Gitea vs Gogs: Lightweight Git Servers Compared

Unlike most forks that wither, Gitea took Gogs’ codebase in 2016 and built a substantially more capable Git forge on top of it. Gogs remains the minimalist original — stable, lightweight, and adequate for basic repository hosting. But Gitea now has CI/CD, package registries, and a community 10x larger.

Quick Verdict

Gitea is the better choice for new deployments. It has everything Gogs offers plus Actions CI/CD, package registries, project boards, OAuth2 provider capabilities, and a vastly more active development community. Gogs still works for simple Git hosting where you want the absolute smallest footprint — but the resource difference between them is minimal, while the feature gap is substantial.

Overview

Gogs launched in 2014 as a self-hosted Git service written in Go, designed to run on minimal hardware. It was (and is) maintained primarily by one developer. In 2016, a group of contributors forked Gogs to create Gitea, frustrated by the single-maintainer bottleneck on pull request reviews.

Since the fork, Gitea has grown to 500+ contributors and added major features — CI/CD (Gitea Actions), package registries, OAuth2 provider, and improved API compatibility with GitHub. Gogs continues to receive updates but at a much slower pace, focused on stability over feature expansion.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Gitea	Gogs
Docker image	gitea/gitea:1.25.4	gogs/gogs:0.14.2
Language	Go	Go
License	MIT	MIT
Contributors	500+	~50
Built-in CI/CD	Gitea Actions (GitHub Actions-compatible)	None
Package registry	Yes (npm, Maven, PyPI, Cargo, NuGet, Conan, etc.)	None
Container registry	Yes	None
Project boards	Yes (Kanban)	None
OAuth2 provider	Yes (act as identity provider)	No
Git LFS	Yes	Yes
Issue tracking	Yes (labels, milestones, assignees)	Yes (labels, milestones, assignees)
Pull requests	Yes (reviews, merge options, protected branches)	Yes (basic merge)
Wiki	Yes (Git-backed)	Yes (Git-backed)
Webhooks	Gitea, GitHub, Slack, Discord, Teams, Matrix, Telegram	Slack, Discord, Dingtalk
Database	SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, MSSQL	SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL
SSH access	Yes	Yes
Migration from GitHub	Yes (repos, issues, PRs, labels, milestones)	Yes (repos only)
API	REST + Swagger docs	REST (basic)
2FA	Yes (TOTP, WebAuthn)	Yes (TOTP)
LDAP/SMTP auth	Yes	Yes
Themes	Built-in dark/light + custom CSS	Limited
RAM (idle)	~80-120 MB	~50-80 MB

Installation Complexity

Both are Go binaries with similar deployment patterns. The Docker Compose is nearly identical:

Gitea

services:
  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea:1.25.4
    container_name: gitea
    environment:
      - USER_UID=1000
      - USER_GID=1000
      - GITEA__database__DB_TYPE=postgres
      - GITEA__database__HOST=gitea-db:5432
      - GITEA__database__NAME=gitea
      - GITEA__database__USER=gitea
      - GITEA__database__PASSWD=changeme-gitea-db-pass
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
      - "2222:22"
    depends_on:
      - gitea-db
    restart: unless-stopped

  gitea-db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    container_name: gitea-db
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=gitea
      - POSTGRES_USER=gitea
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme-gitea-db-pass
    volumes:
      - ./db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Gogs

services:
  gogs:
    image: gogs/gogs:0.14.2
    container_name: gogs
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
      - "2222:22"
    restart: unless-stopped

Gogs defaults to SQLite, making the minimal setup a single container. Gitea also supports SQLite but the PostgreSQL setup is recommended for anything beyond personal use.

Performance and Resource Usage

Metric	Gitea	Gogs
Docker image size	~110 MB	~80 MB
RAM (idle, SQLite)	~80 MB	~50 MB
RAM (idle, PostgreSQL)	~120 MB (+PostgreSQL)	~80 MB (+PostgreSQL)
RAM (under load)	~200-350 MB	~150-250 MB
CPU (idle)	Negligible	Negligible
Startup time	~5 seconds	~3 seconds
Disk (application)	~200 MB	~150 MB

Gogs is lighter, but the margin is 30-50 MB RAM — irrelevant on any modern server. Both run comfortably on a Raspberry Pi 4 or a $5 VPS.

The CI/CD Gap

This is where the fork diverged most significantly. Gitea Actions is a GitHub Actions-compatible CI/CD system. Deploy a runner container, define workflows in .gitea/workflows/ or .github/workflows/, and most GitHub Actions from the marketplace work with minimal changes.

Gogs has no CI/CD. You’d need an external system — Drone CI, Jenkins, or Woodpecker CI — adding deployment complexity and another service to maintain. For many developers, CI/CD is non-negotiable, and this alone decides the comparison.

Community and Development

Metric	Gitea	Gogs
GitHub stars	48K+	45K+
Active contributors	500+	~10-20
Release frequency	Monthly	Every 2-4 months
Governance	Multi-maintainer, Gitea Ltd.	Single primary maintainer
Ecosystem	Themes, plugins, Actions marketplace	Minimal

Gitea’s multi-maintainer model means PRs get reviewed and merged faster. Gogs’ single-maintainer approach has been a point of friction since 2016 — it’s why Gitea forked in the first place.

Migration Between Them

Migrating from Gogs to Gitea is straightforward because Gitea was forked from Gogs:

1. Back up your Gogs data directory
2. Deploy Gitea pointing to the same data volume
3. Gitea automatically detects the Gogs database and runs migration
4. Repositories, users, issues, and settings transfer intact

Migrating from Gitea to Gogs is not supported — Gitea’s database schema has diverged significantly.

Use Cases

Choose Gitea If…

• You want built-in CI/CD without an external service
• Package registries (npm, PyPI, Maven, etc.) are useful for your workflow
• You’re migrating from GitHub and want API + Actions compatibility
• You want active development with regular feature additions
• You plan to add Forgejo or Gitea Actions runners later

Choose Gogs If…

• You want the absolute simplest Git server possible
• Your use case is pure repository hosting — no CI, no packages, no boards
• You prefer a stable, slow-moving project over rapid feature development
• You’re running on extremely constrained hardware where 30 MB RAM matters
• You want a single binary/container with minimal configuration

Final Verdict

Gitea wins on features — CI/CD, package registries, project boards, and a thriving ecosystem that Gogs can’t match. The resource difference is negligible. For new deployments, Gitea (or its community fork Forgejo) is the right choice. Gogs is only worth considering if you explicitly want the smallest possible Git server and don’t need CI/CD, packages, or any feature added to Gitea in the last 8 years.

FAQ

Is Gitea a drop-in replacement for Gogs?

Almost. Gitea can import Gogs databases directly. The API is similar but Gitea’s has expanded significantly. SSH and HTTP cloning work identically.

Should I choose Gitea or Forgejo?

Forgejo is a community-governed fork of Gitea with identical features and guaranteed nonprofit stewardship. See our Gitea vs Forgejo comparison for the full breakdown.

Can Gogs run Gitea Actions?

No. Gitea Actions is specific to Gitea (and Forgejo). Gogs would need an external CI system like Drone CI or Woodpecker CI.

Is Gogs still maintained?

Yes. Gogs receives updates every few months and v0.14.2 released in February 2026. Development is slower than Gitea but the project is not abandoned.

Related

• How to Self-Host Gogs
• How to Self-Host Gitea with Docker
• How to Self-Host Forgejo with Docker
• Gitea vs Forgejo
• GitLab CE vs Gitea
• Forgejo vs GitLab CE
• Best Self-Hosted Git Servers
• Docker Compose Basics