head to head · open source
code-review-graph vs GitLab
code-review-graph has 31,548 GitHub stars, 2,870 forks, 163 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitLab has 24,544 stars, 5,983 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped yesterday. code-review-graph leads on adoption by 29% (31,548 vs 24,544 stars). code-review-graph is written in Python under MIT; GitLab is written in Ruby under a custom or non-standard licence. code-review-graph has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, GitLab 24%. GitLab was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| code-review-graph | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 25K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 6.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick code-review-graph if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick GitLab if
- You want the GitLab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and GitLab fits your workflow better
About code-review-graph
code review graph is a local first code intelligence graph for MCP and the command line that parses a repository with Tree sitter into a persistent map of functions, classes, imports, calls, inheritance and test coverage, so AI coding assistants read only the files a review actually needs; it is aimed at developers and teams running AI coding tools against large repositories where repeated full codebase reads waste tokens.
read the full code-review-graph overview →
About GitLab
GitLab is an open core DevSecOps platform that gives teams Git repository hosting, merge request code review, CI/CD pipelines, issue tracking, and wikis in one self hostable application, aimed at organizations that want to run their development lifecycle on infrastructure they control.
read the full GitLab overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is code-review-graph or GitLab more popular?
code-review-graph has 31,548 GitHub stars and GitLab has 24,544. code-review-graph has the larger community by that measure.
Are code-review-graph and GitLab free?
Both are open source. code-review-graph is licensed under MIT, and GitLab has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between code-review-graph and GitLab?
code-review-graph is written in Python and GitLab in Ruby. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, code-review-graph or GitLab?
Choose code-review-graph if you want the larger community (31,548 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose GitLab if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.