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Developer Tools · head to head

GitLab CI/CD vs Very Good Security

GitLab CI/CD logo

GitLab CI/CD

Developer Tools

Automatically build, test, deploy, and monitor your applications with GitLab CI/CD

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GitLab CI/CD has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: GitLab CI/CD compute minute quotas for Premium and Ultimate tiers not disclosed in documentation; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitLab CI/CD and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where GitLab CI/CD and Very Good Security differ
AttributeGitLab CI/CDVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, API
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in GitLab CI/CD

Nothing recorded that Very Good Security does not also cover.

Only in Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

GitLab CI/CD

  • Reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discountsnot Very Good Security
  • Enforcing monthly CI/CD spending limits and quota notificationsnot Very Good Security
  • Allocating compute minutes to open source contributors affordablynot Very Good Security
  • Forecasting CI/CD spending patterns across multiple projectsnot Very Good Security
  • Providing private runners for cost control without owning infrastructurenot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot GitLab CI/CD
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot GitLab CI/CD
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot GitLab CI/CD
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot GitLab CI/CD

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

GitLab CI/CD

  • Compute minute quotas for Premium and Ultimate tiers not disclosed in documentation
  • Additional compute minutes beyond quota incur charges; exact pricing not specified

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

GitLab CI/CD

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 400 compute minutes per month for free tier namespaces
    • Linux x86-64 runners at 1x cost factor
  • Premium$null/tiered
    • Higher monthly compute minute quotas than free tier
    • Additional compute minutes available for purchase
  • Ultimate$null/tiered
    • Highest monthly compute minute allocations
    • Additional compute minutes available for purchase

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

Which should you pick?

Choose GitLab CI/CD if

  • You want to start without paying.
GitLab CI/CD review

Choose Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is GitLab CI/CD or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. GitLab CI/CD starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitLab CI/CD or Very Good Security?
GitLab CI/CD has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GitLab CI/CD and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does GitLab CI/CD or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
GitLab CI/CD runs on Web. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use GitLab CI/CD for free?
Yes. GitLab CI/CD has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
What is GitLab CI/CD best used for?
GitLab CI/CD is most often used for reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discounts, enforcing monthly ci/cd spending limits and quota notifications, allocating compute minutes to open source contributors affordably, forecasting ci/cd spending patterns across multiple projects. Of those, reducing open source project infrastructure costs with public project discounts and enforcing monthly ci/cd spending limits and quota notifications are not what Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can GitLab CI/CD do that Very Good Security cannot?
Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GitLab CI/CD: How many GitLab CI compute minutes does the free tier include?

The free tier of GitLab CI includes 400 compute minutes per month for free tier namespaces on GitLab.com.

Source
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

GitLab CI/CD: What is the cost factor for different GitLab CI runner types?

Linux x86-64 small runners cost 1x; medium runners cost 2x; large runners cost 3x. macOS and Windows runners have cost factors of 6-12x and are in beta status.

Source
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

GitLab CI/CD: Do public open-source projects get discounts on GitLab CI compute minutes?

Public open-source projects receive a 0.5x discount on compute minutes. Public forks of GitLab open-source projects receive a 0.008x discount.

Source
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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