CircleCI VS GitLab CI/CD
As of 4 November 2026, GitLab CI/CD is named by 3,638 companies and CircleCI by 671; CircleCI skews to companies under 200 people (54% vs 48%), GitLab CI/CD to companies over 1,000 (26% vs 21%).
As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.
The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: CircleCI's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, GitLab CI/CD rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.
- CircleCI: 2–200 employees
- 54%
- GitLab CI/CD: 2–200 employees
- 48%
- CircleCI: 1,000+ employees
- 21%
- GitLab CI/CD: 1,000+ employees
- 26%
- Postings per company, 90 days
- 1.9 · 3.2
- Website or DNS footprint
- 0 · 0
Who chooses which
Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.
| Segment | CircleCI | share | GitLab CI/CD | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 26 | 4% | 86 | 2% | even |
| 2-10 employees | 63 | 9% | 295 | 8% | even |
| 11-50 employees | 137 | 20% | 621 | 17% | CircleCI |
| 51-200 employees | 159 | 24% | 844 | 23% | even |
| 201-500 employees | 84 | 13% | 522 | 14% | even |
| 501-1000 employees | 61 | 9% | 326 | 9% | even |
| 1001-5000 employees | 81 | 12% | 450 | 12% | even |
| 5001-10000 employees | 16 | 2% | 143 | 4% | even |
| 10,001+ employees | 44 | 7% | 351 | 10% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Segment | CircleCI | share | GitLab CI/CD | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technology & software | 412 | 61% | 1,966 | 54% | CircleCI |
| Business & finance services | 114 | 17% | 710 | 20% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Media & content | 36 | 5% | 110 | 3% | CircleCI |
| Manufacturing & industry | 29 | 4% | 387 | 11% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Commerce & trade | 20 | 3% | 73 | 2% | even |
| Consumer services & leisure | 12 | 2% | 76 | 2% | even |
| Transport, logistics & rental | 9 | 1% | 57 | 2% | even |
| Utilities & infrastructure | 8 | 1% | 70 | 2% | even |
| Public, community & associations | 7 | 1% | 66 | 2% | even |
| Health care | 7 | 1% | 29 | 1% | even |
| Property & construction | 7 | 1% | 24 | 1% | even |
| Automotive | 5 | 1% | 47 | 1% | even |
| Segment | CircleCI | share | GitLab CI/CD | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 414 | 62% | 1,895 | 52% | CircleCI |
| United Kingdom | 65 | 10% | 226 | 6% | CircleCI |
| India | 27 | 4% | 125 | 3% | even |
| Germany | 18 | 3% | 283 | 8% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Canada | 17 | 3% | 74 | 2% | even |
| Japan | 17 | 3% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| France | 16 | 2% | 203 | 6% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Australia | 8 | 1% | 42 | 1% | even |
| United Arab Emirates | 6 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Sweden | 6 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Spain | 4 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Ireland | 4 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Poland | – | – | 67 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Netherlands | – | – | 62 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Brazil | – | – | 50 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Switzerland | – | – | 46 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Singapore | – | – | 46 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | CircleCI | share | GitLab CI/CD | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineering | 1,393 | 75% | 10,202 | 71% | CircleCI |
| IT operations & business systems | 130 | 7% | 1,364 | 9% | GitLab CI/CD |
| Data & AI | 77 | 4% | 828 | 6% | even |
| Customer service & success | 20 | 1% | 21 | 0% | even |
| Engineering (non-software) | 18 | 1% | 401 | 3% | even |
| Quality, safety & environment | 15 | 1% | 79 | 1% | even |
| Sales | 12 | 1% | 31 | 0% | even |
| Product, program & project management | 9 | 0% | 72 | 0% | even |
| Unclassified | 7 | 0% | 39 | 0% | even |
| Marketing & communications | 4 | 0% | 7 | 0% | even |
| Construction and civil | 3 | 0% | 8 | 0% | even |
| Finance & accounting | 3 | 0% | 4 | 0% | even |
| Design & UX | 2 | 0% | 4 | 0% | even |
| General management & consulting | 2 | 0% | 7 | 0% | even |
| Human resources | 2 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Arts media and entertainment | 1 | 0% | 1 | 0% | even |
| Business development & strategy | 1 | 0% | 2 | 0% | even |
| Education & training | 1 | 0% | 3 | 0% | even |
| Legal, compliance & risk | 1 | 0% | 4 | 0% | even |
| Logistics warehouse and transport | 1 | 0% | 2 | 0% | even |
| Administration & office | – | – | 11 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Research and science | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
The companies behind each column
Companies using CircleCI →
Companies using GitLab CI/CD →
ci cd ranked →
Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.
GitLab CI/CD is named by 3,638 companies in job postings and CircleCI by 671; 307 name both. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/circleci-vs-gitlab-ci)
Read from the source, not self-reported
Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →
- Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
- Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
- SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
- Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
CircleCI vs GitLab CI/CD: questions
Which is more used, CircleCI or GitLab CI/CD?
By companies naming it in their own job postings, GitLab CI/CD (3,638) over CircleCI (671). By website-and-DNS footprint, GitLab CI/CD (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.
Who chooses CircleCI?
54% of CircleCI companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 48% for GitLab CI/CD. 21% of CircleCI companies have over 1,000 employees, against 26% for GitLab CI/CD.
Do companies run both?
307 companies name both in their postings, usually CircleCI in marketing and GitLab CI/CD in sales, or during a migration.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.
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