Gitea
Gitea is a lightweight, open-source, self-hosted Git forge that provides repository hosting, code review, issue tracking, basic CI/CD, and team collaboration with low resource and cost overhead. It is an all-in-one software development service for Git, implemented in Go, offering Git hosting, pull/merge requests, issues, wikis, a package registry, and built-in CI-like automation under an MIT license.
It is best for individuals, small engineering teams, and organizations that need control, low cost, or data residency. Gitea removes cloud vendor lock-in, centralizes code and lightweight automation, and provides a smaller-footprint alternative to GitHub or GitLab for non-enterprise-scale projects.
Use Cases
- Home lab or personal server Git hosting for private projects.
- Side projects and hobby apps with private repositories.
- Dotfiles and personal tooling under your own control.
- Small collaborative projects using issues, PRs, and wikis.
- Private package hosting for internal scripts and artifacts.
- Source control for small-to-medium teams with basic CI.
Strengths
- Reliable Git operations and familiar branch-based workflows.
- Pull/merge requests with code review and traceability.
- Issue tracking, labels, and lightweight backlog management.
- Built-in CI/CD (actions-like) and webhook automation.
- Wiki and project documentation hosted alongside repositories.
- Package registry support for internal packages and artifacts.
- Authentication integration: OAuth, LDAP, basic SSO, and 2FA.
- Low resource footprint, no license fees, predictable self-host cost.
- Easy to run on Coolify; assume self-host setup trivial.
Limitations
- Lacks advanced enterprise features like analytics and compliance.
- Smaller third-party ecosystem than GitHub or GitLab.
- You are responsible for uptime, security, and backups.
- Operational risk if your team lacks DevOps resources.
- Migration effort exists if moving to a different platform later.
- Provider SLA or managed-host residency claims are (Unverified).
Final Thoughts
Try it now if your team is small-to-medium, needs data residency, or values low-cost control. Wait if you require advanced enterprise compliance, analytics, or cannot staff self-host operations.
A managed cloud makes sense when you need enterprise features, broader integrations, or outsourced operations; it adds vendor SLAs and reduced operations burden (verify provider claims).