Gitea vs GitLab
Gitea and GitLab can both be self-hosted, but they sit at opposite ends of the weight scale. Gitea runs on very small hardware and still includes Actions and a package registry. GitLab is a full platform with pipelines, registry, security scanning and planning. Small teams wanting a light Git server pick Gitea; organisations wanting one consolidated toolchain pick GitLab.
Hannah ReiterSenior Analyst, Business Applications
Elena Marchetti
Niels AbrahamsenVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Gitea ifyou are a small team that wants to self-host on modest hardware, keep your GitHub Actions workflows largely intact, and avoid running a heavy platform.
Choose GitLab ifyou want CI/CD, container registry, security scanning and issue planning in one product under one permission model, with a free hosted tier and a published Premium price.
Gitea and GitLab side by side
| Gitea | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Our version control software rank | #6 of 11 | #1 of 11 |
| Established in | Not disclosed by the vendor | United States |
| Pricing | 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 | Free tier, capped at 5 users per private group on GitLab.com; Premium $29 per user per month billed annually, published; Ultimate custom priced |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Self-hosted open source edition free; Enterprise shown at $9.50 to $19 per user per month, one-year commitment with online payment | Premium: $29 per user per month, billed annually |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
Both are reviewed in full in our version control software ranking: Gitea and GitLab.
Where they differ
Gitea 2 · GitLab 2 · open 0- 01
Installation and hardware
Gitea's documentation says 2 CPU cores and 1 GB of RAM is typically enough for a small team, and that a Raspberry Pi 3 can run small workloads. GitLab's documentation sets 8 vCPU and 16 GB of memory as the single-server baseline, with 8 GB as the floor in constrained environments. Standing up GitLab for a five-person team is a known mistake. On operational weight, Gitea wins.
Edge: Gitea
- 02
How much the platform covers
Gitea is broader than its size suggests: the open source edition lists issues, pull requests, project management, Actions and a package registry that includes containers. GitLab adds what Gitea does not list, above all security scanning, with basic SAST, secret detection and container scanning on every tier and fuller tooling in Ultimate, all under one permission model. For consolidation, GitLab leads.
Edge: GitLab
- 03
Arriving from GitHub
Gitea describes its Actions as compatible with GitHub Actions and documents a short list of gaps, so existing automation mostly carries over. GitLab's importer brings repositories, issues and pull requests across, but every GitHub Actions workflow is rewritten as a GitLab CI pipeline. Since pipelines, not repositories, set the cost of a move, a team leaving GitHub has less to redo with Gitea.
Edge: Gitea
- 04
Buying it hosted
GitLab.com publishes a Free tier for up to five users per private group and Premium at $29 per user per month, billed annually; Ultimate is custom-priced. Gitea Cloud is a managed single-tenant instance in the region you choose, with a 30-day free trial, but the Gitea pricing page shows a figure only for the self-hosted Enterprise edition. For a small hosted team, GitLab is easier to budget.
Edge: GitLab
When neither fits
If you do not want to self-host and mostly want the largest ecosystem of Actions and integrations, GitHub fits better than either. If you like Gitea's lightness but want community governance under a non-profit, Forgejo is the fork built for that.
Gitea or GitLab: questions
4 answersIs Gitea enough for a small team, or do we need GitLab?
For a small team that mainly needs Git hosting with pull requests, issues, packages and some automation, Gitea is usually enough and far lighter to run. GitLab earns its weight when you need security scanning and planning in the same product under one permission model.
Which is easier to move to from GitHub, Gitea or GitLab?
Gitea. Its Actions are built for GitHub Actions compatibility, so most automation carries over, with documented exceptions. With GitLab, each workflow must be rewritten as a GitLab CI pipeline, although its GitHub importer does bring issues and pull requests along with the repositories.
Are Gitea and GitLab both free to self-host?
Yes. Gitea's open source edition is free under the MIT licence, with an Enterprise edition shown at $9.50 to $19 per user per month.
GitLab offers its Free tier as a self-managed install, with Premium at $29 per user per month. GitLab's hidden cost is the larger server and the upkeep.
What hardware do Gitea and GitLab need?
Gitea's documentation calls 2 CPU cores and 1 GB of RAM typically sufficient for small teams.
GitLab's documentation gives 8 vCPU and 16 GB of memory as the baseline for a single server, and says it can operate with at least 8 GB in resource-limited environments.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Gitea documentation: Gitea licence, hardware guidance, package registry and Actions.
- 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.
- GitLab pricing page: GitLab Premium price, custom-priced Ultimate, Free tier limits, scanning per tier and self-managed availability.
- GitLab documentation: installation requirements: the CPU and memory baseline for self-managed GitLab.
- GitLab documentation: import from GitHub: what the GitHub importer carries over to GitLab.