Best VPS for Gitea in 2026

Gitea is a lightweight, self-hosted Git service — think GitHub but running on your own server. It's written in Go, ships as a single binary, and runs on hardware that would make GitLab cry.

Why Self-Host Gitea?

Factor	GitHub Teams	Self-Hosted Gitea
5 users	$4/user = $20/mo	~$5/mo (unlimited)
25 users	$4/user = $100/mo	~$7/mo (unlimited)
Private repos	Unlimited	Unlimited
CI/CD	Actions (limited min)	Gitea Actions (unlimited)
Storage	2GB packages	Your disk
Data ownership	GitHub's servers	Your server

Self-hosting Gitea gives you full control over your code, unlimited users, and zero per-seat pricing.

VPS Requirements

Gitea is absurdly lightweight compared to GitLab or Bitbucket Server. Here's what you actually need:

RAM (Moderate)

• Gitea itself runs in ~150-300MB
• Add a database (PostgreSQL/SQLite) at 200-500MB
• Gitea Actions runners need 512MB-1GB each
• 2GB works for small teams, 4GB+ for CI/CD workloads

CPU (Light)

• Gitea is Go-based — very efficient
• 1-2 vCPU handles 10-20 users easily
• 4 vCPU if running Gitea Actions heavily
• Git operations are I/O-bound more than CPU-bound

Storage (Important)

• Repositories take space — especially with history
• LFS objects can balloon quickly
• NVMe SSD makes git clone/push noticeably faster
• 50GB for small teams, 100GB+ for active development

Network

• Git clones/pushes need decent bandwidth
• 1Gbps handles most team sizes
• Low latency matters for developer experience

Best VPS for Gitea

1. Hostinger KVM2 (Best Overall) ⭐

$5.99/mo | 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM, 100GB NVMe

8GB RAM is overkill for Gitea alone — which means plenty of headroom for Gitea Actions, PostgreSQL, and a reverse proxy. NVMe storage keeps git operations snappy.

Best for: Teams of 5-50, Gitea + CI/CD combo

→ Get Hostinger VPS

2. Hetzner CX22 (Best Budget)

€3.99/mo | 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB NVMe

Hetzner's cheapest shared vCPU plan runs Gitea beautifully. 4GB RAM is enough for Gitea + PostgreSQL for small teams. Add a volume if you need more storage.

Best for: Solo developers, small teams (2-10), budget setups

→ Get Hetzner VPS

3. Hetzner CPX21 (Best Performance/Price)

€7.49/mo | 3 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 80GB NVMe

Dedicated AMD EPYC vCPUs give consistent performance. 80GB NVMe fits most repos. Great middle ground between budget and power.

Best for: Active teams, consistent performance needs

→ Get Hetzner VPS

4. Contabo VPS M (Most Storage)

€9.49/mo | 6 vCPU, 16GB RAM, 200GB NVMe

If your repos are massive or you store a lot of LFS objects, Contabo gives you the most disk and RAM per dollar. 200GB NVMe and 16GB RAM at under €10 is hard to beat.

Best for: Large repos, LFS-heavy teams, monorepos

→ Get Contabo VPS

5. Vultr Cloud Compute (Best Global Coverage)

$12/mo | 1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 50GB NVMe

Vultr has 32 locations worldwide. If your team is distributed and latency matters for git operations, pick the data center closest to most developers.

Best for: Distributed teams needing low latency

→ Get Vultr VPS

Quick Comparison

VPS	RAM	vCPU	Storage	Price	Best For
Hostinger KVM2	8GB	2	100GB NVMe	$5.99/mo	Overall best
Hetzner CX22	4GB	2	40GB NVMe	€3.99/mo	Budget
Hetzner CPX21	4GB	3	80GB NVMe	€7.49/mo	Performance
Contabo M	16GB	6	200GB NVMe	€9.49/mo	Storage
Vultr CC	2GB	1	50GB NVMe	$12/mo	Global

How to Install Gitea

Docker (Recommended)

# docker-compose.yml
version: "3.8"
services:
  gitea:
    image: gitea/gitea:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
      - "2222:22"
    volumes:
      - gitea_data:/data
      - /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    environment:
      - GITEA__database__DB_TYPE=postgres
      - GITEA__database__HOST=db:5432
      - GITEA__database__NAME=gitea
      - GITEA__database__USER=gitea
      - GITEA__database__PASSWD=gitea
    depends_on:
      - db

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=gitea
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=gitea
      - POSTGRES_DB=gitea

volumes:
  gitea_data:
  postgres_data:

docker compose up -d
# Visit http://your-server:3000 to complete setup

Binary Install (Lightweight)

