GitOps vs Traditional DevOps: When to Use Each

Imagine a scenario where your team is rushing to deploy a critical bug fix, but miscommunication leads to the wrong version being pushed live. This kind of chaos can be avoided through streamlined deployment processes.

In 2025, with increasing complexity in software architectures and continuous delivery demands, choosing the right approach between GitOps and traditional DevOps becomes crucial for maintaining stability and efficiency.

By the end of this blog post, you'll understand the differences between GitOps and Traditional DevOps, their strengths and weaknesses, and when to use each method.

Understanding GitOps

GitOps is a framework that uses Git as the single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and applications. It automates deployments by synchronizing code repositories with production environments.

At its core, GitOps emphasizes automation and consistency in infrastructure management.

# Example GitOps configuration using FluxCD
apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: Kustomization
metadata:
  name: example-app
spec:
  interval: 5m
  path: ./deployments/production
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: example-repo

This YAML snippet defines a FluxCD Kustomization that syncs production configurations from a Git repository every 5 minutes.

Traditional DevOps

Traditional DevOps focuses on collaboration between development and operations teams to deliver software quickly and reliably. It encompasses practices like continuous integration, continuous deployment (CI/CD), automated testing, and infrastructure as code (IaC).

This approach emphasizes human interaction in the release process.

# Example Jenkins pipeline configuration for traditional CI/CD
pipeline {
  agent any
  stages {
    stage('Build') {
      steps {
        sh 'make build'
      }
    }
    stage('Test') {
      steps {
        sh 'make test'
      }
    }
    stage('Deploy') {
      steps {
        sh 'make deploy'
      }
    }
  }
}

This Jenkinsfile defines a CI/CD pipeline with stages for building, testing, and deploying applications.

Key Differences

Automation Level

GitOps automates the entire deployment process through Git, reducing manual intervention. Traditional DevOps relies more on scripts and human oversight.

# Automating deployments in GitOps
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/example/repo/main/deployments/production/k8s-config.yaml

In contrast, traditional DevOps might involve manual steps like SSHing into servers to deploy updates.

Source of Truth

GitOps uses Git repositories as the single source of truth for infrastructure and application configurations. Traditional DevOps typically spreads configuration across various tools and systems.

# Single source of truth in GitOps
repositories:
  - url: https://github.com/example/repo.git
    branch: main

Deployment Consistency

GitOps ensures that the state of production environments always matches what's defined in the Git repository. Traditional DevOps may have discrepancies due to manual changes.

# Ensuring consistency with GitOps tools like ArgoCD
argocd app sync example-app

Benefits and Trade-offs

GitOps Advantages

Consistency: Automatically synchronizes environments.
Auditability: All changes are tracked in Git history.
Scalability: Easier to manage large-scale deployments.

# Auditing changes in GitOps
git log --oneline --decorate

Traditional DevOps Advantages

Flexibility: Allows for more customized workflows.
Maturity: Established practices with wide adoption.
Integration: Works well with existing tools and processes.

# Customizing Jenkins pipelines
pipeline {
  agent any
  stages {
    stage('Custom Step') {
      steps {
        sh 'echo "Running custom step"'
      }
    }
  }
}

Use Cases

When to Use GitOps

Large-Scale Deployments: Ideal for managing numerous environments and services.
High Consistency Requirements: Ensures production matches desired state consistently.
Automated Infrastructure Management: Streamlines operations with less manual effort.

💡 Tip: Start small with GitOps by automating non-critical deployments first.

When to Use Traditional DevOps

Custom Workflows: Allows tailored processes for specific use cases.
Legacy Systems: Easier to integrate with existing infrastructure and tools.
Small Teams: Simpler workflows are suitable for smaller teams.

⚠️ Warning: Always test changes in staging environments before pushing to production.

Case Study: Choosing the Right Approach

Consider a fintech startup that requires highly consistent deployments across multiple regions. They choose GitOps due to its ability to ensure consistency and automate rollbacks, minimizing downtime risks.

Conversely, an e-commerce platform with a mature CI/CD pipeline and custom deployment scripts continues using traditional DevOps for flexibility and tailored workflows.

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Setup

Start by setting up the necessary tools for GitOps or Traditional DevOps. For GitOps, choose a tool like FluxCD or ArgoCD. For traditional DevOps, set up Jenkins or another CI/CD server.

# Installing ArgoCD
kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

Step 2: Configuration

Configure the chosen tools to match your team's requirements. For GitOps, define repositories and sync intervals. For traditional DevOps, create pipelines and scripts.

# Configuring Jenkins pipeline for traditional CI/CD
pipeline {
  agent any
  stages {
    stage('Build') {
      steps {
        sh 'make build'
      }
    }
    stage('Test') {
      steps {
        sh 'make test'
      }
    }
    stage('Deploy') {
      steps {
        sh 'make deploy'
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Monitoring

Implement monitoring and logging to track deployments and identify issues promptly. For GitOps, tools like Prometheus can monitor application performance. Traditional DevOps might use Jenkins logs or external monitoring solutions.

# Setting up Prometheus for monitoring in GitOps
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/v0.56.2/bundle.yaml

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Sync Failures: In GitOps, ensure all configurations are correct and repositories are accessible.
Pipeline Errors: In traditional DevOps, check Jenkins logs for errors in build or deployment steps.

Resolution Steps

Verify configuration files and repository access permissions.
Check logs for detailed error messages and stack traces.
Re-run failed stages or sync processes.

Conclusion

Both GitOps and Traditional DevOps offer unique benefits tailored to different organizational needs. Understanding their differences, strengths, and weaknesses is crucial for selecting the right approach.

Key Takeaways:

GitOps emphasizes automation and consistency using Git as the single source of truth.
Traditional DevOps focuses on collaboration and flexibility with established CI/CD practices.
Choose based on your team's specific requirements and existing infrastructure.