What to look for in a continuous integration tool

What this post added

This post introduces the core considerations for selecting a CI/CD tool, including hosting options (SaaS vs. on-premise), licensing models (open source vs. commercial), the importance of integrations with other development tools (like issue boards), and the value of visualizing the release process (e.g., with Review Apps and Deploy Boards). It then maps these considerations to GitLab's offerings, highlighting its self-managed and hosted options, free and enterprise editions, and built-in visualization features like CI/CD Pipelines, Review Apps, and Prometheus monitoring.