The best self-hosted Git server in 2026
Hosting your own Git is the classic developer sovereignty move — your code, your CI minutes, your rules. The 2026 field has a clear light-vs-heavy split, plus a governance fork worth understanding.
Gitea
The pragmatic default: GitHub-familiar UI, pull requests, issues, packages and built-in CI (Actions-compatible), all in a single lightweight binary that runs happily on 1 GB of RAM.
Forgejo
The community fork of Gitea (born 2022 over governance concerns, now hard-forked): same DNA, developed under Codeberg's nonprofit umbrella. Choose it if community governance matters to you; feature-wise the two are still close.
GitLab CE
The enterprise suite: built-in CI/CD, registry, security scanning and project management — genuinely more capable, and genuinely heavy (plan 4+ GB RAM before it is comfortable). Self-host it when you need the platform, not just Git.
Gitea. Gitea for most teams — 90% of the daily GitHub workflow at 10% of the resource cost. GitLab only if you will actually use its platform features.
Every app above is open-source — you can run it yourself on a VPS, or let us run it for you: one click, your own subdomain, TLS, daily encrypted backups, EU data centers, operated from Switzerland. Free trial, no credit card.
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