head to head · open source
Gogs vs GitButler
Gogs has 47,821 GitHub stars, 5,069 forks, 1,009 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. GitButler has 21,668 stars, 1,013 forks, 439 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Gogs leads on adoption by 121% (47,821 vs 21,668 stars). Gogs is written in Go under MIT; GitButler is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Gogs has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, GitButler 5%. GitButler was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (git), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Gogs | GitButler | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 22K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-12 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Gogs if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick GitButler if
- You want the GitButler feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and GitButler fits your workflow better
About Gogs
Gogs is a self hosted Git service written in Go and released under the MIT licence, aimed at individuals and small teams who want their own repository hosting without adopting a full collaboration platform.
About GitButler
GitButler is a Git based version control client with a graphical interface and a command line interface. It is built for AI powered workflows and described as a drop in Git user interface replacement for people and agents. The project lives in the Git and GitHub ecosystem, and it is built as a Tauri desktop application using Rust, Svelte, and TypeScript.
read the full GitButler overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Gogs or GitButler more popular?
Gogs has 47,821 GitHub stars and GitButler has 21,668. Gogs has the larger community by that measure.
Are Gogs and GitButler free?
Both are open source. Gogs is licensed under MIT, and GitButler has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Gogs and GitButler?
Gogs is written in Go and GitButler in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Gogs or GitButler?
Choose Gogs if you want the larger community (47,821 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose GitButler if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.