Built-in CI/CD engine within the GitLab DevSecOps platform that automates building, testing, security scanning, and deploying code directly from the same interface where teams manage source code and merge requests.
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Key Features
- YAML-based pipeline configuration (.gitlab-ci.yml) stored alongside code
- Auto DevOps for zero-config CI/CD with sensible defaults
- Multi-stage pipelines with parallel jobs, DAG support, and child pipelines
- Built-in SAST, DAST, container scanning, dependency scanning, and secret detection
- Merge request pipelines and merge trains for safe, fast trunk-based development
- GitLab Runners (shared, group, or self-hosted) on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Kubernetes
- Environments, deployment approvals, and rollback support
- Pipeline analytics, test reports, and code coverage visualization
- Caching, artifacts, and distributed caching for build performance
- Native container registry, package registry, and Kubernetes integration
- Available on GitLab.com (SaaS), self-managed, and dedicated instances
Background
- GitLab founded in 2011 by Sid Sijbrandij and Dmitriy Zaporozhets; IPO on NASDAQ (GTLB) in October 2021.
- CI/CD capabilities originally integrated in 2015, replacing the need for standalone CI tools.
- All-remote company with 2,000+ employees across 65+ countries.
- Free tier includes 400 CI/CD minutes/month; Premium and Ultimate tiers add advanced security, compliance, and governance features.
- Competes directly with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and Jenkins as part of a single-platform DevSecOps approach.