Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitLab VS Gogs

Compare GitLab VS Gogs and see what are their differences

GitLab logo GitLab

Create, review and deploy code together with GitLab open source git repo management software | GitLab

Gogs logo Gogs

A painless self-hosted Git service written in Go
  • GitLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-17
  • Gogs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-21

GitLab

$ Details
-
Release Date
2014 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Dmitriy Zaporozhets
Employees
1,000 - 1,999

Gogs

Website
gogs.io
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Release Date
-

GitLab features and specs

  • Integrated DevOps Platform
    GitLab provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, which simplifies the workflow and reduces the need for multiple tools.
  • CI/CD Capabilities
    It offers powerful Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) features, enabling automated testing and deployment.
  • Self-Hosted and SaaS Options
    GitLab can be hosted on your own servers or used as a cloud-hosted service, providing flexibility depending on your needs.
  • Strong Security Features
    GitLab includes various security features such as code quality analysis, vulnerability management, and compliance management.
  • Robust Community and Support
    There is a large community and extensive documentation available, along with professional support options.

Possible disadvantages of GitLab

  • Complexity for New Users
    The extensive features and functionalities can be overwhelming for newcomers, requiring a steep learning curve.
  • Resource Intensive
    Self-hosting a GitLab instance requires substantial server resources, which can be costly.
  • Price
    While there is a free tier, the advanced features are part of the paid plans, which can be expensive for small teams or startups.
  • User Interface
    Some users find the interface less intuitive and harder to navigate compared to other platforms like GitHub.
  • Performance Issues
    Large repositories or high usage can sometimes lead to performance issues, especially on self-hosted instances.

Gogs features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Gogs is designed to be extremely lightweight and fast, running efficiently with minimal resource usage, which is ideal for personal projects or small teams.
  • Self-hosting
    By allowing users to host their own Git service, Gogs provides greater control over data privacy and security, making it suitable for sensitive projects.
  • Cross-platform Support
    Gogs can run on various operating systems including Windows, macOS, Linux, and ARM, offering flexible deployment options across different environments.
  • Easy Installation
    The installation process for Gogs is straightforward and quick, with binaries and Docker images available for different platforms, reducing setup time.
  • Active Development
    Gogs has an active open-source community and regular updates, ensuring new features, bug fixes, and improvements are continually being made.
  • Low Dependencies
    Gogs has few dependencies, simplifying the installation and maintenance process by reducing potential compatibility issues.
  • Customizable
    With a wide range of configuration options, Gogs allows users to tailor the platform to meet their specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Gogs

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more comprehensive Git platforms like GitLab or GitHub, Gogs lacks some advanced features such as built-in CI/CD pipelines and extensive integrations.
  • Smaller Community
    Gogs has a smaller user base compared to more popular platforms, which can lead to fewer third-party plugins, extensions, and external resources.
  • Scalability
    While Gogs is suitable for small to medium environments, it might not scale as effectively for large enterprises with extensive requirements.
  • Support
    Being an open-source project, Gogs primarily relies on community support, which may not be as immediate or extensive compared to commercial platforms offering professional support services.
  • User Interface
    While functional, Gogs' user interface is not as polished or feature-rich as those of some other Git service platforms.

Analysis of GitLab

Overall verdict

  • Yes, GitLab is generally considered a good platform, especially for teams looking for an integrated set of tools for software development and DevOps. Its features and flexibility make it a strong choice for many organizations.

Why this product is good

  • GitLab is a popular DevOps platform that provides a comprehensive suite of tools for software development, including version control, issue tracking, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), and more. It is valued for its open-source model, strong security features, user-friendly interface, and a wide range of integrations. GitLab's all-in-one approach allows teams to manage their entire DevOps lifecycle from a single application, which can help improve collaboration and efficiency.

Recommended for

    GitLab is well-suited for developers, DevOps engineers, project managers, and teams that require robust CI/CD capabilities, strong security features, and an open-source platform that can be self-hosted or used as a cloud service. It is particularly beneficial for organizations looking for a comprehensive solution to streamline their development workflows.

Analysis of Gogs

Overall verdict

  • Gogs is generally well-regarded for its simplicity, performance, and ease of setup. It is particularly well-suited for users who do not need the full suite of features offered by larger Git services like GitHub or GitLab and prefer a more streamlined and resource-efficient solution.

Why this product is good

  • Gogs is a self-hosted Git service that is lightweight, easy to install, and simple to use. It's written in Go, which means it has minimal dependencies and can run on a variety of operating systems. This makes it an excellent choice for users who want to set up their own Git server with straightforward configuration and management. Gogs provides core Git functionalities and some additional features like an intuitive web interface, repository management, and user management.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a lightweight and easy-to-manage Git hosting solution.
  • Organizations that need a self-hosted option without the overhead of more complex systems.
  • Users who prioritize performance and simplicity over extensive features.

