GitLab overview
GitLab makes a single application for planning, building, testing, securing and deploying software. Its core product, also called GitLab, combines Git repository hosting and code review with continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, issue tracking, package and container registries, security scanning and compliance controls, so a development team can move from an idea to production without stitching together separate tools. The company sells it as the GitLab.com cloud service, as software that customers run on their own infrastructure, and as GitLab Dedicated, a single-tenant hosted version.
The software is older than the company. Ukrainian developer Dmitriy Zaporozhets made the first commit in October 2011, working with Valery Sizov, because he could find no modern open-source tool for hosting code on his own server. Dutch programmer Sid Sijbrandij came across the project in 2012 and launched GitLab.com as a hosted service, and in 2013 the two teamed up to sell an Enterprise Edition with features that large organizations had requested. They incorporated the business in 2014, went through Y Combinator in early 2015, and later raised money from investors including Khosla Ventures, GV, ICONIQ Capital and Goldman Sachs, reaching a $2.75 billion valuation in 2019.
GitLab became known for how it operates as much as for its product. It has no headquarters or company-owned offices, every employee works remotely, and much of its internal handbook is published online. The company went public on the Nasdaq on October 14, 2021, under the ticker GTLB. It began adding AI features under the GitLab Duo name in 2023, and for fiscal 2026, which ended in January 2026, it reported revenue of $955.2 million, up 26 percent from the year before.
Leadership and strategy have shifted since 2024. Sijbrandij stepped down as CEO in December 2024 to focus on cancer treatment and became executive chair, and Bill Staples, formerly chief executive of New Relic, took over. Under Staples, GitLab made its Duo Agent Platform generally available in January 2026 and moved AI pricing to usage-based GitLab Credits. In mid-2026 it restructured around AI agents, cutting about 14 percent of its workforce, removing management layers and reducing the number of countries where it employs people.
Software by GitLab
2 products profiled, from GitLab (2011) to GitLab Duo (2023).
GitLab history and milestones
- 2011
Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Valery Sizov start GitLab as an open-source project, with the first commit on October 8.
- 2012
Sid Sijbrandij discovers the project and launches GitLab.com as a hosted service.
- 2013
Sijbrandij and Zaporozhets team up and introduce GitLab Enterprise Edition for large organizations.
- 2014
GitLab is incorporated as a company to develop and sell the software.
- 2015
GitLab completes Y Combinator’s Winter 2015 program and raises its Series A round from Khosla Ventures.
- 2017
An engineer’s mistake during an outage erases about six hours of GitLab.com database records, and the recovery is streamed live.
- 2019
A $268 million Series E round led by Goldman Sachs and ICONIQ Capital values GitLab at $2.75 billion.
- 2021
GitLab goes public on the Nasdaq on October 14 under the ticker symbol GTLB.
- 2023
GitLab introduces GitLab Duo, a set of AI features for coding, security and planning.
- 2024
Bill Staples becomes CEO as Sid Sijbrandij steps back to executive chair to focus on his health.
- 2026
The Duo Agent Platform becomes generally available, and GitLab cuts about 14 percent of its workforce in a restructuring.
Who founded GitLab?
Dmitriy Zaporozhets
Co-founder; creator of GitLab; former CTO and engineering fellow
Dmitriy Zaporozhets is a software developer from Kharkiv, Ukraine, who started GitLab as a side project in October 2011 with Valery Sizov, after finding no modern open-source application for hosting code on his own server. In 2013 he announced that he wanted to work on GitLab full time and joined forces with Sid Sijbrandij.
At the company he served as chief technology officer and, from 2018, as an engineering fellow, and for years he had more commits to the main GitLab repository than anyone else. He left in November 2021, a month after the IPO, saying he had fulfilled the 10-year commitment he made when he started the project.
Sid Sijbrandij
Co-founder; CEO from 2014 to 2024; executive chair
Sytse “Sid” Sijbrandij is a Dutch entrepreneur who studied management science at the University of Twente and spent four years building recreational submarines at U-Boat Worx before teaching himself to program in Ruby. He discovered GitLab in 2012, launched GitLab.com and turned the open-source project into a company, leading it through Y Combinator in 2015 and its Nasdaq listing in 2021.
Sijbrandij stepped down as CEO in December 2024 to focus on cancer treatment and became executive chair of the board. He also founded Open Core Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs open-core companies, and serves as president of the Sijbrandij Foundation.
