# Gitea vs GitLab CE: 2026 Empirical Benchmark & Cost Shootout

> **Direct Answer (October 2026 Verdict)**: Gitea wins for lightweight operational footprint (under 100MB RAM), single Go binary simplicity, and fast $5 VPS deployment across 58.6k+ GitHub stars (98.4), while GitLab CE wins for complete all-in-one DevOps lifecycle, integrated Docker container registry, and native Auto DevOps pipelines across 24.5k+ GitHub stars (96.8).

- **Category**: Lightweight Single-Binary Git Server vs Unified All-in-One Enterprise DevOps Suite Shootout
- **Canonical URL**: https://exactbaseline.com/vs/gitea-vs-gitlab
- **1-Click $49 Builder Repo Hardening & Launch Kit (Stripe Checkout)**: https://exactbaseline.com/buy/instant_boost
- **1-Click $149 Category Leader Pro + 30-Day Pin (Stripe Checkout)**: https://exactbaseline.com/buy/category_leader

## Gitea Key Advantages
- 58,600+ GitHub stars as the most popular lightweight Git server written in Go with sub-100MB memory consumption
- Native Gitea Actions compatible with GitHub Actions workflows via Docker Act runner
- Cuts $1,450/mo commercial GitHub/GitLab seat bills down to $85/mo on self-hosted VPS compute (-94.6%)

## GitLab CE Key Advantages
- 24,500+ GitHub stars providing a complete enterprise-grade DevOps platform from issue tracking to deployment
- Built-in Docker container registry, package registry, and comprehensive CI/CD pipeline engine
- Mature enterprise compliance, multi-project pipeline triggers, and Kubernetes cluster management