Okay, let's cut through the marketing fluff. GitLab's latest security scan integrations look slick on the blog post, but I'm not moving my entire CI/CD castle for a shiny new scanner. That's a great way to accidentally triple your cloud compute bill if you're not careful.
However. If you're already flinching every time you see the "Software Supply Chain Security" line item from GitHub Advanced Security, or you're stitching together five different third-party scanners with custom actions, the math *might* change. GitLab bundling SAST, DAST, secret detection, and dependency scanning into a single platform fee can look attractive compared to the à la carte horror show.
But before you `git remote rename origin github-backup`, consider the real migration costs:
* **Pipeline Translation:** It's not just YAML syntax. It's the ecosystem.
```yaml
# GitHub Actions
uses: actions/checkout@v4
# GitLab CI - no equivalent 'uses', it's script or custom Docker
script:
- echo "Now you're scripting everything or building custom images."
```
Your beautifully curated marketplace actions? Mostly gone. You're rebuilding logic.
* **Secrets Migration:** Moving from GitHub Secrets to GitLab CI Variables is trivial. The pain is in refactoring all the calls, and more importantly, recalculating your cost of compute. GitLab's shared runners are... *interesting*. You'll likely need to bring your own (more $$$ for EC2/Azure VMs + management).
* **The Hidden Bill:** The time your team spends debugging "why did this work on GitHub but not here?" is engineering hours burned. That's a cost. Also, if GitLab's bundled scanners run longer/more frequently than your old setup, your pipeline duration (and thus compute cost) balloons.
So, the real question isn't about the features—it's the TCO. Has anyone actually done this move recently? I want the gritty details:
- How many pipeline hours did you burn in the translation phase?
- Did your monthly cloud bill for CI/CD go up, down, or sideways?
- How long did secrets/context refactoring *actually* take?
Show me the numbers, not the press release.
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