Q. What is the effective date of the changes?
A. We intend to roll out the application of user and storage limits independently and gradually. Storage limits will not be applied before storage management improvements are available.
For user limits we will show in-app notifications to affected top-level private groups, including any subgroups and projects, prior to the limits being applied. Top-level private groups that are already above the limit will see the in-app notifications at least 60 days ahead of the limits being applied. Top-level private groups that go above the limit during the period when the in-app notifications are showing will see them as soon as they go above the threshold. Note personal namespaces are public and therefore excluded from user limit notification and enforcement.
For storage limits we will show in-app notifications to affected top-level groups and personal namespaces, including any subgroups and projects, prior to the limits being applied. Namespaces that are already above the storage limit will see the in-app notifications at least 60 days ahead of enforcement. Namespaces that go above the limit during the period when the in-app notifications are showing will see them as soon as they go above the threshold.
A. In GitLab, a namespace is a unique name for a personal namespace, a group, or subgroup, under which a project can be created. User limits and storage limits are implemented at the top-level group or personal namespace where applicable.
Q. What is changing with storage?
A. We are introducing a storage limit of 5GB for top-level groups and personal namespaces to the GitLab SaaS Free tier.
| GitLab SaaS Tier | Free | Premium | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $19 | $99 |
| Storage (in GB per top-level group / personal namespace) | 5 GB | 50 GB | 250 GB |
Note: A 10GB project storage limit for git repository and git LFS is currently active for all projects. Once the namespace storage limit is applicable, the project storage limits will be removed.
Q. Which users are these changes applicable to?
A. Storage limits are applicable to free and paid tier users of the GitLab SaaS offerings. Community programs - including GitLab for Open Source, Education and Startups users - will have the limits applicable for GitLab Ultimate. This change does not apply to self-managed users (both free and paid tier).
Customers who are still on the Bronze subscription are not impacted by this change immediately, and the new limits on Premium / Ultimate will be applicable when they upgrade.
Q. Does this change apply to Trials?
A. Yes, GitLab Ultimate Trial and Premium Trial will receive entitlements from GitLab Ultimate and Premium respectively.
Q. Is this change applicable to public projects as well?
A. Yes, the change is applicable to both public and private projects. Free tier users using GitLab for public open source projects should consider applying for the GitLab for Open Source program, which provides access to the GitLab Ultimate features and entitlements for free.
Q. What constitutes Storage usage?
A. Currently storage includes pipeline job artifacts, repositories, package and container registries, snippets, Git LFS, wiki storage, dependency proxy. Future product features that allow you to store data will also be incorporated into the storage usage count, when available.
Q. How can I view and manage my storage usage?
A. You can view the storage usage on the Group Settings page for Usage Quota in the Storage tab. The summaries are divided into all storage types listed in the answer to the "What constitutes Storage usage?" question. Each type provides details on how to proceed with detailed analysis and cleanup procedures.
Q. What happens if I exceed my storage limits?
A. Top-level groups and personal namespaces exceeding the storage limit will continue to have read access but will be unable to write any new data. This applies to all types of storage including Repository, LFS, Packages, and Registry.
Q. How can I reduce the amount of Storage consumed?
A. Below you will find steps for managing the different storage types:
Q: How can I automate storage usage analysis and cleanup?
A: You can use the GitLab API to programmatically view and delete storage data types. There are programming language libraries available that can help with easy-to-use interfaces, for example listing and deleting job artifacts using the Python library for GitLab. A script based on the Python library has been developed by the GitLab Developer Evangelism team in this project. This MIT-licensed script is not officially supported by GitLab and comes without warranty.
Q. How will the storage limits affect me when I’m contributing to another project?
A. We plan to apply a cost factor to forks, similar to what is done today for CI minutes, as long as the fork relationship is maintained.
Q. How much does it cost to buy additional Storage units?
A. Additional units can be purchased from the GitLab Customer Portal at $60/year for 10GB of storage. More details here. For example:
Q. What is changing with user limits?
A. There will be a 5-user limit for top-level groups with private visibility. At this time, top-level groups with public visibility will not have a user limit.
