# Gitea

> A light self hosted Git forge with issues, pull requests and CI

Category: Self hosted apps (https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted)
Canonical page: https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted/gitea
Tags: git, code-hosting, ci, devops, go

Gitea is a self hosted Git service with repositories, issues, pull requests, a package registry and Actions compatible CI, in one Go binary. It is MIT licensed, and Forgejo is a community fork worth comparing before you choose.

## Facts

- Licence: MIT
- Language: Go
- Cost: Free core, paid tiers exist
- Self hostable: yes
- Added: 2026-10-25
- Last checked: 2026-10-25

## Links

- Website: https://gitea.com
- Source: https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea

## A GitHub shaped place for your code

It covers the daily loop: push, review, merge, track issues, publish packages. Gitea Actions runs workflows written in the same format as GitHub Actions, so many existing workflows work with small changes, given a runner.

It can also mirror repositories from GitHub, which is a cheap way to keep your own copy of everything you depend on. For private projects it removes any question about who can read your code.

## Choosing and running it

A small instance is light, a single binary or container with SQLite or PostgreSQL. CI is the heavy part, because runners need CPU, RAM and disk for builds, and running them on the same host as everything else needs care.

In 2022 a company took over the project's governance, and the community fork Forgejo was born. Both are actively developed. Compare them on license direction and governance, then back up the repositories and database either way, because a forge is where your code lives.

## Reach for it when

- you want private repositories on your own hardware
- you want GitHub Actions style CI without GitHub
- you want mirrors of the repositories you depend on

## Watch out for

- CI runners are resource heavy and need isolation from your other services
- a public instance attracts spam accounts, so keep registration closed
- governance changed in 2022, so compare it with the Forgejo fork before choosing

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