides unlimited private repositories and only charges for the use of it’s Devops tools

Github used to limit the number of free private repositories but trying to keep up with Gitlab and not lose it’s userbase it had to offer unlimited free private repositories, which is a major feature of both platforms.

So Github vs Gitlab which one is better? It really depends on your requirements, Github is the most popular platform and more people are familiar with how it works. Gitlab on the other hand is a rising platform and gaining more traction in Git hosting platform marketplace. It provides more coverage for the Devops lifecycle. Gitlab is also much easier for self hosting options. .

Basically your project options will determine your choice. A lot of companies are going the Gitlab route mainly for the self hosted option so they can host all their Git repositories in house.

Another major advantage of Gitlab is the maximum repository size is bigger.

Gitlab – Maximum repo size 10Gb and file size unlimited
Github – Maximum repo size 0.5Gb and max file size 500Mb

There is also another platform called Bitbucket which is not discussed here.

Is Gitlab owned by Github

No, this is a common mis-conception that Git, Gitlab and Github are all one of the same thing. Github and Gitlab are two separate companies providing the same kind of service. A remote repository for your Git versioned code.