GitHub Issues vs GitLab (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GitHub Issues grades higher than GitLab: 3.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
GitHub Issues grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
GitHub Issues
Issue tracking and project planning built into GitHub
GitLab
DevSecOps platform with issue boards, epics and CI/CD built in
Which one is for you
Pick GitHub Issues if
- Fits if you're a software team that already hosts its code on GitHub
- Works for open source projects taking bug reports and feature requests in public
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your work isn't code, because every issue has to live in a repository
- Skip it if you want to buy just an issue tracker, as paid plans are priced per user for all of GitHub
- Pricey if you need single sign-on, SCIM or a self-hosted server, which start with Enterprise at $21 a user a month
- Tight if you track a lot per issue, as a project is limited to 50 fields, built-in ones included
- Watch out: there's no time logging, no desktop app for issues, and Free gets community support only
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
| 3.4GPAGitHub IssuesVery good | 2.2GPAGitLabFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIssues isn't sold on its own: it comes with every GitHub plan, the free one included, and Team is $4 a user a month for the whole platform, under the $5.10 where this category's cheapest quarter starts. Enterprise at $21 is only for single sign-on and the self-hosted server. | 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 | AGitHub Free includes Issues and Projects with unlimited public and private repositories, so there's no cap a normal team runs into. Support on Free is community only, which is the one thing you're giving up. | 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 | BIssues with sub-issues, dependencies, labels and milestones, and Projects on top with table, board and roadmap views, custom fields, week-by-week iterations, built-in automations and a burn-up chart. The whole tracking job, then. Projects stops at 50 fields, and there's no time logging. | 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 | BNo store rating on record, but there's genuinely nothing to set up: if your code is on GitHub, the tracker is already in the account you use every day. Every mouse action has a keyboard shortcut or a CLI command too. | CNo store rating on record. Planning, pipelines and permissions come as one big platform, so there is a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus the GitHub CLI if you'd rather stay in the terminal, and a GraphQL API with Actions behind it. No desktop app for issues, which is what keeps it off the top mark. | 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 | teams whose code already lives on GitHub | 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: GitHub Issues and GitLab. How we grade
Price against what you get
GitHub Issues starts at $4 a month for each person and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. GitLab starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
GitHub Issues scores higher and starts $25 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, none scores higher than GitHub Issues 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.
- GitHub Issues also covers Markdown and Gantt & timelines.
At a glance
| GitHub Issues | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4 per user / month (GitHub Team) | $29 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | GitHub Free includes Issues and Projects for individuals and organizations, with unlimited public and private repositories and community support. | Free plan on GitLab.com: 5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes a month and 10 GiB of storage. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial of GitHub Enterprise | 30-day Ultimate trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | GitHub, Inc. | GitLab |
| Price read from | github.com | about.gitlab.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
GitHub Issues
- Issues is not sold on its own: it is part of every GitHub plan, and paid plans are priced per user for the whole platform.
- Every issue lives in a repository, so planning across repositories and teams runs through GitHub Projects.
- A project is limited to 50 fields, counting built-in metadata and custom fields.
- SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and self-hosted Enterprise Server need the Enterprise plan, from $21 per user / month.
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
GitHub Issues
- Issues and sub-issues
- Issues track bugs, features and ideas. Sub-issues break larger work into a hierarchy with progress indicators, and dependencies mark which issues block others.
- Tables, boards and roadmaps
- GitHub Projects shows issues and pull requests as a table, a kanban board or a timeline-style roadmap, with saved views that filter, sort, slice and group.
- Custom fields and iterations
- A project takes up to 50 fields, including date, number, single-select and text fields and an iteration field for planning work week by week.
- Built-in automations
- Built-in workflows set fields, archive items and add issues from a repository automatically. The GraphQL API and GitHub Actions allow further automation.
- Insights and charts
- Current and historical charts are built from the items in a project, including a default burn-up chart that shows completed work against what is left.
- Mobile, CLI and keyboard access
- Issues can be created and managed in the iOS and Android apps and from the GitHub CLI, and every mouse action has a keyboard shortcut or command.
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
GitHub Issues
Free$0
GitHub plan for individuals and organizations. Includes Issues and Projects, unlimited public and private repositories and community support.
Team$4
per user / month
GitHub plan that adds repository rules, required reviewers, code owners, 3,000 CI/CD minutes a month and web-based support. Includes Issues and Projects.
Enterprise$21
per user / month, starting price
Adds SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, enterprise accounts, data residency and the self-hosted Enterprise Server option.
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
GitHub Issues
- Nonprofit
Free Team plan for verified nonprofits
GitHub for Nonprofits gives verified 501(c)(3) or equivalent organizations a free GitHub Team plan with unlimited users, or 25% off GitHub Enterprise Cloud.
- Startups
$10,000 in credits for eligible startups
GitHub for Startups gives partner-affiliated startups with outside funding up to Series B, and new to GitHub Enterprise, $10,000 in credits valid for up to 12 months.
- Education
Free developer tools for students and teachers
GitHub's pricing page says students and teachers get free access to developer tools through GitHub Education, for the school year and beyond.
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, GitHub Issues or GitLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GitHub Issues is cheaper to start with: $4 a month for each person, against $29 a month for each person for GitLab. GitHub Issues starts at $4 per user / month (GitHub Team), and GitLab starts at $29 per user / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, GitHub Issues or GitLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both GitHub Issues and GitLab have a free plan.
Which platforms do GitHub Issues and GitLab run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only GitHub Issues lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.