# Download latest Gitea
wget -O gitea https://dl.gitea.com/gitea/latest/gitea-latest-linux-amd64
chmod +x gitea

# Create git user
sudo adduser --system --shell /bin/bash --group --disabled-password git

# Setup directories
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/gitea/{custom,data,log}
sudo chown -R git:git /var/lib/gitea
sudo mv gitea /usr/local/bin/

# Create systemd service
sudo cat > /etc/systemd/system/gitea.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Gitea
After=network.target

[Service]
User=git
Group=git
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/gitea
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/gitea web --config /etc/gitea/app.ini
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl enable gitea
sudo systemctl start gitea

Setting Up Gitea Actions

Gitea Actions is GitHub Actions-compatible. Run your existing workflows on your own server:

# docker-compose.yml (add to existing)
  runner:
    image: gitea/act_runner:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - runner_data:/data
    environment:
      - GITEA_INSTANCE_URL=http://gitea:3000
      - GITEA_RUNNER_REGISTRATION_TOKEN=<your-token>

# Get registration token from Gitea admin panel
# Site Administration → Runners → Create new runner
docker compose up -d runner

Most GitHub Actions workflows work in Gitea Actions with minimal changes.

Performance Tuning

Gitea Configuration

# /etc/gitea/app.ini or custom/conf/app.ini

[cache]
ADAPTER = memcache
HOST = 127.0.0.1:11211
; Or use built-in memory cache for simplicity
ADAPTER = memory

[database]
; Use PostgreSQL for teams > 10 users
DB_TYPE = postgres
; SQLite is fine for small teams
; DB_TYPE = sqlite3

[indexer]
REPO_INDEXER_ENABLED = true
; Enables code search across repos

[server]
LFS_START_SERVER = true
; Enable Git LFS support

SSH Optimization

# Use Gitea's built-in SSH server (port 2222)
# Faster than OpenSSH for git operations
# Configure in app.ini:
[server]
START_SSH_SERVER = true
SSH_PORT = 2222

Reverse Proxy (Caddy)

git.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:3000
}

Caddy handles HTTPS automatically — zero config SSL.

Security Checklist

• Set up HTTPS via reverse proxy (Caddy/Nginx)
• Disable self-registration if private instance
• Enable 2FA for all admin accounts
• Use SSH keys instead of password auth for git
• Regular backups of /data directory and database
• Keep Gitea updated (single binary — easy to upgrade)
• Set INSTALL_LOCK = true after initial setup
• Configure fail2ban for brute-force protection

Gitea vs GitHub vs GitLab

Feature	Gitea	GitHub Free	GitLab CE
RAM usage	~200MB	N/A (cloud)	4GB+
Install time	2 min	N/A	30+ min
Private repos	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Users	Unlimited free	Unlimited	Unlimited
CI/CD	Gitea Actions	2,000 min/mo	400 min/mo
Data ownership	Full	None	Full
Min VPS	1 vCPU / 1GB	N/A	4 vCPU / 8GB

Gitea is the lightest option by far. If you've ever tried self-hosting GitLab on a small VPS, you know the pain. Gitea just works.

Backup Strategy

#!/bin/bash
# backup-gitea.sh — run daily via cron
BACKUP_DIR="/backups/gitea"
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Dump Gitea
gitea dump -c /etc/gitea/app.ini -f "$BACKUP_DIR/gitea-$DATE.zip"

# Or with Docker:
# docker compose exec -T gitea gitea dump -f /data/gitea-dump.zip
# docker cp gitea:/data/gitea-dump.zip "$BACKUP_DIR/gitea-$DATE.zip"

# Keep last 14 days
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "gitea-*.zip" -mtime +14 -delete

FAQ

How much RAM does Gitea need?

Gitea itself runs in 150-300MB. With PostgreSQL, budget 1-2GB total. It's one of the lightest Git servers available.

Can Gitea replace GitHub?

For private repos and team collaboration, absolutely. It has issues, pull requests, projects, wikis, and now CI/CD with Gitea Actions. You won't miss much.

Is Gitea better than GitLab for self-hosting?

If you want lightweight and fast, yes. GitLab needs 8GB+ RAM minimum and takes 30 minutes to install. Gitea runs in 200MB and installs in 2 minutes.

Can I migrate from GitHub to Gitea?

Yes — Gitea has built-in migration. Go to New Migration → GitHub, enter your token, and it imports repos, issues, labels, milestones, and pull requests.

Does Gitea support CI/CD?

Yes. Gitea Actions (since v1.19) is GitHub Actions-compatible. Your existing .github/workflows files work with minimal changes.

Our Pick

Hostinger KVM2 at $5.99/month gives you 8GB RAM and 2 vCPU — way more than Gitea needs, which means room for Gitea Actions, PostgreSQL, and your other tools. A complete GitHub replacement for less than a coffee.

→ Get started with Hostinger