Assembla vs GitLab (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Assembla and GitLab share a 2.2 GPA, and only GitLab has a free plan.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Assembla grades higher on value for money. GitLab grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Assembla
Managed Git, SVN and Perforce hosting with project management
GitLab
DevSecOps platform with issue boards, epics and CI/CD built in
Which one is for you
Pick Assembla if
- Fits if you still keep code in SVN and want tickets beside it
- Works for teams that want code hosting in several regions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as only a 14-day trial exists
- Not for you if you want project management on Starter, as it begins at Growth
- Pricey if you need Perforce Cloud, which starts at $52.20 a user a month yearly
- Watch out: extra storage and 24x5 support are add-ons below Custom Cloud
Pick GitLab if
- Fits if your team already keeps code and CI/CD on GitLab
- Works for organizations that need to host the tool themselves
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a simple task manager for non-technical people
- Pricey if you outgrow 5 users, as Premium is $29 per user a month
- Watch out: Ultimate has no published price
- Watch out: AI features need the GitLab Credits add-on beyond a limited-time promotional amount
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAssemblaFair | 2.2GPAGitLabFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $12.50 a user a month on yearly billing, but project management needs Growth at $19, past the $15.95 where the dearer quarter starts. | DPremium is $29 per user a month on annual billing, about three times the category's middle of $9. Ultimate has no published price. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial with no card is the only free part. There is no free plan. | BFree plan: 5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes a month and 10 GiB, plus a 30-day Ultimate trial with no card. The 5-user cap is where you will stop. |
| Features | CGit and SVN hosting, code review, tickets, sprints, time tracking and wikis. Project management is not in Starter. | CIssues, epics, boards, burndown charts and wikis tied to code. The listing says it is not a general task manager for non-technical teams. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Repositories, permissions and integrations have to be set up. | CNo store rating on record. Planning, pipelines and permissions come as one big platform, so there is a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Slack, Jira, GitHub, Travis CI, Zapier and TestRail links. | BWeb app with Jira, Slack, Jenkins and AWS CodePipeline integrations and an API. Self-managed and single-tenant versions exist; no desktop or phone apps. |
| Best for | Git or SVN hosting with ticketing on the side | software teams that want planning next to their code |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Assembla and GitLab. How we grade
Price against what you get
Assembla starts at $12.50 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. GitLab starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Assembla starts $16.50 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 51 score higher than Assembla for less, and 60 score higher than GitLab for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- GitLab is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Assembla also covers wiki and time tracking.
- GitLab also covers kanban boards and workflow automation.
At a glance
| Assembla | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12.50 per user / month, billed annually | $29 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | Free plan on GitLab.com: 5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes a month and 10 GiB of storage. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day Ultimate trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Assembla | GitLab |
| Price read from | get.assembla.com | about.gitlab.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Assembla
- Project management is included only from Growth; Starter is code hosting.
- Storage beyond the included amount is an add-on, and premium 24x5 support is an add-on until Custom Cloud.
- Perforce Cloud is priced separately, from $52.20 per user / month billed annually ($58 month to month).
- The pricing page shows an annual-billing toggle with a 10% badge; the per-user prices here match its annual totals but the monthly-billing figures are not in the page text.
GitLab
- The Free plan on GitLab.com is capped at 5 users per top-level group.
- Ultimate has no published price; it is quoted through sales.
- AI features need the GitLab Credits add-on beyond the included promotional credits, which the page says are available for a limited time.
- Project tracking is aimed at software delivery; it is not a general task manager for non-technical teams.
Key features
Assembla
- Git and SVN hosting
- Unlimited repositories for Git and Apache Subversion, with Git LFS.
- Code review
- Merge requests, inline comments and multi-reviewer approvals.
- Ticketing and sprints
- Growth includes ticketing, backlog, milestones, a standup board and burndown charts.
- Time tracking
- Time tracking and reports are listed under project management.
- Wikis and message board
- Documentation and discussion live next to the code.
- Hosting regions
- EU, US and APAC regions are listed for Starter and Growth.
GitLab
- Issues, epics and boards
- Planning uses issues and epics, with issue boards that support Scrum and Kanban workflows and parent-child relationships between items.
- Planning next to code
- Work items live on the same platform as repositories and pipelines, so each item can be tied to the code and deployments behind it.
- Reports and dependency views
- Burnup and burndown charts, drill-down reports and the Value Streams Dashboard, plus a view of dependencies across issues, epics and roadmaps.
- Scaled agile frameworks
- The vendor says it supports SAFe, LeSS and Disciplined Agile with governance controls for larger organizations.
- Wikis and documentation
- Wikis and static websites can be written and published directly from GitLab, next to the code they describe.
- Duo Agent Platform
- AI features for planning and delivery are available through the GitLab Credits add-on, and each paid plan includes a promotional amount of credits.
Plans
Assembla
Starter$12.50
per user / month, billed annually
Managed Git and SVN hosting with 10 GB of storage per user, wikis, code review and standard 12x5 support. Recommended for up to 5 users.
Growth$19
per user / month, billed annually
Adds project management (ticketing, agile sprints, backlog, time tracking), 50 GB of storage per user and more integrations. Recommended for up to 25 users.
Custom CloudCustom
12-month term, unlimited users, a single-tenant environment, 250 GB of storage and premium support included.
GitLab
Free$0
5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes a month, source code management, CI/CD and static application security testing.
Premium$29
per user / month, billed annually
Unlimited users, 10,000 compute minutes a month, advanced CI/CD, team project management, SLA management and priority support.
UltimateCustom
50,000 compute minutes a month, guest users, security testing, value stream management and strategic portfolio management.
Ways to pay less
Assembla
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
The pricing page has a billing toggle with annual billing marked at 10% off.
GitLab
- Other savings
Ultimate free for qualifying open source projects
GitLab for Open Source gives qualifying open source projects Ultimate-tier features, including 50,000 compute minutes, at no cost.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Assembla or GitLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Assembla is cheaper to start with: $12.50 a month for each person, against $29 a month for each person for GitLab. Assembla starts at $12.50 per user / month, billed annually, and GitLab starts at $29 per user / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Assembla or GitLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only GitLab has a free plan. Assembla does not, though it has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.