GitLab
New Relic
| Feature | GitLab | New Relic |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $29/mo | Free / from $0.3/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | enterprise, devops-teams, security-focused-teams, regulated-industries | development-teams, sre-teams, startups, devops-engineers |
| Founded | 2011 | 2008 |
| Source Control | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ci Cd | ✓ | ✗ |
| Security Scanning | ✓ | ✗ |
| Package Registry | ✓ | ✗ |
| Issue Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Wiki | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Apm | ✗ | ✓ |
| Infrastructure Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Log Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Browser Monitoring | ✗ | ✓ |
| Synthetics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Assistant | ✗ | ✓ |
| Distributed Tracing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Error Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ GitLab Pros
- All-in-one DevOps — no tool sprawl
- Built-in CI/CD without separate setup
- Self-hosted option for full control
- Security scanning integrated into pipeline
✗ GitLab Cons
- Interface can feel complex and slow
- Resource-heavy for self-hosted instances
- Community features lag behind GitHub
✓ New Relic Pros
- Generous free tier with 100GB/month data ingest
- Full-stack observability in one platform
- Usage-based pricing is cost-effective for many teams
- Strong AI assistant (New Relic AI) for troubleshooting
✗ New Relic Cons
- Per-user pricing for full platform access
- Data retention limits on free tier
- Can be complex to set up comprehensively
The Verdict
GitLab is built for enterprise and devops teams, with a focus on source-control and ci-cd. New Relic targets development teams and sre teams and leads with apm and infrastructure-monitoring.
On pricing, New Relic is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0.3/mo compared to $29/mo for GitLab. That $28.7/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, New Relic offers broader built-in capabilities (8 features vs 7), while GitLab takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.