head to head · open source
Gitea vs GitButler
Gitea has 58,048 GitHub stars, 7,153 forks, 2,455 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitButler has 21,668 stars, 1,013 forks, 439 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Gitea leads on adoption by 168% (58,048 vs 21,668 stars). Gitea is written in Go under MIT; GitButler is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Gitea has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, GitButler 5%. Gitea was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (git, github), 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
| Gitea | GitButler | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 58K | ★ 22K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.2K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Gitea if
- You weight community size — 58K 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 Gitea
Gitea is a self hosted, all in one software development service written in Go. It provides Git hosting, code review, issue tracking, project management (kanban), wiki, team collaboration, package registry, and CI/CD capabilities. The project aims to deliver a lightweight, painless alternative to larger platforms by running as a single binary across Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Windows on multiple architectures.
read the full Gitea overview →
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 Gitea or GitButler more popular?
Gitea has 58,048 GitHub stars and GitButler has 21,668. Gitea has the larger community by that measure.
Are Gitea and GitButler free?
Both are open source. Gitea is licensed under MIT, and GitButler has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Gitea and GitButler?
Gitea 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, Gitea or GitButler?
Choose Gitea if you want the larger community (58,048 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose GitButler if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.