GitLab videos

Introduction to GitLab Workflow

More videos:

  • Review - GitLab Review App Working Session

Gogs videos

No Gogs videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitLab and Gogs)
Code Collaboration
83 83%
17% 17
Git
81 81%
19% 19
Software Development
87 87%
13% 13
Project Management
83 83%
17% 17

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitLab and Gogs

GitLab Reviews

  1. Reinhard
    · Boss at CLOUD Meister ·
    perfect for Freelancers!

The Top 11 Static Application Security Testing (SAST) Tools
GitLab’s in-context testing solution simplifies the development process by automating both application and infrastructure management on a single platform.Why We Picked GitLab: We like GitLab’s automation of testing and compliance across development workflows. Its in-context testing minimizes license costs and reduces the learning curve.
The Top 10 GitHub Alternatives
GitLab is a web-based DevSecOps (take that, Call of Duty) platform that allows software development teams to plan, build, and ship secure code all in one application. GitLab offers a range of features and tools to support the entire software development lifecycle, from project planning and source code management to continuous integration, delivery, and deployment.
The Best Alternatives to Jenkins for Developers
CI/CD GitLab, as a complete DevOps platform, provides an integrated CI/CD solution along with its other features. If your team is already using GitLab for controlling versions and managing projects, the addition of GitLab CI/CD can be very smooth. The offering in CI/CD by GitLab is quite customizable and it backs up many programming languages as well as application test...
Source: morninglif.com
Top 7 GitHub Alternatives You Should Know (2024)
Most of the listed alternatives offer free tier plans for individuals or small teams. Tools like GitLab and Bitbucket allow users to host unlimited repositories without cost.
Source: snappify.com
Best GitHub Alternatives for Developers in 2023
While GitLab features an extensive set of capabilities, this can also serve as a weakness since beginners may find the developer tool overwhelming to begin with. The user interface compounds this issue by being outdated and unintuitive. GitLab could benefit from more third-party integrations, and its performance tends to struggle when dealing with large repositories or CI/CD...

Gogs Reviews

The Top 10 GitHub Alternatives
Lightweight: Gogs has low minimal requirements and can run on an inexpensive Raspberry Pi. Some users even run Gogs instances on their NAS devices, making it one of the few GitHub alternatives that can help you justify to your partner why you’re getting a NAS device apart from for pulling the latest episodes from your favourite anime show.
Gitea - Alternative to GitLab and GitHub
That said, Gita/Gogs is pretty. And might hold the hand of people only used to github. It is great that it is self-contained as a binary, so can be used with minimal configuration, like other front-ends.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitLab should be more popular than Gogs. It has been mentiond 135 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitLab mentions (135)

  • Cross-Compiling Haskell under NixOS with Docker
    I attended the AWS Summit 2025 in Singapore. I enjoyed the event. There were booths from various companies which I found interesting, such as GitLab and ClickHouse. More importantly, I got to meet very interesting people. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • GitLab: templates for Merge Requests
    GitLab is a well-established tool that hardly needs any introduction. This article is more like some notes to my future self. - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • India Open Source Development: Harnessing Collaborative Innovation for Global Impact
    Indian developers have embraced platforms like GitHub and GitLab, which serve as global meeting points for coding projects. Developer communities such as FOSSAsia and Open Source India regularly organize hackathons, webinars, and code sprints that bring together enthusiasts to tackle both local and global problems. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Open Source Funding: Strategies, Case Studies, and Best Practices
    In this article, we explore funding methods that empower projects such as Red Hat, GitLab, and Blender. Our discussion focuses on overlaying robust financial models with community-led efforts while incorporating advanced technologies like blockchain and smart contracts for secure, transparent fund distribution. With clear definitions, tables, bullet lists, and real-world examples, we aim to provide a holistic view... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • The Hidden Challenges of Building with AWS
    💡** My Take:** If you’re not ready to spend hours debugging AWS configurations, you might want to consider other cloud options, such as DigitalOcean or Gitlab for CI/CD. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
View more

Gogs mentions (28)

  • 100+ Must-Have Web Development Resources
    Gogs: An easy-to-setup self-hosted Git service. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Go's old $GOPATH story for development and dependencies
    Yeah, I'm actually doing that with Gitea: https://about.gitea.com/ Some people went with the forgejo fork: https://forgejo.org/ though Gitea itself was a fork of Gogs, if I remember correctly: https://gogs.io/ I also ran GitLab in the past: https://about.gitlab.com/ but keeping it updated and giving it enough resources for it to be happy was troublesome. There's also GitBucket: https://gitbucket.github.io/ and... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Forgejo forks its own path forward
    > Gitea but the other one Wouldn't that also be Gogs? https://gogs.io/ I remember when that one was what a lot of people were looking into, before the Gitea fork happened. It's odd to see how this has happened yet again, but I guess is a good thing that it's even possible in the first place, if there are indeed differing values and goals? - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: Gitlab or Gitea for self-hosting Git?
    I did use https://gogs.io/ in the past. Was nice. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Beware Offers of “Help” with Your Projects
    This reminds me of Gogs [0], where the original author refused a lot of good ideas and improvements, eventually leading to a fork [1] that's now a lot more popular and active than the original. [0] https://gogs.io/ [1] https://gitea.io/en-us/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitLab and Gogs, you can also consider the following products

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

Gitea - A painless self-hosted Git service

BitBucket - Bitbucket is a free code hosting site for Mercurial and Git. Manage your development with a hosted wiki, issue tracker and source code.

Jira - The #1 software development tool used by agile teams. Jira Software is built for every member of your software team to plan, track, and release great software.

Git - Git is a free and open source version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency. It is easy to learn and lightweight with lighting fast performance that outclasses competitors.

CircleCI - CircleCI gives web developers powerful Continuous Integration and Deployment with easy setup and maintenance.