It's not "nothing". When you have to pay that per team member, it adds up to a vast sum very quickly. Especially when you're required to pay that for everyone using GitLab, even just to use issues or download build artefacts. That's a complete rip-off.
If you consider whether that is delivering value for money, well that's for each team/company to consider. For some I'm sure it is. But for many, and I include myself in this category, it's not value for money given the features and services delivered for the eye-watering cost hikes. It's also not competitive with what other companies are offering, and most of it can be achieved with discrete tools which are of much better quality and which cost less. Their goal of being a total integrated solution is fine--but I'm not sure most people actually wanted that--and that large breadth has come at the expense of depth and much of their offering is better served by more specialised tools. They need to refocus on the basics people want and will pay for, and be competitive by charging the going rate for that instead of 5x the true value.
I'm not averse to paying for what I use. I personally pay for all of the JetBrains products along with some other subscriptions. And my employer pays for other stuff I use for work use. I used to pay for GitLab, but I dropped my subscription because they were asking for too much. The cost has to be commensurate with the value delivered. I get a great deal of value from my JetBrains subscription which I use constantly. GitLab is not currently remotely competitive. Fix that, and I'll resubscribe.
If you consider whether that is delivering value for money, well that's for each team/company to consider. For some I'm sure it is. But for many, and I include myself in this category, it's not value for money given the features and services delivered for the eye-watering cost hikes. It's also not competitive with what other companies are offering, and most of it can be achieved with discrete tools which are of much better quality and which cost less. Their goal of being a total integrated solution is fine--but I'm not sure most people actually wanted that--and that large breadth has come at the expense of depth and much of their offering is better served by more specialised tools. They need to refocus on the basics people want and will pay for, and be competitive by charging the going rate for that instead of 5x the true value.
I'm not averse to paying for what I use. I personally pay for all of the JetBrains products along with some other subscriptions. And my employer pays for other stuff I use for work use. I used to pay for GitLab, but I dropped my subscription because they were asking for too much. The cost has to be commensurate with the value delivered. I get a great deal of value from my JetBrains subscription which I use constantly. GitLab is not currently remotely competitive. Fix that, and I'll resubscribe.