Note: Personal namespaces are public by default and therefore excluded from the user limit.
Q. Who do these changes apply to?
A. These user limits are applicable only to users of the free tier of the GitLab SaaS offering in a top-level group with private visibility. These changes do not apply to users of the free tier of the GitLab SaaS offering in a public top-level group, paid tiers, the free tier of the self-managed offering and community programs, including GitLab for Open Source, GitLab for Education, and GitLab for Startups users.
Q. Do these changes apply to Trials?
A. No. These user limits do not apply to Trials during the trial period.
Q. Do these changes apply to public projects as well?
A. No, these changes are applicable to top-level groups with private visibility. At this time, public projects in a top-level group with public visibility do not have a user limit. If you're a public open source project, you should consider applying for the GitLab for Open Source Program, which provides access to the GitLab Ultimate features and entitlements for free.
Q. What happens if I change the top-level visibility from private to public?
A. The top-level group is publicly visible, this includes information such as members, issues, and merge requests. The top-level group will be indexed by search engines.
Q. Do these changes apply to private projects within a top-level group with public visibility?
A. User limits are currently applied based on the visibility of the top-level group. We will monitor how top-level groups with public visibility are using private projects to identify whether any limits on such projects are needed.
Q. When are these changes effective?
A. We intend to roll out application of the user limits gradually, impacted users will be notified in-app at least 60 days prior to the user limits being applied.
Q. Will I be personally notified of the changes?
A. Yes, impacted users will be notified in-app at least 60 days prior to the user limits being applied.
Q. How are the total number of users in my top-level group calculated?
A. We count the sum of unique users within a top-level group which includes the users in the top-level group, subgroups, and projects. For example:
If a user has a group named top and two subgroups under top named child1 and child2 with 4 different unique users in each group, then the top group will have a total of 8 users, which is above the user limit of 5. If the two subgroups contain the same 4 users, then top would only have 4 total users.
Q. Where can I view and manage the number of users in my top-level group?
A. Users can view and manage the users in their top-level group by going to Group > Group Settings > Usage Quotas > Seats. Only Group Owners can add or remove users from the Usage Quotas page. Owners and Maintainers of individual subgroups and projects can still manage the specific users in their subgroups/projects.
Q. How can I view and manage my users if my project is not located within a group?
A. If your project is not located within a group, you can manage the users in each of your personal projects but the sum of the unique users within all your personal projects cannot exceed 5.
GitLab strongly encourages personal projects to be moved into Groups which will allow these projects to access all GitLab features as well as give you the ability to manage all users from the Usage Quotas page, start a trial, and purchase a subscription. See Move your project to a group for instructions.
Q. What happens if I don’t reduce my user count before the date they're applied?
A. When the 5-user limit is applied to top-level groups with private visibility, top-level groups exceeding the user limit will be placed in a read only state. These top level groups exceeding the user limit will continue to have read access but will be unable to write any new data. This applies to all types of storage including Repository, LFS, Packages, and Registry.
Q. How can I add users beyond the limit of 5 users?
A. The free tier has a limit of 5 users on top-level groups with private visibility which cannot be increased. GitLab recommends the paid tiers - Premium or Ultimate - for larger teams as there are no user limits and they contain features designed to increase your team’s productivity. We recommend starting a free trial of GitLab Ultimate to experience the value of the paid features while also getting access to unlimited users for the trial period.
Q. Why am I seeing user limit notifications in my top-level group if I'm a current paying GitLab customer or a member of GitLab for Education, GitLab for Open Source, or GitLab for Startups? A. You may have inadvertently created new top-level groups not associated to the one being paid for. To confirm if this is the case, navigate to your Group > Group Settings > Billings. If your group is listed as being on the free tier, then it is not associated with your paid GitLab subscription. To move this group into your paid subscription, follow the steps documented here: Transfer a group ."
Q. How can I ensure all my groups are associated with my current GitLab subscription to avoid user limits? A. See Transfer a group for instructions on how to move existing groups that are not associated with your top-level namespace. Users that are not part of the top-level namespace will require additional seats to remain active. See Add users to your subscription for instructions on how to add seats.
