Gitea vs Gogs
Both are alternatives to GitHub. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Gogs vs Gitea — same comparison, one verdict.
Gitea and Gogs are closely matched on ownership (98 vs 96) — this one comes down to pricing and to which trade-offs below you can live with.
Gitea
Popular, easy-to-run self-hosted Git service.
Gitea is a fast, lightweight Git forge written in Go and released under the permissive MIT license. It provides repository hosting, pull requests, code review, issue tracking, a package registry across many formats, and GitHub-Actions-compatible CI via Gitea Actions. It has the largest community and third-party ecosystem among the open forges and installs in minutes from a single binary or container. It is stewarded by the for-profit CommitGo, Inc., which also offers paid Gitea Enterprise and Gitea Cloud offerings alongside the open-source core.
Gogs
Ultra-lightweight, painless self-hosted Git service.
Gogs is a minimal, self-hosted Git service written in Go and released under the MIT license — the project Gitea was originally forked from. Its goal is to be the simplest and most resource-frugal way to run your own Git server, shipping as a single binary that runs on almost anything, including low-power ARM devices. It covers the essentials (repositories, issues, pull requests, webhooks) but moves more slowly and offers fewer features than Gitea, Forgejo, or GitLab.
Side by side
10 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| Gitea | Gogs | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 98 | 96 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first data | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Pricing | Free / self-host (optional paid Enterprise and Cloud tiers) | Free / self-host |
| RAM to run it wellThe figure that actually matters, not the vendor's minimum. | 2 GB | 1 GB for Gogs plus a database. The README says memory use stays low as teams grow |
| Realistic running costWhat the box costs each month if you run it yourself. | $12/mo for a team of 10 on a 2 GB VPS | $5–6/mo for a 5–20 user instance on a 1 GB VPS |
| Setup timeHonest first-install estimate, not the marketing quickstart. | 45 minutes | 20 minutes with Docker or the binary and the first-run web installer |
| Ongoing maintenanceThe part nobody budgets for. | Low. Version upgrades are usually a binary swap. Back up the repo directory and the database together or the backup is useless. | There were no releases from February 2023 to December 2024. Since then releases have come as batches of security fixes (0.13.2 Dec 2024, 0.13.3 Jun 2025, 0.13.4 Jan 2026, 0.14.x Feb–Jun 2026). Watch the advisories and patch the same week. |
Gitea edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Weighing both against staying on GitHub? Is GitHub free? What it actually costs →
Gitea
Strengths
- +Largest community and third-party ecosystem of the open forges
- +Permissive MIT license; simple single-binary or container install
- +Very light on resources — comfortable on modest hardware
- +GitHub-Actions-compatible CI, package registry, OAuth/LDAP, and a mature REST API
Trade-offs
- −Steered by a for-profit company (CommitGo) with paid Enterprise/Cloud tiers, a mild governance consideration versus a non-profit steward
- −Self-hosting means you handle backups, upgrades, and security yourself
- −Advanced enterprise features (e.g. SSO auto-scaling runners) are reserved for the paid Enterprise edition
- −Issue/PR and workflow data still need conversion when migrating between platforms
Gogs
Strengths
- +Extremely lightweight — runs on minimal hardware, including a Raspberry Pi or ARM board
- +Permissive MIT license and a simple single-binary install
- +Low maintenance footprint for small teams and personal use
- +Standard Git under the hood keeps code and history fully portable
Trade-offs
- −Slower release cadence and a smaller maintainer team than Gitea or Forgejo
- −Fewer features (no built-in Actions-style CI; lighter package/registry support)
- −Smaller community and integration ecosystem
- −Self-hosting responsibilities (backups, upgrades, security) rest with you
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose Gitea
if a lower exit cost matters more to you than any single feature, and largest community and third-party ecosystem of the open forges.
Choose Gogs
if extremely lightweight — runs on minimal hardware, including a Raspberry Pi or ARM board.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — steered by a for-profit company (CommitGo) with paid Enterprise/Cloud tiers, a mild governance consideration versus a non-profit steward, and slower release cadence and a smaller maintainer team than Gitea or Forgejo. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
What it takes to run these yourself
Real requirements and honest running costs, not the vendor quickstart.
Gitea vs Gogs — common questions
Is Gitea a better fit than Gogs for code hosting & git forges?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: Gitea scores 98 to Gogs's 96 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Gogs earns its place on a different axis — extremely lightweight — runs on minimal hardware, including a Raspberry Pi or ARM board. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
Gitea keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Gogs is still self-hostable, so the files stay on your server either way — but it is not local-first by design, so check what its export produces before you rely on it.
Can I self-host Gitea or Gogs?
Both can be self-hosted. The difference is what it costs you in time rather than whether it is possible — see the setup and maintenance rows above.
Are Gitea and Gogs both alternatives to GitHub?
Yes — both appear in our GitHub comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off GitHub and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-07-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.