Software delivery has evolved from manual deployments to automated CI/CD pipelines and now to GitOps. Both DevOps and GitOps share the goal of delivering reliable software quickly, but they differ in how deployments are executed and where the source of truth lives. This overview introduces the key concepts and provides links to detailed, step‑by‑step guides for each pipeline.

Push vs pull deployment models

In a traditional DevOps pipeline, a CI/CD tool builds the application, pushes container images to a registry and pushes the updated manifests directly into the cluster. This is sometimes called a push‑based approach【640607256036994†L116-L129】. By contrast, GitOps treats Git as the single source of truth and uses an agent inside the cluster to pull changes from a configuration repository【87887131674625†L150-L156】. The difference can be summarized as follows:

  • Source of truth – In a DevOps pipeline the desired state may be spread across pipeline scripts, deployment files and the running cluster. In GitOps the desired state (manifests and Helm charts) is stored in Git, making it versioned and immutable【640607256036994†L116-L129】.
  • Deployment control – DevOps pipelines push changes directly to the cluster using credentials and kubectl/Helm commands【453623821885254†L190-L204】. GitOps uses a pull‑based agent such as Argo CD or Flux to reconcile the cluster with the state in Git【525239033752059†L296-L312】.
  • Security and auditability – GitOps avoids storing cluster credentials in the CI system and provides an audit trail of configuration changes through Git history【640607256036994†L116-L129】.

For more on push vs pull approaches, Harness notes that GitOps has both push and pull variants but emphasizes the pull approach in which an agent watches the repository and syncs changes automatically【87887131674625†L150-L156】.

When to choose DevOps or GitOps

A push‑based DevOps pipeline is simple to set up and is suitable when:

  • You manage a small number of clusters or non‑Kubernetes environments.
  • Your team already trusts a CI/CD system with cluster credentials.
  • You need rapid iterations without an extra GitOps operator.

GitOps is often the better choice when:

  • You run Kubernetes in production and want all cluster configuration version‑controlled.
  • You need to enforce change management via pull requests and code reviews.
  • Your security policies require avoiding permanent cluster credentials in CI pipelines.
  • You operate multiple clusters and want a single source of truth for their state.

Dive deeper

Ready to see the details? Check out the step‑by‑step guides for each pipeline:

Both guides include command‑line examples and discuss the tooling involved. By comparing them, you can decide whether to stick with a push‑based pipeline, adopt GitOps or combine the two for different workloads.