# Internal Forge Comparison

## Quick decision guide

| If we want…                                                                                                                | Choose      |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| A **complete DevOps platform** with integrated CI/CD, package registry, security scanning, and enterprise features         | **GitLab**  |
| A **lightweight, easy-to-operate Git server** with minimal resource usage                                                  | **Gitea**   |
| A **community-driven forge** similar to Gitea but with **built-in CI (Forgejo Actions)** and future **federation support** | **Forgejo** |

# Comparison
## Pricing
| Feature                                   | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|-------------------------------------------|:------------------:|:-----------------:|:-------------------:|
| Free tier                                 | ✅  | ✅  | ✅  |
| Paid tier (per user/month)                 | **premium**: 29\$<br>**ultimate**: on request | **enterprise**: 19\$ |  ❌ (donation-based) |
| Information on pricing                       | [**info**](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/?deployment=self-managed-deployment) | [**info**](https://about.gitea.com/pricing/) | [**info**](https://liberapay.com/forgejo) |

## Core Git Features

| Feature                    | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|---------------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Git repositories          |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Git LFS support           |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Git tags for releases     |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Protected branches        |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Repository mirroring      |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Webhooks                  |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |

## Collaboration and Project Management
| Feature                           | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|----------------------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Issues                           |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Pull / merge requests            |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Pull request reviewer assignment |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Pull request inline comments     |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Wiki (per repository)            |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |
| Snippets / gists                 |  ✅  | ⚠️ limited | ⚠️ limited |
| Project management                        | **free**: simple kanban<br>**premium**: [roadmap](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/group/roadmap/) | [simple kanban](https://forum.gitea.com/t/gantt-diagrams-for-issues/788/3) | [simple kanban](https://forgejo.org/docs/next/user/project/) |
| Organization / group hierarchy   |  ✅  | ⚠️ simpler model | ⚠️ simpler model |
| Code search (global)             |  ✅  | ⚠️ limited | ⚠️ limited |
| Repository mirroring (push/pull)         |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅  |

## CI/CD and Automation
| Feature                         | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|--------------------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Built-in CI/CD                          | ✅built-in Gitlab CI/CD |️ ❌ external CI (woodpecker/Drone) | ✅Forgejo Actions (Github-Actions compatible)  |
| Automated workflows            |  ✅  | ⚠️ external CI required |  ✅ |
| Workflow triggers              |  ✅  | ⚠️ depends on CI integration |  ✅ |
| External CI integration        |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅ |

## Artifacts & Registries
| Feature                    | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|---------------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Package registry          |  ✅  | ⚠️ limited ecosystem support |  ✅ |
| Container registry        |  ✅  | ⚠️ plugin / external registry | ⚠️ evolving support |

## Authentication and Access Control
| Feature                       | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|------------------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Access control               |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅ |
| LDAP / Active Directory      |  ✅  |  ✅  |  ✅ |
| SAML / enterprise SSO        | ⚠️ enterprise tier | ❌ not supported | ❌ not supported |
| Federation between instances | ❌ not supported | ❌ not supported | ⚠️ planned (ForgeFed) |

## Operations / Self-Hosting
| Feature                | GitLab | Gitea | Forgejo |
|-----------------------|:------:|:-----:|:-------:|
| Resource footprint    | ❌ heavy (many services) |  ✅ light |  ✅ light |
| Deployment complexity | ❌ complex |  ✅ simple |  ✅ simple |

# Notes on the test project setup:

## Gitea
- SSH is disabled by default, so we use HTTPS to clone the repository.
   - it can be enabled in the Gitea settings if needed (see [here](https://forum.gitea.com/t/how-do-i-enable-ssh-on-a-gitea-self-hosted-instance/10044/3) and [here](https://forum.gitea.com/t/how-to-set-ssh-to-alow-users-with-gite-account-to-clone-via-ssh/2297/5))
- HTTPS: works, but requires the user to set a password manually in the profile first. That's unexpected since it should be inherited by authentik. Probably a misconfiguration from there.

## Forgejo
- SSH is disabled by default, so we use HTTPS to clone the repository. Same as with Gitea.
- HTTPS: Same as with Gitea.

## Gitlab
- SSH is active by default. But the port is wrongly configured and probably already used by the host...
- HTTPS: works well.