GitLab subscription

GitLab offers tiers of features. Your subscription determines which tier you have access to. Subscriptions are valid for 12 months.

GitLab provides special subscriptions to participants in the GitLab Education Program and GitLab Open Source Program. For details on obtaining and renewing these subscriptions, see:

Choosing a GitLab subscription

When choosing a subscription, consider the following factors:

Choosing a GitLab tier

Pricing is tier-based, allowing you to choose the features which fit your budget. See the GitLab.com feature comparison and the self-managed feature comparison for information on what features are available at each tier for each product.

Choosing between GitLab.com or self-managed

There are some differences in how a subscription applies, depending if you use GitLab.com or a self-managed instance.

  • GitLab.com: GitLab’s software-as-a-service offering. You don’t need to install anything to use GitLab.com, you only need to sign up and start using GitLab straight away.
  • GitLab self-managed: Install, administer, and maintain your own GitLab instance.

On a self-managed instance, a GitLab subscription provides the same set of features for all users. On GitLab.com you can apply a subscription to either a group or a personal namespace.

Note: Subscriptions cannot be transferred between GitLab.com and GitLab self-managed. A new subscription must be purchased and applied as needed.

Choosing a GitLab.com group or personal subscription

On GitLab.com you can apply a subscription to either a group or a personal namespace.

When applied to:

  • A group, the group, all subgroups, and all projects under the selected group on GitLab.com will have the features of the associated tier. GitLab recommends choosing a group plan when managing an organization’s projects and users.
  • A personal userspace instead, all projects will have features with the subscription applied, but as it’s not a group, group features won’t be available.

Choosing the number of users

There are some differences between who is counted in a subscription, depending if you use GitLab.com or a self-managed instance.

GitLab.com

A GitLab.com subscription uses a concurrent (seat) model. You pay for a subscription according to the maximum number of users enabled at once. You can add and remove users during the subscription period, as long as the total users at any given time is within your subscription count.

Every occupied seat, whether by person, job, or bot is counted in the subscription, with the following exception:

  • Members with Guest permissions on a Gold subscription.
Tip: To support the open source community and encourage the development of open source projects, GitLab grants access to Gold features for all GitLab.com public projects, regardless of the subscription.

Self-managed

A self-managed subscription uses a hybrid model. You pay for a subscription according to the maximum number of users enabled during the subscription period. For instances that aren’t offline or on a closed network, the maximum number of simultaneous users in the self-managed installation is checked each quarter, using Seat Link.

Every occupied seat, whether by person, job, or bot is counted in the subscription, with the following exceptions:

  • Deactivated and blocked users who are restricted prior to the renewal of a subscription won’t be counted as active users for the renewal subscription. They may count as active users in the subscription period in which they were originally added.
  • Members with Guest permissions on an Ultimate subscription.
  • GitLab-created service accounts: Ghost User and Support Bot.
Users statistics

To view a breakdown of the users within your instance, including active, billable, and blocked, go to Admin Area > Overview > Dashboard and select Users statistics in the Users section. For more details, see Users statistics.

Note: If you have LDAP integration enabled, anyone in the configured domain can sign up for a GitLab account. This can result in an unexpected bill at time of renewal. Consider disabling new signups and managing new users manually instead.

Obtain a GitLab subscription

Subscribe to GitLab.com

To subscribe to GitLab.com:

  1. Create a user account for yourself using our sign up page.
  2. Create a group. GitLab groups help assemble related projects together allowing you to grant members access to several projects at once. A group is not required if you plan on having projects inside a personal namespace.
  3. Create additional users and add them to the group.
  4. Select the Bronze, Silver, or Gold GitLab.com plan through the Customers Portal.
  5. Link your GitLab.com account with your Customers Portal account. Once a plan has been selected, if your account is not already linked, you will be prompted to link your account with a Sign in to GitLab.com button.
  6. Select the namespace from the drop-down list to associate the subscription.
  7. Proceed to checkout.
Tip: You can also go to the My Account page to add or change the GitLab.com account link.

Subscribe through GitLab self-managed

To subscribe to GitLab through a self-managed installation:

  1. Go to the Customers Portal and purchase a Starter, Premium, or Ultimate self-managed plan.
  2. After purchase, a license file is sent to the email address associated to the Customers Portal account, which must be uploaded to your GitLab instance.
Tip: If you’re purchasing a subscription for an existing Core self-managed instance, ensure you’re purchasing enough seats to cover your users.

Manage your GitLab account

With the Customers Portal you can:

Change billing information

To change billing information:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Select the My account drop-down and click on Payment methods.
  3. Make the required changes to the Account Details information.
  4. Click Save changes.
Note: Future purchases will use the information in this section. The email listed in this section is used for the Customers Portal login and for license-related email communication.

