GitHub API vs Gitlab API

Two free Development APIs compared on access, reliability and developer ratings, using data from our daily health checks.

The verdict

Choose GitHub API if you want to call it from browser JavaScript, faster responses.
Choose Gitlab API for its data: Connect GitLab to your tools and workflows to build a customized development environment.

	GitHub API	Gitlab API
What it does	Make use of GitHub repositories, code and user info programmatically.	Connect GitLab to your tools and workflows to build a customized development environment.
Provider	GitHub	GitLab
API key	OAuth	OAuth
HTTPS	Yes	Yes
CORS (browser calls)	Yes	Unknown
Status today	Online · 267 ms	Online · 689 ms
Uptime (30 days)	Up	Up
Developer rating	Not rated yet	Not rated yet
Price	Free / free tier	Free / free tier

Make use of GitHub repositories, code and user info programmatically.

Create integrations, retrieve data, and automate your workflows with the GitHub REST API.

Strengths

Connect GitLab to your tools and workflows to build a customized development environment.

Strengths

Prototyping or a tutorial? Pick the one that needs no API key (neither does, so compare their free tiers).
Calling from a web page? You need CORS. Otherwise route requests through your own server or a serverless function.
Going to production? Favour HTTPS, a strong uptime record and a provider with clear rate limits and terms. Check each API's docs before you commit.
Still unsure? Both are free to try: send one request to each and compare the data you get back.

Both require authentication (OAuth and OAuth).

GitHub API supports CORS, so front-end JavaScript can call it directly. Call the other from a server.