Comparison

NativeLab vs GLab

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NativeLab

This app provides a native mobile interface for managing GitLab projects, issues, and merge requests. It offers features like project browsing, issue triage, and merge request reviews with a clean, fast design. Users can customize themes, text sizes, and languages for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Browse GitLab projects with search
  • Triage issues with filters
  • Review merge requests with diff viewer
  • Customizable themes and text sizes
  • Supports gitlab.com and self-hosted instances
  • Secure OAuth authentication
  • Built-in demo mode
Features
Read full description

NativeLab is a native GitLab client for iPhone. Review merge requests, follow pipelines, triage issues and clear your to-dos without fighting the mobile website. MERGE REQUESTS • Read the full diff with line numbers • Comment on any line, reply to threads and resolve them • Approve or unapprove, and merge (or merge when the pipeline succeeds) • Pipeline status, reviewers, approvals and merge blockers at a glance PIPELINES • Pipeline list per project with filters • Jobs grouped by stage: retry, cancel and play manual jobs • Live job logs with collapsible sections INBOX • Your GitLab to-do list: review requests, mentions, assignments, failed pipelines • Swipe to mark done • Optional background alerts and an app badge ISSUES • Filter by state and label • Markdown descriptions, task lists and images • Read and post comments MADE FOR YOUR PHONE • Opens instantly: data is cached on your device and refreshed in the background • Home Screen widget for review requests and failed pipelines • Face ID lock • Light and dark mode, three text sizes, six languages ANY GITLAB • gitlab.com with one-tap sign in • Self-hosted GitLab with a personal access token • Multiple accounts and instances • Try everything first in demo mode, no account needed PRIVATE BY DESIGN NativeLab talks directly to your GitLab. Tokens stay in the iOS Keychain on your device. No analytics, no NativeLab account. Free during launch.

About

GLab

Manage GitLab projects, merge requests, issues, and CI/CD pipelines directly from your iPhone. Customize your home screen with up to eight modules to see only what you need. Offers offline access to cached data and secure sign-in options.

Highlights
  • Customizable Home screen with up to eight modules
  • Full diff viewer with syntax highlighting
  • Comment on lines and apply suggestions
  • Create and manage merge requests and issues
  • Monitor CI/CD pipelines and view logs
  • Browse repository files and edit content
  • Offline access to cached data
Features
Read full description

Review, approve and merge from your phone — on gitlab.com or your company's self-hosted GitLab. GLab is a fast, native iPhone client for developers who ship on the go. You assemble the Home screen yourself, so it shows only the work waiting on you. Works with gitlab.com and any self-hosted GitLab (CE or EE, 14.x+). Connect multiple instances and switch in one tap. One-tap gitlab.com sign-in; guided setup for your own server or token. — WHAT YOU CAN DO — A Home screen you assemble • Up to eight modules: review requests, your MRs, issues, todos, failed, active and recent pipelines, recent projects • Every section renders as a list or a carousel; content, order and density are yours to set • Developer, Reviewer and Lead / DevOps presets rebuild Home in one tap • A status line: signals awaiting you, offline and unsent state • Swipe actions right in the lists: approve, merge, close an issue, retry or cancel a pipeline, snooze for a day Merge Requests • Full diff viewer with syntax highlighting and word-level changes • Comment on lines; threaded discussions — reply, resolve, edit • Apply suggestions from a review straight into the code • Create MRs; edit title, description, labels, assignees, milestone • Approve, unapprove, merge, rebase, close, reopen Issues • Create, comment, close, reopen, lock • Edit title, description, labels, assignees, milestones, due dates • Emoji reactions, subscribe, search across all projects CI/CD Pipelines • Active builds across all your projects right on the Home screen • Live status with stages, jobs and duration in the list • Run a pipeline on any branch; retry, cancel, play manual jobs • Raw build logs refreshing live; environments, deployments and runners Repository • Browse the file tree, view blobs with highlighting, line history (blame) • Create/delete files; branches and tags, compare diffs, commit history • Wiki, Snippets and Releases — browse and edit; README rendering Todos, groups and Ops • Unified todo inbox by project and action; mark-all-done and swipe actions • Activity feed, GitLab status, group list drilling into projects • CI/CD variables, schedules, runners, environments, registry (Maintainer+) • Project members — add, change access level, remove — FAST AND OFFLINE — Merge requests and issues are ready on Home from cache, even offline. Pipelines and job logs update live, then pause in the background to save battery. — MULTI-INSTANCE BY DESIGN — Every project, MR, issue and pipeline is scoped to its GitLab instance — gitlab.com never mixes with self-hosted, even with matching issue numbers. — PRIVACY AND SECURITY — • Personal Access Token and OAuth 2.0 PKCE sign-in • Tokens stored only in the Keychain, on this device • Tokens, emails, URLs and response bodies are never logged or sent to analytics • Anonymous analytics/crash reports — no personal data, no ad IDs • Privacy policy: https://gitlab.com/appstore-demo/glab/-/blob/main/PRIVACY.md — FREE AND PRO — GLab is free for read-only browsing of unlimited projects. Optional Pro subscription (auto-renewing, 3/6/12 months) unlocks: • Multiple connected GitLab accounts • Create issues and MRs; comment on diff lines, apply suggestions, edit, react • Repository editing — files, branches, tags • Approve/merge MRs; run, retry, cancel pipelines; manage CI/CD variables Charged to your Apple ID; auto-renews unless cancelled 24h before period end. — NATIVE ON iPhone — iOS 18 and later. 100% SwiftUI, Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, light and dark themes. Widgets (Home Screen, Lock Screen, StandBy) show your MRs, todos and pipelines at a glance. Siri Shortcuts open a project hands-free. Apple Watch mirrors your review queue, todos and pipelines. Download GLab — your next review is one tap away. GLab is an independent app, not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or approved by GitLab Inc. GitLab is a trademark of GitLab Inc. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: emvakar@gmail.com

Screenshots

NativeLab4 screens
GLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: GLab at 100% against NativeLab's 50%. GLab also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 4 months). NativeLab's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GLab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 3 months. NativeLab asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GLab holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of NativeLab's written reviews are positive against 100% of GLab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NativeLab ships an update every 4 months, GLab every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
NativeLab versus GLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNativeLabGLab
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
Best chart rank—#137 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAltug SogutogluEmil Karimov

Customer experience

NativeLab

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

GLab

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

NativeLab

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

GLab

Subscriptions3
  • GLab Pro — 3 months3 Days trial$6.993 Months
  • GLab Pro — 6 months3 Days trial$12.996 Months
  • GLab Pro — 1 year3 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is NativeLab free?
NativeLab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GLab free?
GLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NativeLab or GLab?
GLab is rated higher. NativeLab averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while GLab averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do NativeLab or GLab have ads?
Neither NativeLab nor GLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NativeLab or GLab?
NativeLab ships an update every 4 months, and GLab every 9 days. Most recently, NativeLab was updated on October 31, 2026 and GLab on November 5, 2026.

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