Change payment method

To change payment method or update credit card information:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Select the My account drop-down and click on Payment methods.
  3. Edit the existing payment method information or Add new payment method.
  4. Save changes.

Change the linked account

To change the GitLab.com account associated with your Customers Portal account:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. In a separate browser tab, go to GitLab.com and ensure you are not logged in.
  3. On the Customers Portal page, click My account > Account details.
  4. Under Your GitLab.com account, click Change linked account.
  5. Log in to the GitLab.com account you want to link to the Customers Portal account.

Change the associated namespace

With a linked GitLab.com account:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Navigate to the Manage Purchases page.
  3. Click Change linked namespace.
  4. Select the desired group from the This subscription is for dropdown.
  5. Click Proceed to checkout.

Subscription charges are calculated based on the total number of users in a group, including its subgroups and nested projects. If the total number of users exceeds the number of seats in your subscription, you will be charged for the additional users.

Change customer portal account password

To change the password for this customers portal account:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Select the My account drop-down and click on Account details.
  3. Make the required changes to the Your password section.
  4. Click Save changes.

View your subscription

View your GitLab.com subscription

To see the status of your GitLab.com subscription, log into GitLab.com and go to the Billing section of the relevant namespace:

  • For individuals:
    1. Go to User Avatar > Settings.
    2. Click Billing.
  • For groups:
    1. From the group page (not from a project within the group), go to Settings > Billing.

The following table describes details of your subscription for groups:

Field Description
Seats in subscription If this is a paid plan, represents the number of seats you’ve paid to support in your group.
Seats currently in use Number of active seats currently in use.
Max seats used Highest number of seats you’ve used. If this exceeds the seats in subscription, you may owe an additional fee for the additional users.
Seats owed If your maximum seats used exceeds the seats in your subscription, you’ll owe an additional fee for the users you’ve added.
Subscription start date Date your subscription started. If this is for a Free plan, is the date you transitioned off your group’s paid plan.
Subscription end date Date your current subscription will end. Does not apply to Free plans.

View your self-managed subscription

To view the status of your self-managed subscription, log into the self-managed instance and go to the License page.

  1. Go to Admin Area.
  2. From the left-hand menu, select License.

Renew your subscription

To renew your subscription, prepare for renewal by reviewing your account, then do one of the following:

Prepare for renewal by reviewing your account

The Customers Portal is your tool for renewing and modifying your subscription. Before going ahead with renewal, log in and verify or update:

  • The invoice contact details on the Account details page.
  • The credit card on file on the Payment Methods page.
Tip: Contact our support team if you need assistance accessing the Customers Portal or if you need to change the contact person who manages your subscription.

It’s important to regularly review your user accounts, because:

  • A GitLab subscription is based on the number of users. You will pay more than you should if you renew for too many users, while the renewal will fail if you attempt to renew a subscription for too few users.
  • Stale user accounts can be a security risk. A regular review helps reduce this risk.

Users over License

A GitLab subscription is valid for a specific number of users. For details, see Choose the number of users. If the active user count exceeds the number included in the subscription, known as the number of users over license, you must pay for the excess number of users either before renewal, or at the time of renewal. This is also known the true up process.

Purchase additional seats for GitLab.com

There is no self-service option for purchasing additional seats. You must request a quotation from GitLab Sales. To do so, contact GitLab via our support form.

The amount charged per seat is calculated by one of the following methods:

  • If paid before renewal, the amount per seat is calculated on a prorated basis. For example, if the user was added 3 months before the end of the subscription period, the amount owing is calculated as: (3 / 12) x annual fee.
  • If paid on renewal, the amount per seat is the standard annual fee.
Purchase additional users for self-managed

Self-managed instances can add users to a subscription any time during the subscription period. The cost of additional users added during the subscription period is prorated from the date of purchase through the end of the subscription period.

To add users to a subscription:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Navigate to the Manage Purchases page.
  3. Select Add more seats on the relevant subscription card.
  4. Enter the number of additional users.
  5. Select Proceed to checkout.
  6. Review the Subscription Upgrade Detail. The system lists the total price for all users on the system and a credit for what you’ve already paid. You will only be charged for the net change.
  7. Select Confirm Upgrade.

The following will be emailed to you:

  • A payment receipt. You can also access this information in the Customers Portal under View invoices.
  • A new license. Upload this license to your instance to use it.

Introduced in GitLab Starter 12.9.

Seat Link allows us to provide our self-managed customers with prorated charges for user growth throughout the year using a quarterly reconciliation process.

Seat Link daily sends a count of all users in connected self-managed instances to GitLab. That information is used to automate prorated reconciliations. The data is sent securely through an encrypted HTTPS connection.

Seat Link provides only the following information to GitLab:

  • Date
  • License key
  • Historical maximum user count
  • Active users count

For offline or closed network customers, the existing true-up model will be used. Prorated charges are not possible without user count data.

