Gitea vs GitLab
Gitea, GitLab compared on license, free-edition limits, deployment and project health. Change a project below to compare something else.
| Gitea | GitLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| License | MIT LicenseOpen source (OSI) | MIT LicenseOpen source (OSI) |
| Free edition | Some features paywalled | Not confirmed |
| Deployment | Self-hosted · Cloud | Self-hosted · Cloud |
| Self-hosting setup | Single container | Multi-service setup |
| SSO / SAML | Paid | Free |
| Role-based access control | Free | Free |
| Audit logs | Paid | Not confirmed |
| Multi-user / teams | Free | Free |
| Backups and restore | Free | Free |
| API access | Free | Free |
| Support SLA | Paid | Paid |
| GitHub stars | 59k | 25k |
| Last release | Oct 6, 2026 | – |
| Alternative to | GitHub, GitLab | GitHub |
In short
- Gitea is licensed MIT License (open source (osi)). Free edition: some features paywalled.
- GitLab is licensed MIT License (open source (osi)). Free edition: not confirmed.
Each project page lists the official sources behind these answers. Where the official pages do not say, the table shows “Not confirmed”.