Gitea Act Runner vs Tekton
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted ci/cd & build options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Gitea Act Runner
CI/CD runner for Gitea Actions
VS
Tekton
Cloud-native CI/CD building blocks for Kubernetes
| Feature | Gitea Act Runner | Tekton |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CI/CD & Build | CI/CD & Build |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 9,030 |
| First released | 2023 | 2018 |
| Replaces | GitHub Actions | Jenkins, GitHub Actions |
Why pick each one
Choose Gitea Act Runner if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Tekton if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 9k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Gitea Act Runner or Tekton better?
Neither is universally better. Tekton has the larger community, while Gitea Act Runner is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Gitea Act Runner and Tekton free and open-source?
Yes. Gitea Act Runner is licensed under MIT and Tekton under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gitea Act Runner and Tekton with Docker?
Gitea Act Runner: yes. Tekton: check the project docs for container support.