GitLab vs CircleCI Pricing (2026)
Compare / GitLab vs CircleCI
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Team size
25 seats

GitLab vs CircleCI

Developer Tools pricing comparison · 2026

GitLab pricing ranges from $0–$29/user/month, while CircleCI ranges from $0–$15/month. CircleCI is typically 48% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.

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See pricing on each vendor's site
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2 products · Developer Tools
Side-by-side · live
GitLab
GitLab pricing in 2026: Free (up to 5 users), Premium at $29/user/month billed annually, a
verified 27d ago
$324 $430
View pricing →
CircleCI
CircleCI is a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) platform that automates software
verified 27d ago
$324 $430
View pricing →
Verdict · Vendr median · year 1
CircleCI saves $106 vs GitLab · 25 seats
Cheapest $324
Spread 25%
Estimated license cost
at 25 seats
List price × seats. Click a tier below to lock it.
Premium
$8.7K/yr
year 1 license · $29/seat
Performance
$4.5K/yr
year 1 license · $15/seat
What buyers actually pay
median, annual
Vendr deal-flow data. The real benchmark, not list price.
Median annual
$430/yr
Vendr · n=51
↓ Lowest median
Median annual
$324/yr
Vendr · n=20
REF · 01

Sources & confidence

Every dollar amount and contract clause below traces back to a sourced fact. We don't manufacture composite scores.

Where this data comes from
Vendr · TrustRadius · Reddit · BBB · official docs
Sources 14 sourced facts
11 hidden-cost · 2 contract · Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence High confidence
Sources 1 sourced fact
Vendr median
Last verified 3w ago
Confidence Medium confidence
REF · 02

Plans at a glance

Every tier per product. Lock one to drive the cost row above and reveal a tier-specific outbound CTA.

Tier ladder
Click a tier to lock the cost row to it. Locking surfaces a tier-specific Visit CTA.
REF · 03

Hidden costs

Each cost is severity-ranked, with the dollar range quoted from its source (Vendr, Reddit, TrustRadius, BBB, official docs) — never our estimate.

Beyond the sticker
Severity-ranked, sourced
5 documented
  • Basic Security Features (Merge Request Approvals, Code Owners) Behind Premium Paywall
    $29/user/month
    2 sources
  • No Guest or Viewer Seat Type — Full Per-User Price for All Users
    $29/user/month
    1 source
  • Self-Hosted GitLab Priced Same as Cloud Despite Self-Managed Infrastructure Costs
    5-15% of license costs
    2 sources
  • No Intermediate Tier — Large Pricing Gap Between Free and Premium
    $29/user/month
    3 sources
  • Advanced DevSecOps Features Locked in Premium and Ultimate Tiers
    $29/user/month
    3 sources
No hidden costs documented
REF · 05

What users say

Aggregated, with sample sizes. We use whichever review platform has data.

User reviews
TrustRadius · Trustpilot · G2
No public ratings yet
Best for
Small teams and open source projects
Watch out
Aggressive pricing with large jump from Free (5 users per group) to Premium with no intermediate tier
No public ratings yet
Best for
Open source and side projects
Decide
Get a quote from each vendor
Each link opens the vendor's pricing page in a new tab.
License cost is computed from publicly listed plans (real math, list price × seats). Median annual cost is from Vendr's deal flow when available — see source badges. Hidden costs and contract terms each cite their own sources. We do not invent composite scores.
Developer Tools

GitLab

$0–$29
/user/month
3 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →
VS
Developer Tools

CircleCI

$0–$15
/month
4 plans · Free tier
Full pricing breakdown →

GitLab and CircleCI both operate in the developer tools category. This page compares their list pricing.

Plan-by-Plan Pricing

Plan GitLab CircleCI
Free Free /user/month Free /month
Premium $29 /user/month $15 /month (starting)
Ultimate Custom Custom
Enterprise Custom

Cost at Scale

Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.

GitLab

5 scenarios
$725/month ($8,700/year)
25-Developer Team on Premium
25 users x $29/month. Add $475/month for GitLab Duo Pro if AI assistance needed (25 x $19).
$13,800/month ($165,600/year)
100-Person Enterprise with Ultimate + Duo
$9,900 for Ultimate (100 x $99) + $3,900 for Duo Enterprise (100 x $39). Self-managed deployment adds infrastructure costs.
$0/year
Solo Developer or Very Small Team (Up to 5 Users) — Free Plan
See all 5 scenarios →

CircleCI

3 scenarios
$0/month (free tier with basic features)
Solo / Getting Started
$15/month
Growing Business
plus potential add-ons
Custom pricing — typically negotiated annually, contact sales for quote
Enterprise (100+ users)

Market Intelligence

GitLab

Median annual cost
$430
Based on
51 deals

CircleCI

Median annual cost
$324
Based on
20 deals

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