Forgejo vs Gitea
Forgejo began as a fork of Gitea and has been a hard fork since early 2024, so the two now develop separately. Forgejo is community-governed, backed by the non-profit Codeberg e.V., and ships only free software under GPL v3 or later. Gitea is MIT-licensed, controlled by a company, and adds a paid Enterprise edition and a managed cloud.
Vendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Forgejo ifcommunity governance backed by a non-profit matters to you, you plan to self-host anyway, and you want a project that ships free software only, with no paid edition.
Choose Gitea ifyou want the original project under the MIT licence, Actions built for GitHub Actions compatibility, or the option of paid Enterprise support and a managed Gitea Cloud instance.
Forgejo and Gitea side by side
| Forgejo | Gitea | |
|---|---|---|
| Our version control software rank | #8 of 11 | #6 of 11 |
| Established in | Germany | Not disclosed by the vendor |
| Pricing | Free and open source under GPL v3 or later; no paid edition | Free and open source to self-host; self-hosted Enterprise shown at $9.50 per user per month (list $19) on a one-year commitment, published; Gitea Cloud priced separately |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Free and open source software; no paid edition | Self-hosted open source edition free; Enterprise shown at $9.50 to $19 per user per month, one-year commitment with online payment |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
Both are reviewed in full in our version control software ranking: Forgejo and Gitea.
Where they differ
Forgejo 1 · Gitea 2 · open 1- 01
Who controls the project
Forgejo was forked because Gitea's commercial ownership made some maintainers uneasy. Its governance is defined by its contributors, and Codeberg e.V., a Berlin non-profit association, holds the domains and provides resources. Gitea is owned by CommitGo, Inc., which publishes no address or place of business on its own site. For buyers who weigh stewardship and transparency, Forgejo gives the clearer answer.
Edge: Forgejo
- 02
A hosted or supported option
Gitea sells two commercial routes: Gitea Cloud, a managed single-tenant instance deployed in the cloud region you choose with a 30-day free trial, and a self-hosted Enterprise edition shown at $9.50 to $19 per user per month with SAML single sign-on, audit logs and priority support. Forgejo states that it consists of free software only and has no paid edition, so you operate it yourself.
Edge: Gitea
- 03
Licence and open core
Forgejo has been licensed under GPL v3 or later since version 9.0; earlier releases were MIT. Gitea's open source edition remains MIT, while features such as SAML single sign-on and audit logs are listed under its paid Enterprise edition. Copyleft with everything in the free release, or a permissive licence with a commercial tier: which is better depends on your legal and procurement preferences.
Depends on the buyer
- 04
Reusing GitHub Actions workflows
Gitea describes its Actions as compatible with GitHub Actions and documents the gaps, such as ignored problem matchers and the environment key on jobs. Forgejo's documentation says its Actions are meant to feel familiar to GitHub Actions users but are not designed to be compatible, and that migrated workflows will probably need small adjustments. For carrying automation over from GitHub, Gitea makes the firmer commitment.
Edge: Gitea
When neither fits
A team that needs security scanning, a container registry and planning in one platform has outgrown both and should look at GitLab. An open source project that does not want to run a server can use Codeberg, which is free non-profit hosting.
Forgejo or Gitea: questions
4 answersWhat is the actual difference between Forgejo and Gitea?
Governance, licence and business model. Forgejo is a hard fork governed by its contributors with backing from the non-profit Codeberg e.V., licensed GPL v3 or later and free software only. Gitea is MIT-licensed, owned by CommitGo, Inc., and sells an Enterprise edition and Gitea Cloud.
Can I switch from Gitea to Forgejo?
Within limits. Forgejo's upgrade guide supports moving from Gitea up to and including version 1.22: upgrade to Forgejo 10.0 first, then to any newer Forgejo release.
The guide gives no such path for later Gitea versions, so an instance already past 1.22 cannot count on an in-place upgrade.
Are Forgejo and Gitea both free?
Both are free to self-host. Forgejo has no paid edition at all.
Gitea's open source edition is free, its Enterprise edition is shown at $9.50 to $19 per user per month with a one-year commitment for online payment, and Gitea Cloud is a managed service with a 30-day free trial.
Do GitHub Actions workflows run on Forgejo and Gitea?
Gitea states that its Actions are compatible with GitHub Actions and lists the exceptions in its documentation.
Forgejo says its Actions are familiar to GitHub Actions users but not designed for compatibility, and expects minimal tweaking when a workflow is migrated. Test your own workflows on either before committing.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Forgejo comparison with Gitea: the hard fork, free software only policy and other stated differences.
- Forgejo FAQ: Forgejo licence and governance.
- Forgejo Actions documentation: Forgejo Actions being familiar to GitHub Actions users but not designed to be compatible.
- Forgejo upgrade guide: the supported upgrade path from Gitea to Forgejo.
- Gitea pricing page: the free open source edition and the Enterprise price range and extras.
- Gitea Cloud product page: Gitea Cloud being a managed single-tenant service with a 30-day trial.
- Gitea Actions comparison with GitHub Actions: Gitea Actions aiming at GitHub Actions compatibility, with listed gaps.