Forgejo vs GitLab CE: which one to choose in 2026?
Both are open source alternatives to GitHub. We compare license, tech stack and features to help you decide which fits your team best.
| Forgejo | GitLab CE | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dev Tools | Dev Tools |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later | MIT |
| GitHub stars | ~6k | ~24k |
| Tech stack | Go, SQLite/PostgreSQL | Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Redis |
| Replaces | GitHub, GitLab | GitHub |
GitLab CE has more GitHub stars, which usually indicates a larger community (not necessarily that it's the best option for your use case).
Forgejo
Gitea's community fork, a lightweight Git forge with 100% open governance.
Pros
- An alternative to Gitea for those who prefer a project with no corporate backing
Things to consider
- Smaller community and plugin ecosystem than GitLab
- Recently moved from MIT to GPL-3.0+ (August 2024): check the implications if you distribute a modified version
GitLab CE
Complete DevOps platform (Git + CI/CD), an alternative to GitHub.
Pros
- The whole DevOps cycle in a single platform
Things to consider
- Needs quite a bit more RAM than Gitea (4GB+ recommended)
Key features
Forgejo
- Forgejo Actions, compatible with GitHub Actions syntax
- Very lightweight, a single binary
- 100% community governance, no company behind it
GitLab CE
- Built-in CI/CD, no external tools needed
- Own container registry
- Issue and epic management
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