Free tier users can also consider using the self-managed deployment option that does not have user limits. GitLab also has special programs for Open Source projects and students/educators granting access to GitLab Ultimate. If you believe you could qualify for one of these programs you can learn more here.
Q. What is changing with public projects?
The GitLab for Open Source Program was created to give back to the open source community by encouraging individuals and teams to contribute to open source. Public open source projects will need to be part of the GitLab for Open Source program to continue to receive GitLab Ultimate features.
As previously announced, all free tier public projects will not receive Ultimate by default, and all public projects will be subject to CI/CD minutes quotas applicable to their plan. Free tier users using GitLab for public open source projects should consider applying to the GitLab for Open Source program to continue to take advantage of GitLab Ultimate features such as portfolio management, advanced security testing, security risk mitigation, and compliance.
Q. Which users are these changes applicable to?
A. These changes are applicable to users with public projects on the free tier of GitLab SaaS. These changes do not apply to self-managed free and paid tier users, SaaS paid tier users, and community programs - including GitLab for Open Source, Education and Startups users.
Q. What is the effective date of the changes?
A. The CI/CD limits on public projects will be applicable for all users including paid and free tier with public projects starting 2022-06-01. Public projects on the free tier will stop receiving Ultimate entitlements by default starting 2022-07-01.
Q. How can I retain the Ultimate entitlements for my public projects?
A. There are two ways:
Q. What happens when my top-level group or personal namespace has used all of the month’s allocated CI/CD Minutes limit of 400 minutes?
A. You will not be able to run new jobs until you purchase additional CI/CD Minutes, or until the next month when you receive your monthly allotted CI/CD Minutes. Running jobs will be cancelled when a top-level group or personal namespace reaches its limit while a pipeline is running.
Q. How can I manage my CI/CD usage to stay under the limit?
A. This detailed FAQ covers how to manage your CI/CD usage.
Watch this deep dive video on how you can manage your CI/CD Minutes usage.
Q. What exactly is a CI/CD minute and how is it calculated?
A. CI/CD minutes are calculated using a formula that includes the CI/CD job duration and an applied cost factor. Please refer to the documentation to learn more.
Q. I am an active contributor to GitLab. Will the same limits be applicable to me as well?
A. All free tier users receive 50,000 CI/CD minutes for running pipelines on public forks of public open source projects, like GitLab. Contributions to all other projects by free tier users are subject to the new limits.
Q. How can I apply for the GitLab for Open Source program?
A. The GitLab for Open Source Program gives access to unlimited seats per license of GitLab Ultimate (SaaS or Self-Managed), including 50,000 CI/CD minutes, excluding support. View the program requirements and apply for the GitLab for Open Source program online here. In most cases, GitLab will respond with a decision or request for additional information within 15 business days.
Q. What happens to my account if I do not enroll in the GitLab for Open Source program or I am not accepted into the program?
A. If you are not part of the GitLab for Open Source program, after July 1, 2022, your account will stop receiving GitLab Ultimate capabilities and will receive the entitlements available to the free tier.
You will not lose any data, but you will not be able to create any new jobs or artifacts nor access Ultimate features if you have exceeded the usage limits of the free tier.
Q. Can I apply for GitLab’s Open Source program with some public projects and some private projects in my group?
A. No. In order to meet the requirements of the Open Source Program, all of the code you host in this GitLab group must be published under OSI-approved open source licences. All projects under this group must have public visibility. Individual projects are not eligible for the Open Source Program. Additionally, your organization must not seek to make a profit. Please check all the eligibility requirements for the Open Source program here.
Q. Do I need to apply for GitLab for Open Source Program for each individual project?
A. No. You will need to apply for GitLab for Open Source Program at the top-level group.
username. Projects within the username group username will not be considered. If username creates a group user-group and has open source projects within that group, then user-group can be considered for the Open Source program)open source project (for example, personal projects), you will need to move out the unrelated projects to a different group to be eligible for the GitLab for Open Source Program.