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GitHub vs Gitea

GitHub is a paid Git hosting service with a free plan [S1]. Gitea is a self-hosted Git service with its code on GitHub under the MIT License [S2]. We checked every figure on this page against the vendors' own pages on 17 Oct 2026. Prices are as GitHub and the other vendors showed them on that date.

GitHub vs Gitea at a glance

GitHub and Gitea compared, from the vendors' own pages and the GitHub API
GitHubGitea
LicenseNot documented on the pages we readMIT, SPDX MIT [S2]
Free optionFree plan, US$0 a month [S1]Code under MIT [S2]
Paid plansTeam US$4 and Enterprise from US$21, per user a month, each shown "for the first 12 months" [S1]Not documented on the pages we read
CI minutes2,000 a month on Free, 3,000 on Team, 50,000 on Enterprise [S1]Not documented on the pages we read
GitHub starsNot applicable in our reading58,949 on 8 Nov 2026 [S3]
Last code pushNot applicable in our reading8 Nov 2026 [S3]

What is Gitea?

Gitea's code is on GitHub at go-gitea/gitea. Its LICENSE file is the MIT License, and the GitHub API returns SPDX id MIT [S2]. The file credits "The Gitea Authors" and "The Gogs Authors" [S2]. The repo had 58,949 stars on 8 Nov 2026 [S3]. It is not archived, and the last push was on 8 Nov 2026 [S3].

GitHub vs Gitea pricing

GitHub Free costs US$0 a month [S1]. Its pricing page lists 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month on Free, and says minutes are "Free for public repositories" [S1]. GitHub Enterprise starts at US$21 per user a month, with 50,000 CI/CD minutes a month [S1]. GitHub Team costs US$4 per user a month and includes 3,000 CI/CD minutes a month [S1]. GitHub's comparison table shows both prices "for the first 12 months" and does not state the price after that [S1].

Gitea's code costs nothing to download under MIT [S2]. A Gitea paid plan is not documented on the pages we read. In our reading, a self-hosted Gitea costs you the server and the time to run it.

Self-hosting Gitea

Gitea's install guide says it "provides automatically updated Docker images within its Docker Hub organization." [S4]. Gitea's documentation says "2 CPU cores and 1GB RAM is typically sufficient for small teams/projects" [S8].

GitHub is the better fit when

  • You want hosted Git with a free plan [S1].
  • You want CI minutes included with the plan. Free includes 2,000 a month [S1].

Gitea is the better fit when

  • You want your Git service's code under the MIT License [S2].
  • You want to run it from Docker images the project keeps updated [S4].

Run Gitea on Railway

Railway lists a template by Heimdall for Gitea (railway.com/deploy/gitea) [S5]. Railway shows it as unverified [S5]. Railway verifies a template only when the maker of the technology "becomes a partner and reviews the template" [S9]. The template is "backed by a managed PostgreSQL database" [S5]. It was created on 11 Mar 2026 and had 19 projects on 17 Oct 2026 [S5]. Read the template page and its source before you deploy.

Affiliate disclosure: Forkshelf earns a commission if you sign up for Railway through the links marked "Paid link" on this page. This does not change the order or content of any comparison here.

To get started, create a Railway account (Paid link). The Free plan allows up to 1 vCPU and 0.5 GB RAM per service [S6]. The Hobby plan has a US$5 minimum usage per month, with US$5 of monthly usage credits included [S6][S10]. It allows up to 48 GB RAM per service [S6].

Railway is one option. Pricing on Railway is as of 17 Oct 2026.

Other GitHub alternatives

Forkshelf also lists Gogs (MIT), GitLab (MIT on Forkshelf) and GitBucket (Apache-2.0) [S7]. Each had a code push in the past 12 months as of 17 Oct 2026 [S7]. See the GitHub alternatives page for the full list.

FAQ

Is Gitea open source?
Its LICENSE file is the MIT License [S2].

Is GitHub free?
GitHub Free costs US$0 a month and includes 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month [S1].

How much does GitHub Enterprise cost?
From US$21 per user a month for the first 12 months, as of 17 Oct 2026 [S1]. GitHub does not state the later price.

How many GitHub stars does Gitea have?
58,949 on 8 Nov 2026 [S3].

Self-host guides

Sources (all fetched 17 Oct 2026)