GitLab alternative

If you use GitLab for repositories, issues and code review, and do not want to maintain a server, Skillok covers that part. If you live in GitLab CI and the package registry — honestly, that is not us yet. Here is what matches and what does not.

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In this article

What matches everyday work in GitLab#

  • Git repositories, public and private, HTTPS access with a token, Git LFS.
  • Branches with protection and a CODEOWNERS file — who is responsible for which parts of the code.
  • Issues with labels, milestones, assignees and attachments.
  • Pull requests (merge requests in GitLab) with review: approve or request changes, request reviewers.
  • Projects with a table, a board and a roadmap — the counterpart of issue boards.
  • Organizations and teams with access roles for repositories: read, triage, write, maintain. An organization audit log.
  • Webhooks on repository events, signed with HMAC-SHA256 — you can hook your own build to them.

What is missing#

  • Built-in CI/CD. There are no pipelines, runners, or package and container registries. A build can be started by an external system on a webhook.
  • Import of GitLab projects — code moves with git commands, issues by hand.
  • Self-hosting on your own server. Skillok runs as a service.
  • Squash and rebase on merge, code search, wikis.

Limits: up to 25 repositories per owner, up to 2 GB per repository.

How to move your code#

git clone --mirror https://gitlab.example.com/group/project.git
cd project.git
git push --mirror https://skillok.org/git/OWNER/PROJECT.git

Create the empty repository beforehand; pushing needs a personal token from your settings. All branches and tags come along; LFS files go with a separate git lfs push --all.

Who it suits#

A team of a few people who need a clear cycle "issue → branch → review → merge" and a project board, but no build infrastructure of their own. If CI is the heart of your work, stay on GitLab or connect an external build through webhooks. For a side-by-side with the other familiar host, see the GitHub alternative page.

Try it on your own task

Create a repository — history, issues and pull requests from day one.

Create a repository

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More solutions

GitHub alternative Skillok is built like GitHub and repeats the familiar parts — repository, commits, branches, issues, pull requests, projects, organizations. The interface is available in English and Russian. Below is an honest list of what already works, what does not yet, and how to move your code in a few minutes. Jira alternative Jira can do almost anything, and that is exactly why small teams often dislike it — too many settings for a simple "what are we doing, who is doing it, what is done". In Skillok issues and boards are simpler, modelled on GitHub, and they live next to your code and documents. LMS for a small team A full LMS is dozens of features, most of which a small team never needs. In Skillok the learning side is built from a few things — challenges with automatic checking, materials with history, and assignments with review. Here is exactly what there is, so you can decide whether it is enough. Confluence alternative Confluence keeps documentation as pages inside spaces. In Skillok documentation is a set of markdown files in a repository, and you work with it the way you work with code — edit, history, review. That is stricter and more transparent, but there is no visual page builder and no real-time co-editing. Notion alternative Notion is built from page blocks and databases. Skillok works differently — your notes are plain markdown files in a repository, and every change has a history. If you care about text, order and being able to take everything with you at any moment, this may suit you better. If you need database tables with formulas and real-time co-editing, it will not. Obsidian alternative with sync An Obsidian vault is a folder of markdown files. Put it into a git repository on Skillok and you get sync between devices, the history of every edit and a way to read your notes in the browser — with links between notes, callouts and tags.

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