GitLab

✓ Verified by EU Alts

Complete DevSecOps platform with Git hosting, CI/CD and security — a European alternative to GitHub.

Overview

GitLab is a Amsterdam, Netherlands-based European company building ci/cd, code hosting, developer tools, and open source software since 2011. Despite its EU base, EU Alts has verified that GitLab independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in United States, and hosts customer data with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in United States (GitLab.com core infra in GCP us-east1), so it may still fall under the reach of the US CLOUD Act — worth weighing against well-known US incumbents on this specific point.

Why European teams pick GitLab

Teams in Europe still consider GitLab for its ci/cd product and Netherlands presence, operating since 2011, but unlike a fully EU-owned provider, GitLab independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in United States, and hosts customer data with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in United States (GitLab.com core infra in GCP us-east1) — so it does not fully avoid US CLOUD Act exposure the way some other alternatives to well-known US incumbents do.

See more EU ci/cd tools or browse other startups from Netherlands.

About

GitLab is a Dutch-founded DevSecOps platform that combines Git repository hosting, CI/CD pipelines, container registry, package registry, security scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, secret detection), and project management into a single application. Founded in 2011 in the Netherlands, it is one of the largest EU-originated enterprise software companies and powers development workflows for over 30 million registered users. GitLab can be run entirely self-hosted on EU infrastructure such as Hetzner or OVHcloud, giving teams complete data sovereignty with no dependency on US cloud providers. Its CI/CD system is widely regarded as more powerful and flexible than GitHub Actions for complex pipelines. GitLab CE (Community Edition) is fully open-source under the MIT licence.

Details

Founded: 2011
Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ownership: Independently owned (United States)
Hosting: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), United States (GitLab.com core infra in GCP us-east1)
CLOUD Act: Exposed
Company size: 200+ employees

Other EU startups like GitLab

Unchained Engine Switzerland — Open-source headless e-commerce framework for Node.js, self-hostable and Swiss-made.
Codebahn Sweden — Codebahn is managed Git and CI for European teams.
Curity Sweden — Swedish identity and API access platform. OAuth and OpenID Connect infrastructure for organisations where security and control are non-negotiable.
Hanko Germany — Open-source passkey and passwordless authentication from Kiel, Germany. Made and hosted in Europe, with self-hosting available.
cidaas Germany — German cloud identity and access management (CIAM) platform — made and hosted in Germany, with dedicated German server locations for regulated sectors.
Ploq The Netherlands — Ploq is EU-built webhook infrastructure: retries, event filtering, and health monitoring, GDPR-compliant end to end. SDKs for Node.js and Java, a WordPress plugin, and a forkable Mac/Windows app for sending and receiving events.

Frequently asked questions

What is GitLab?

What does GitLab do?

GitLab is complete devsecops platform with git hosting, ci/cd and security — a european alternative to github. It is listed under ci/cd, code hosting, developer tools, and open source on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European ci/cd tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from well-known US incumbents.

Is GitLab a good European ci/cd alternative?

GitLab is a fit for European businesses evaluating ci/cd options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with code hosting and developer tools use cases.

Is GitLab GDPR compliant?

GitLab is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands and processes user data under the GDPR by default. Customer data processing is supervised by Netherlands's data protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP). However, EU Alts has verified that GitLab independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in United States, and hosts customer data with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in United States (GitLab.com core infra in GCP us-east1), which means — unlike a fully EU-owned provider — it may still be reachable under the US CLOUD Act, similar to well-known US incumbents in that respect.

How do teams switch from well-known US incumbents to GitLab?

Teams evaluating a move from well-known US incumbents to GitLab should note: GitLab independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in United States, and hosts customer data with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in United States (GitLab.com core infra in GCP us-east1), so this switch narrows but may not fully close the US CLOUD Act gap. Weigh that against the ci/cd workflow fit before treating it as a complete Schrems II fix.

Where is GitLab based?

GitLab is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was founded in 2011. Its main website is https://gitlab.com.