Gitea vs GitPrep
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted git hosting & forges options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gitea | GitPrep |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 72 · Good |
| Category | Git Hosting & Forges | Git Hosting & Forges |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 58,142 | ★ 935 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | GitHub, GitLab | GitHub |
What are Gitea and GitPrep?
Gitea
Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service offering repositories, issues, pull requests, and CI integration. It targets developers and teams who want a fast, easy-to-run code platform. It is deployed via Docker or a single binary.
- Fast single-binary Git server
- Issues, PRs and wiki
- Built-in package registry
- Gitea Actions CI
GitPrep
GitPrep is a self-hosted Git repository manager that mimics the GitHub interface. It is written in Perl and installs with minimal dependencies for simple personal Git hosting.
- GitHub-like UI
- Minimal dependencies
- Easy installation
- Repository browsing
Gitea vs GitPrep: key differences
Gitea is written in Go, while GitPrep is built with Perl. GitPrep is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Gitea. GitPrep is the more established project (first released 2013), while Gitea arrived in 2016. Gitea has the considerably larger community, at 58,142 GitHub stars versus 935. Gitea lists first-class Docker deployment; GitPrep does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Gitea if…
- Very lightweight
- Easy to deploy
- Familiar GitHub-like UI
Watch out for
- Fewer features than GitLab
- Governance concerns spurred a fork
Choose GitPrep if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Gitea or GitPrep better?
Neither is universally better. Gitea has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gitea and GitPrep free and open-source?
Yes. Gitea is licensed under MIT and GitPrep under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gitea and GitPrep with Docker?
Gitea: yes. GitPrep: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Gitea or GitPrep?
GitPrep has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Gitea. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.