How GitLab makes money
GitLab sells subscriptions in three tiers. The Free tier covers core source control and CI/CD with usage limits, while Premium and Ultimate are priced per user and add capabilities such as advanced CI/CD, portfolio planning, application security testing, vulnerability management and compliance controls. Customers can buy seats on GitLab.com, the multi-tenant cloud service; license the software to run on their own servers or cloud accounts; or choose GitLab Dedicated, a single-tenant version that GitLab hosts for organizations with strict data and compliance requirements.
The company calls its approach open core: the Community Edition is open source under the MIT license, and paid features live in a source-available Enterprise Edition. AI has added a usage-based layer on top of seat pricing. Premium and Ultimate subscriptions include a monthly allowance of GitLab Credits per user for Duo Agent Platform features, more credits can be purchased, and a GitLab Flex option lets customers make one annual commitment covering both seats and credits. In fiscal 2026 GitLab counted 10,682 customers paying more than $5,000 a year.
Who owns and runs GitLab?
Bill Staples has been GitLab’s chief executive since December 5, 2024. He previously led New Relic and held senior roles at Microsoft and Adobe. Co-founder Sid Sijbrandij, CEO from the company’s incorporation in 2014 until 2024, is executive chair of the board, and Jessica Ross became chief financial officer in January 2026. GitLab Inc. is a public company listed on the Nasdaq, but it has a dual-class share structure in which Class B shares carry ten votes each; according to its 2026 proxy statement, Sijbrandij held about half of the total voting power.
- Bill StaplesCEO
- Sid SijbrandijCo-founder and executive chair; CEO from 2014 to 2024
- Jessica RossChief financial officer
- Dmitriy ZaporozhetsCo-founder and creator of GitLab
GitLab: frequently asked questions
Who founded GitLab?
GitLab was co-founded by Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Sid Sijbrandij. Zaporozhets, a developer in Ukraine, started the open-source project with Valery Sizov in October 2011. Sijbrandij, a Dutch programmer, launched GitLab.com in 2012, and the two built the business together, incorporating the company in 2014.
Who owns GitLab?
GitLab Inc. is a public company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker GTLB, so it is owned by its shareholders. Co-founder and executive chair Sid Sijbrandij holds most of the company’s Class B shares, which carry ten votes each, giving him about half of the total voting power according to the 2026 proxy statement.
Who is the CEO of GitLab?
Bill Staples is the CEO of GitLab. He took over on December 5, 2024, from co-founder Sid Sijbrandij, who stepped down to focus on cancer treatment and became executive chair. Staples was previously CEO of the observability company New Relic and held leadership roles at Microsoft and Adobe.
Where is GitLab headquartered?
GitLab has no headquarters. It describes itself as a remote-only company, its employees work remotely in dozens of countries, and its annual report lists no principal executive office. GitLab Inc. is incorporated in Delaware, and the business started as a Dutch company before becoming a US corporation.
What software does GitLab make?
GitLab makes a DevSecOps platform, also called GitLab, that combines Git repository hosting, code review, CI/CD pipelines, issue tracking, package registries, security scanning and compliance tools. It is offered on GitLab.com, as self-managed software and as GitLab Dedicated. Its AI features are sold as GitLab Duo, including the Duo Agent Platform.
Is GitLab open source?
Partly. GitLab follows an open-core model: its Community Edition is open source under the MIT license and can be run or modified by anyone, while features in the paid Premium and Ultimate tiers belong to a source-available Enterprise Edition that requires a subscription. Thousands of outside developers contribute code to the project.
Is GitLab the same as GitHub?
No. GitLab and GitHub are separate companies with competing platforms for hosting Git repositories, reviewing code and running CI/CD pipelines. GitHub has been owned by Microsoft since 2018, while GitLab Inc. is an independent public company whose product also comes in an open-source edition that organizations can host themselves.
Sources
- GitLab Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results ir.gitlab.com
- GitLab names Bill Staples as new CEO about.gitlab.com
- History of GitLab, The GitLab Handbook handbook.gitlab.com
- GitLab Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2026, SEC sec.gov
- GitLab cuts 14% of staff as it scales its platform to serve AI workloads, TechCrunch techcrunch.com
- GitLab Inc., Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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