Why people self-host Gitea
Gitea is a compact Git service with a broad user base and straightforward administration. It covers repository hosting, pull requests, issues, packages, and integrations without demanding a large server.
The tradeoff is a smaller all-in-one DevOps surface than GitLab. Validate runner strategy and backup procedures before moving critical repos.
What Gitea does well
- Repositories, pull requests, issues, wikis, and project boards in an interface that feels familiar to GitHub users.
- Gitea Actions, a built-in CI system that reuses most GitHub Actions workflow syntax.
- Registries for containers, npm, Maven, PyPI, and other package formats.
- Repository mirroring in both directions, handy for keeping a GitHub copy in sync.
Who Gitea is for
Gitea is the easy answer for a personal Git server or a small team's private code hosting. It runs on a Raspberry Pi, installs in minutes, and rarely needs attention. Teams that want one product for planning, security scanning, and deployment will outgrow it and should look at GitLab.
Deployment notes
Gitea is listed with support signals for linux, docker, windows. Check the upstream documentation before exposing it to the internet, review authentication defaults, and keep backups outside the primary host.
Download one Go binary or use the Docker image. Pick SQLite for a handful of users or PostgreSQL for more. Memory use sits in the low hundreds of megabytes. CI is optional and needs a separate runner process called act_runner. For backups, the built-in dump command bundles repositories, database, and configuration into one archive. Run it on a schedule and copy the result off the machine.
Common questions about Gitea
Gitea vs GitLab: which should I self-host?
Gitea if you mainly need Git hosting and code review and want something light. GitLab if you want integrated CI/CD, a registry, and planning tools, and have a server with 8 GB of RAM or more to give it.
Is Gitea compatible with GitHub Actions?
Largely. Gitea Actions runs most workflows unchanged and can pull many marketplace actions, though some GitHub-specific features and contexts behave differently.
Other self-hosted code hosting apps
- Forgejo: Community-driven lightweight Git forge for repositories and collaboration.
- GitLab CE: Complete DevSecOps platform with Git hosting, CI, registry, and planning.
Compare them side by side in the code hosting category.