CloudgateTemplates Get Cloudgate

Open-source alternative to GitHub

Gitea is a free, open-source GitHub alternative for hosting your team’s code, reviews and automatic builds. GitHub’s team plans charge per user; self-hosted Gitea has no per-user price, and your code never leaves your server.

1 alternative Free app Our pick: Gitea

At a glance

App Good for Code Import from GitHub Ease of use
Gitea Small teams that want private code hosting with reviews and builds Code Open source Import from GitHub Yes Easy

Why look for an alternative to GitHub?

GitHub, owned by Microsoft, is the largest home for code: Git repositories, pull requests, issues, Actions for builds, packages and a huge open-source community.

Teams look for an alternative when they want private code on their own server, for client confidentiality, compliance or simple control. Paid GitHub plans are charged per user, and private repositories get a monthly allowance of Actions minutes and package storage. A self-hosted Gitea keeps your code on your own server, with no price per user and build machines you run yourself.

How Gitea compares

Gitea

Host your team's code and reviews on your own server.

Covers everyday GitHub work on your own server: repositories, pull requests with reviews, issues, labels, milestones, a wiki, releases, a package registry and Actions for automatic builds in the GitHub Actions format. It is light enough for a small server.

What you gain
  • No price per user, however big the team gets
  • Your code never leaves your server
  • Fast even on a small server
What is different
  • Fewer add-ons and integrations than GitHub
  • Automatic builds need a separate build machine connected to it
  • Developers push and pull over HTTPS; this setup does not offer Git over SSH
Easy Open source · MIT
Deploy Gitea About Gitea

Moving from GitHub

Use Gitea's built-in migration with a GitHub access token. It copies each repository's code and history, and can also bring its issues, pull requests, labels, milestones, releases and wiki. Then update each developer's remote address. Existing GitHub Actions workflows usually run in Gitea Actions with few changes, once you connect a runner.

Questions

What is the best open-source alternative to GitHub?

Gitea is the free, open-source alternative to GitHub for hosting code in the catalogue today. Covers everyday GitHub work on your own server: repositories, pull requests with reviews, issues, labels, milestones, a wiki, releases, a package registry and Actions for automatic builds in the GitHub Actions format. It is light enough for a small server.

Do GitHub Actions workflows work in Gitea?

Mostly. Gitea Actions uses the same workflow format and many of the same actions; it needs a runner, a machine that does the builds, connected to it.

Can we keep using GitHub for open-source projects?

Yes. Many teams keep public projects on GitHub for its community and host private code on Gitea; Gitea can also mirror repositories.

Is it really free?

Yes, the app is free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.

Do I need a developer?

No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.