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GitLab

✓ Verified by EU Alts

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

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Overview

GitLab builds ci/cd, code hosting, developer tools, and open source software since 2011 and is listed with a Amsterdam, Netherlands base. Its EU presence does not change its ownership: EU Alts has verified that GitLab is 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 GitHub 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 is 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 GitHub 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
Verified
2026-07-31
Last checked
2026-07-31
Company size
200+ employees

Categories

Compare with the US product you may be replacing

GitLab is listed in a category that our US-product comparison pages cover. See every EU option side by side:

Also from Netherlands

2 other listed companies are based in Netherlands. In the same categories as GitLab:

Other EU startups like GitLab

  • Directus ✓ Verified by EU AltsNetherlands — Open-source data platform and headless CMS that wraps any SQL database — a Dutch alternative to Strapi.
  • Hugging Face ✓ Verified by EU AltsFrance — The AI model hub and open-source ML platform — a French alternative to proprietary AI platforms.
  • Pocketbase ✓ Verified by EU AltsBulgaria — Open-source backend in a single file — a European alternative to Firebase.
  • Woodpecker CI Germany — Lightweight open-source CI/CD system — a self-hostable European alternative to Drone CI.
  • Codebahn ✓ Verified by EU AltsSweden — Codebahn is managed Git and CI for European teams.
  • Meilisearch ✓ Verified by EU AltsFrance — Open-source, lightning-fast search engine — a French alternative to Algolia.

Frequently asked questions

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 GitHub.

Is GitLab GDPR compliant?

GitLab is listed with a Amsterdam, Netherlands base, but its recorded ownership is based in United States, so EU jurisdiction is not assumed. However, EU Alts has verified that GitLab is 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 GitHub in that respect.

How do teams switch from GitHub to GitLab?

Teams evaluating a move from GitHub to GitLab should note: GitLab is 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.