Your source code is the one asset you most want to keep control of, and on a commercial forge it lives under someone else’s terms of service, jurisdiction and takedown process. Gitea gives you the same workflow on your own server. Offshore and DMCA ignored, a repository does not vanish because someone filed a complaint.
What you get
- The full workflow: issues, pull requests, actions and a package registry
- Familiar to anyone who uses GitHub, with no seat pricing
- Light on resources: around 512 MB of memory
- Offshore, DMCA ignored, no KYC, paid in crypto
Get it running
Pick a small VPS
Gitea runs comfortably on an entry offshore VPS. Size the disk for your repositories and any packages or build artifacts you plan to keep.
Install it in one click
Install Gitea from the catalog with the hostname you will keep. That hostname becomes the base for clone URLs, webhook callbacks and OAuth redirects, so it is not a casual choice.
Claim the admin account
Set the admin user and password during the install so the instance comes up already configured, rather than dropping into an open setup wizard.
Close registration and start pushing
Once your account exists, turn registration off so only admins can create users. Then push your repositories and wire up auto-deploy on git push.
On a fresh install, self-registration is open so you can create that first account, and that first signup gets administrator rights. On a public hostname, whoever gets there first wins. Set the admin credentials during the install, or register immediately and then disable registration.
Repositories accumulate secrets in old commits, CI variables, deploy keys and package tokens. Keep it patched, review who has access, and never rely on a repository being private as your only protection for a credential. If something leaked into history, rotate it rather than deleting the file.
Gitea can publish a Tor v3 .onion address. Cloning and pushing over an onion service means the location of your forge is not exposed to scanning. See how to publish a Tor .onion site.
Your forge is the source of truth for work in progress: issues, pull requests and CI configuration are not in anyone’s local clone. Back the server up and verify a restore, as in manage your VPS from chat.
Start now
Spin up an offshore VPS and install Gitea from the catalog, or read the documentation.