GitLab vs Gitea

A comparison of GitLab and Gitea for teams that need Git repository hosting, CI/CD, and issue tracking without paying for seats they don't need.

Updated 2026-09 · 2026

GitLab

DevOps platform with built-in CI/CD, security scanning, and project management

Free / $29 per user/month (Premium) / $99 per user/month (Ultimate)user/month

Strengths

+Built-in CI/CD pipelines with no extra plugin setup
+Integrated issue boards, epics, and wikis in one product
+Security and compliance scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning) in paid tiers

Weaknesses

-Per-seat pricing gets expensive fast as teams grow
-Self-hosted (Omnibus) install is resource-heavy compared to Gitea
-Many useful features (advanced security, compliance) locked behind Ultimate

Best for

Mid-to-large teams that want CI/CD, security scanning, and project management bundled into one paid platform

Gitea

Self-hosted lightweight Git service and repository management platform

Free (self-hosted, open source)self-hosted

Strengths

+Completely free and open source, no per-seat licensing
+Very lightweight — runs on a Raspberry Pi or a $5/mo VPS
+Simple, fast UI similar to early GitHub

Weaknesses

-No official managed SaaS hosting — you run and patch the server yourself
-Security scanning, compliance, and advanced audit features are minimal or absent
-Smaller ecosystem of integrations and marketplace apps than GitLab

Best for

Small teams, solo developers, and self-hosters who want a free, low-maintenance Git server without enterprise overhead

Feature Comparison

Feature	GitLab	Gitea
Self-hosted option	Yes (Omnibus/Helm, resource-heavy)	Yes (single binary, lightweight)
Managed SaaS	gitlab.com	None official
Free tier CI/CD	Yes, 400 min/month shared runners	Yes, unlimited via self-hosted Actions runners
Issue tracking / boards	Full-featured (epics, boards, milestones)	Basic issues, labels, milestones
Built-in wiki	Yes	Yes
Security scanning (SAST/DAST)	Yes, paid tiers	No native support
Container registry	Yes, built-in	Yes, built-in
Pull/merge request review tools	Advanced (approvals, code owners)	Basic reviews and approvals
Resource footprint	High (multi-GB RAM recommended)	Low (runs on <1GB RAM)
Cost at 20 users	$580/mo (Premium) or $1,980/mo (Ultimate)	$0 licensing + hosting cost only
LDAP/SSO support	Yes, all tiers vary by feature	Yes, free
License	Open core (proprietary paid tiers)	Fully open source (MIT)

The Verdict

GitLab wins if you want CI/CD, security scanning, and project management bundled into a managed platform and are willing to pay per seat. Gitea wins if you just need reliable Git hosting and basic CI without licensing costs — it does 80% of what most small teams use GitLab for, on a fraction of the hardware. For teams under 15-20 people just hosting code and running basic pipelines, Gitea is the more rational default.

How to switch from GitLab to Gitea

1Export each GitLab project via Settings > General > Advanced > Export project to get a .tar.gz archive containing repo data, issues, and merge requests, or simply mirror repos with `git clone --mirror <gitlab-url>` for the raw Git history.
2Install Gitea (single binary, Docker, or Helm chart) on your target server and create an organization matching your GitLab group structure.
3Use Gitea's built-in Migrate Repository feature (New Migration > GitLab) to pull repos, issues, labels, and pull requests directly via the GitLab API, or push mirrored repos with `git push --mirror` if you only need code history.
4Recreate CI/CD pipelines as Gitea Actions workflows (`.gitea/workflows/*.yml`) — most GitHub Actions syntax works unchanged, so GitLab CI YAML needs manual rewriting into that format.
5Rebuild webhooks and integrations (Slack, deploy hooks, issue trackers) in each repo's Settings > Webhooks, since GitLab's integration config doesn't carry over automatically.
6Update local git remotes for every developer (`git remote set-url origin <new-gitea-url>`) and freeze the GitLab project (read-only) for 1-2 weeks before fully decommissioning it.

GitLab vs Gitea: common questions

How do I export my repos and issues from GitLab to move to Gitea?+

Repos migrate with a simple `git clone --mirror` and `git push --mirror` to the new Gitea remote — no special export format needed since it's plain Git. For issues, merge requests, and wikis, GitLab's project export feature (Settings > General > Advanced > Export project) produces a .tar.gz archive, but Gitea can't natively import GitLab's export format, so you'd typically use Gitea's built-in 'Migrate' tool which pulls repos, issues, and PRs directly from a GitLab instance via API.

What features do I lose by switching from GitLab to Gitea?+

You lose built-in SAST/DAST security scanning, epics/roadmaps, advanced compliance frameworks, and GitLab's managed SaaS hosting. CI/CD survives via Gitea Actions (GitHub Actions-compatible), but GitLab's more mature pipeline visualization and merge train features have no equivalent.

Is Gitea's free tier actually enough for a small team of 5-10 people?+

Yes — Gitea has no tiers or seat limits, so a team of 5-10 gets full Git hosting, issues, wikis, and Actions CI at zero licensing cost. The main cost is a small VPS ($5-20/month) to host it, since there's no managed SaaS option like gitlab.com.

Does Gitea integrate with the tools we already use, like Slack or Jira?+

Gitea supports webhooks (Slack, Discord, generic HTTP) and has some third-party integrations, but its integration marketplace is much smaller than GitLab's. Jira integration exists but is community-maintained and less polished than GitLab's native Jira sync.

Will switching to Gitea actually save us money long-term?+

For teams paying for GitLab Premium or Ultimate, yes — a 20-person team on Premium pays roughly $7,000/year in licensing, versus near-zero for Gitea plus maybe $100-300/year in hosting. The tradeoff is you take on server maintenance and lose enterprise security/compliance tooling, so factor in your own ops time.