Pagure vs Soft Serve
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted git hosting & forges options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Soft Serve
Self-hostable Git server for the command line
| Feature | Pagure | Soft Serve |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Git Hosting & Forges | Git Hosting & Forges |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 900 | ★ 7,228 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | GitHub, GitLab | GitHub |
What are Pagure and Soft Serve?
Pagure
Pagure is a self-hosted Git forge with issue tracking, pull requests, and documentation hosting. Notably, project metadata such as issues is itself stored in Git repositories.
- Issues stored in Git
- Pull request workflow
- Documentation hosting
- Fedora community maintained
Soft Serve
Soft Serve is a tasteful, self-hostable Git server with a built-in terminal UI accessible over SSH. It makes hosting Git repositories simple without a web interface.
- SSH terminal UI
- Single binary server
- Repository browsing in terminal
- Simple access control
Pagure vs Soft Serve: key differences
Pagure is written in Python, while Soft Serve is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Pagure versus MIT for Soft Serve. Soft Serve is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Pagure. Pagure is the more established project (first released 2015), while Soft Serve arrived in 2021. Soft Serve has the considerably larger community, at 7,228 GitHub stars versus 900. Soft Serve lists first-class Docker deployment; Pagure does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Soft Serve if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7.2k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Pagure or Soft Serve better?
Soft Serve is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pagure if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pagure and Soft Serve free and open-source?
Yes. Pagure is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Soft Serve under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pagure and Soft Serve with Docker?
Pagure: check the project docs for container support. Soft Serve: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pagure or Soft Serve?
Soft Serve has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Pagure. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.