Click here to view example content of a Seat Link POST request. 

{
  date: '2020-01-29',
  license_key: 'ZXlKa1lYUmhJam9pWm5WNmVsTjVZekZ2YTJoV2NucDBh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',
  max_historical_user_count: 10,
  active_users: 6
}

You can view the exact JSON payload in the administration panel. To view the payload:

  1. Navigate to Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling and expand Seat Link.
  2. Click Preview payload.

Introduced in GitLab Starter 12.10.

Seat Link is enabled by default.

To disable this feature, go to Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling, uncheck the Enable Seat Link checkbox > Save changes.

To disable Seat Link in an Omnibus GitLab installation, and prevent it from being configured in the future through the administration panel, set the following in gitlab.rb: 

gitlab_rails['seat_link_enabled'] = false

To disable Seat Link in a GitLab source installation, and prevent it from being configured in the future through the administration panel, set the following in gitlab.yml: 

production: &base
  # ...
  gitlab:
    # ...
    seat_link_enabled: false

Renew or change a GitLab.com subscription

To renew for more users than are currently active in your GitLab.com system, contact our sales team via renewals@gitlab.com for assistance as this can’t be done in the Customers Portal.

For details on upgrading your subscription tier, see Upgrade your GitLab.com subscription tier.

Automatic renewal

To view or change automatic subscription renewal (at the same tier as the previous period), log in to the Customers Portal, and:

  • If you see a Resume subscription button, your subscription was canceled previously. Click it to resume automatic renewal.
  • If you see Cancel subscription, your subscription is set to automatically renew at the end of the subscription period. Click it to cancel automatic renewal.

With automatic renewal enabled, the subscription will automatically renew on the expiration date and there will be no gap in available service. An invoice will be generated for the renewal and available for viewing or download in the View invoices page. If you have difficulty during the renewal process, contact our support team for assistance.

Renew a self-managed subscription

Starting 30 days before a subscription expires, GitLab notifies administrators of the date of expiry with a banner in the GitLab user interface.

We recommend following these steps during renewal:

  1. Prune any inactive or unwanted users by blocking them.
  2. Determine if you have a need for user growth in the upcoming subscription.

  3. Log in to the Customers Portal and select the Renew button beneath your existing subscription.

    Tip: If you need to change your GitLab tier, contact our sales team via renewals@gitlab.com for assistance as this can’t be done in the Customers Portal.
  4. In the first box, enter the total number of user licenses you’ll need for the upcoming year. Be sure this number is at least equal to, or greater than the number of active users in the system at the time of performing the renewal.

  5. Enter the number of users over license in the second box for the user overage incurred in your previous subscription term.

    Tip: You can find the users over license in your instance’s Admin dashboard by clicking on (Admin Area) in the top bar, or going to /admin.

    The following table describes details of your admin dashboard and renewal terms:

    Field Description
    Users in License The number of users you’ve paid for in the current license loaded on the system. This does not include the amount you’ve paid for Users over license during renewal.
    Active users The number of current active users on your system.
    Maximum users The highest number of active users on your system during the term of the loaded license. If this number exceeds your users in license count at any point, you incur users over license.
    Users over license The number of users that exceed the Users in License for the current license term. Charges for this number of users will be incurred at the next renewal.
  6. Review your renewal details and complete the payment process.
  7. A license for the renewal term will be available for download on the Manage Purchases page on the relevant subscription card. Select Copy license to clipboard or Download license to get a copy.
  8. Upload your new license to your instance.

An invoice will be generated for the renewal and available for viewing or download on the View invoices page. If you have difficulty during the renewal process, contact our support team for assistance.

Upgrade your subscription tier

The process for upgrading differs depending on whether you’re a GitLab.com or self-managed customer.

Upgrade your GitLab.com subscription tier

To upgrade your GitLab tier:

  1. Log in to the Customers Portal.
  2. Select the Upgrade button on the relevant subscription card on the Manage purchases page.
  3. Select the desired upgrade.
  4. Confirm the active form of payment, or add a new form of payment.
  5. Check the I accept the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service checkbox.
  6. Select Confirm purchase.

When the purchase has been processed, you receive confirmation of your new subscription tier.

Upgrade your self-managed subscription tier

To upgrade your GitLab tier, contact our sales team as this can’t be done in the Customers Portal. You can either send an email to renewals@gitlab.com, or complete the Contact Sales form. Include details of which subscription you want to upgrade and the desired tier in your message.

After messaging the sales team, the workflow is as follows:

  1. Receive a reply from the sales team, asking for confirmation of the upgrade.
  2. Reply to the sales team, confirming details of the upgrade.
  3. Receive a quote from the sales team.
  4. Sign and return the quote.
  5. Receive the new license.
  6. Upload the new license. For details, see Uploading your license.

