Fossil vs cgit
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Fossil
Distributed version control with built-in wiki and bug tracking
VS
cgit
Fast web interface for Git repositories
| Feature | Fossil | cgit |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 600 | ★ 800 |
| First released | 2006 | 2006 |
| Replaces | GitHub, Git | GitHub |
Why pick each one
Choose Fossil if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose cgit if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Fossil or cgit better?
Neither is universally better. cgit has the larger community, while Fossil is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Fossil and cgit free and open-source?
Yes. Fossil is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and cgit under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fossil and cgit with Docker?
Fossil: check the project docs for container support. cgit: check the project docs for container support.