GitLab vs ghorg
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $29-$99/user/mo on GitLab.
Side-by-side
| GitLab | ghorg (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $29-$99/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | GitLab's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | GitLab controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (Apache-2.0) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (manual) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 73 / 100 |
Why teams leave GitLab
- Premium and Ultimate tiers gate basic CI/CD features
- Per-user pricing for orgs ($29-99/user/mo)
- Self-managed Community Edition lags behind cloud
- Many security/compliance features Ultimate-only
ghorg answers this by: Gitea Actions and Forgejo Actions give CI/CD + repo hosting at a fraction of the resource overhead.
The cost math
Assumes 5-person team using GitLab at the midpoint price ($64/user/mo).
| Period | GitLab | ghorg on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $320 | $4.13 | $315.87 |
| Yearly | $3840 | $49.56 | $3790.44 |
| 3 years | $11,520 | $149 | $11,371 |
Deploy ghorg now
One-click deploys at the cheapest provider for this workload:
Affiliate disclosure — these links may earn ossreplace a commission at no cost to you.
Common questions
Is ghorg a good alternative to GitLab?
ghorg is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to GitLab with an ossreplace health score of 73/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the Apache-2.0 license, versus GitLab's $29–99/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is ghorg than GitLab?
A 5-person team pays about $320/mo on GitLab. Self-hosting ghorg on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $11,371 less over three years (99% lower).
Is ghorg hard to self-host?
ghorg self-hosts on your own VPS. You handle the install, backups, and updates yourself in exchange for full data ownership and no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with ghorg vs GitLab?
Yes. Because ghorg runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With GitLab, GitLab controls the hosting, storage, and access.