The new subscription tier is active when the license file is uploaded.

Subscription expiry

When your subscription or trial expires, GitLab does not delete your data, but it may become inaccessible, depending on the tier at expiry. Some features may not behave as expected if you’re not prepared for the expiry. For example, environment specific variables not being passed.

If you renew or upgrade, your data will again be accessible.

Self-managed GitLab data

For self-managed customers, there is a 14-day grace period when your features will continue to work as-is, after which the entire instance will become read only.

However, if you remove the license, you will immediately revert to Core features, and the instance will be read / write again.

CI pipeline minutes

CI pipeline minutes are the execution time for your pipelines on GitLab’s shared runners. Each GitLab.com tier includes a monthly quota of CI pipeline minutes:

  • Free: 2,000 minutes
  • Bronze: 2,000 minutes
  • Silver: 10,000 minutes
  • Gold: 50,000 minutes

Quotas apply to:

  • Groups, where the minutes are shared across all members of the group, its subgroups, and nested projects. To view the group’s usage, navigate to the group, then Settings > Usage Quotas.
  • Your personal account, where the minutes are available for your personal projects. To view and buy personal minutes, click your avatar, then Settings > Usage Quotas.

Only pipeline minutes for GitLab shared runners are restricted. If you have a specific runner set up for your projects, there is no limit to your build time on GitLab.com.

The available quota is reset on the first of each calendar month at midnight UTC.

When the CI minutes are depleted, an email is sent automatically to notify the owner(s) of the namespace. You can purchase additional CI minutes, or upgrade your account to Silver or Gold. Your own runners can still be used even if you reach your limits.

Purchasing additional CI minutes

If you’re using GitLab.com, you can purchase additional CI minutes so your pipelines won’t be blocked after you have used all your CI minutes from your main quota. You can find pricing for additional CI/CD minutes in the GitLab Customers Portal. Additional minutes:

  • Are only used once the shared quota included in your subscription runs out.
  • Roll over month to month.

To purchase additional minutes for your group on GitLab.com:

  1. From your group, go to Settings > Usage Quotas.
  2. Select Buy additional minutes and you will be directed to the Customers Portal.
  3. Locate the subscription card that’s linked to your group on GitLab.com, click Buy more CI minutes, and complete the details about the transaction.
  4. Once we have processed your payment, the extra CI minutes will be synced to your group namespace.

  5. To confirm the available CI minutes, go to your group, then Settings > Usage Quotas.

    The Additional minutes displayed now includes the purchased additional CI minutes, plus any minutes rolled over from last month.

To purchase additional minutes for your personal namespace:

  1. Click your avatar, then go to Settings > Usage Quotas.
  2. Select Buy additional minutes and you will be directed to the Customers Portal.
  3. Locate the subscription card that’s linked to your personal namespace on GitLab.com, click Buy more CI minutes, and complete the details about the transaction. Once we have processed your payment, the extra CI minutes will be synced to your personal namespace.

  4. To confirm the available CI minutes for your personal projects, click your avatar, then go to Settings > Usage Quotas.

    The Additional minutes displayed now includes the purchased additional CI minutes, plus any minutes rolled over from last month.

Be aware that:

  • If you have purchased extra CI minutes before the purchase of a paid plan, we will calculate a pro-rated charge for your paid plan. That means you may be charged for less than one year since your subscription was previously created with the extra CI minutes.
  • Once the extra CI minutes have been assigned to a Group, they can’t be transferred to a different Group.
  • If you have used more minutes than your default quota, these minutes will be deducted from your Additional Minutes quota immediately after your purchase of additional minutes.

Contact Support

We also encourage all users to search our project trackers for known issues and existing feature requests in the GitLab project.

These issues are the best avenue for getting updates on specific product plans and for communicating directly with the relevant GitLab team members.

Learn more about:

GitLab for Education subscriptions

To renew a GitLab for Education subscription, send an email to education@gitlab.com with the following information:

  1. The number of seats for the renewal. You can add seats if needed.
  2. The use case for the license. Specifically, we need verification that the use meets the conditions of the End User License Agreement. Note that university infrastructure operations and information technology operations don’t fall within the stated terms of the Education Program. For details, see the Education FAQ.
  3. The full name, email address, and phone number of the primary contact who will be signing the renewal quote. Only signatures by faculty or staff with proper signing authority on the behalf of the university will be accepted.

After we receive the above information, we will process the request and return a renewal quote for signature. Please allow a minimum of 2 business days for return. Email us at education@gitlab.com with any questions.

GitLab for Open Source subscriptions

All GitLab for Open Source requests, including subscription renewals, must be made by using the application process. If you have any questions, send an email to opensource@gitlab.com for assistance.