The Ultimate Platform Stack: GitLab CI/CD + Okteto Development Environments
In every software organization, platform teams sit at the intersection of innovation and scale. Your mission is to enable engineers to move faster without compromising security, reliability, or cost. But for many teams, development environments are still the weakest link in the software delivery chain.
Code lives in GitLab. Pipelines run in GitLab. But developers? They’re often stuck debugging broken local setups or juggling inconsistent environments.
This is where Okteto + GitLab changes the game.
GitLab: The Engine of Modern DevOps
As a single platform for Source Code Management, CI/CD, and DevSecOps, GitLab helps platform teams consolidate tooling and enforce best practices across the org. It’s the backbone of efficient software delivery.
But even the best DevOps pipeline can’t fix a broken developer experience. If engineers are stuck troubleshooting local dependencies or waiting for staging deploys, velocity stalls.
Okteto: Production-Like Dev Environments in the Cloud
Okteto gives developers instant, isolated, cloud-based development environments that mirror production —no manual setup, no drift. Environments spin up automatically from GitLab branches and sync changes in real time, so devs stay in flow, shipping faster and with higher quality than ever before.
For platform leaders, Okteto brings four key advantages:
- Fast inner dev loop: Okteto keeps developers in flow by giving them immediate feedback on code changes—without waiting on CI or staging deploys. Developers test in real environments, iterate rapidly, and ship faster.
- Standardization at scale: Okteto environments are declarative and version-controlled. You define your golden paths once and apply it org-wide.
- Reduced cognitive overhead: Developers no longer waste cycles on setup or troubleshooting local issues. They get an environment that just works, every time.
- Shift-left everything: Realistic environments mean more accurate testing, earlier feedback, and fewer surprises downstream. Less firefighting, more innovation.
Why GitLab + Okteto Works
Together, GitLab and Okteto offer a streamlined, consistent experience from commit to deploy:
📦 Self-Service Developer Platforms
Let developers create and destroy environments on demand, but with guardrails. Okteto abstracts the complexity while GitLab remains the control plane.
🧪Fast Inner Development Loops
Developers write code, test it instantly in the cloud, and see live results without leaving their editor or waiting for CI to run. Ship value at the speed of the cloud.
🔁 Preview Environments for Every GitLab MR
Integrate Okteto with Gitlab's Review Apps to get production-like live previews for every merge request without manual steps. Code reviews will become more thorough, collaboration will be more fluid, and confidence will be higher.
⚡ Streamlined CI/CD Workflows
Pre-configured environments aligned with GitLab pipelines reduce flakiness and accelerate test cycles. You can even run the same tests from Gitlab CI and from Okteto using the same configuration, reducing CI cycles.
📉 Lower TCO of Internal Tooling
Your platform team can focus on higher-leverage work by removing the need to maintain bespoke scripts or homegrown environment managers.
Developer Productivity Starts with the Environment
If your developers are blocked by slow setup, broken local stacks, or inconsistent environments, your throughput suffers. GitLab gets your code to production and Okteto gets your team there faster.
The best platform teams don’t just optimize pipelines; they remove friction end-to-end.
Try It Yourself
Modern platform teams are adopting GitLab and Okteto together to:
- Reduce cycle time across the SDLC
- Empower developers with cloud-native workflows
- Accelerate onboarding for new engineering hires
- Enforce standards without slowing anyone down
Ready to see what’s possible when your environments are as automated as your pipelines? Book a demo with our team.
