Self-Hosting GitLab in 2026: The Microsoft Independence Move
A software developer at a German automotive supplier told me he chose GitLab for one reason. “Because it’s not owned by Microsoft.” He’s not alone. Across dozens of Reddit threads, practitioner forums, and industry discussions, this sentiment appears again and again. Self-hosting GitLab isn’t just a deployment choice. For a significant segment of the community, it’s a statement about platform independence and data sovereignty. But self-hosting a platform as complex as GitLab comes with real operational costs. Here’s what that trade-off actually looks like in 2026. ...