The best Git forges, according to hackers
22 Git forges were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 8 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended Git forges with the badge. Each figure is 25 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Single binary, easy to host
A lightweight, free self-hosted GitHub alternative that runs as a single binary with little maintenance and good Actions compatibility, though its CI is less complete and contributor federation is missing.
Lightweight, runs on cheap hardware
A lightweight, easy-to-run self-hosted GitHub alternative with mirroring and Actions-compatible CI; critics cite vague security fix disclosures, permission gaps and its commercial company ties.
Easy self-hosted knots you control
A federated GitHub alternative built on AT Protocol, with portable identity and easy self-hosted git servers (knots); critics worry about VC funding and the lack of private repos.
All 22 Git forges, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GitHub | 764 | 2,350 | 25% | 12 | 11 yrs47 owners | — |
| 2 | Forgejo | 380 | 67 | 85% | 12 | 1 yr26 owners | Approved |
| Tied 3 | GitLab | 331 | 346 | 49% | 12 | 6 yrs41 owners | — |
| Tied 3 | Codeberg | 331 | 277 | 54% | 12 | 1 yr17 owners | — |
| 5 | Gitea | 195 | 51 | 79% | 12 | 5 yrs20 owners | Approved |
| 6 | Tangled | 127 | 57 | 69% | 12 | 1 mo3 owners | Approved |
| 7 | SourceHut | 99 | 36 | 73% | 12 | — | Approved |
| 8 | Radicle | 95 | 41 | 70% | 12 | 6 mo4 owners | Approved |
| 9 | Bitbucket | 37 | 55 | 40% | 10 | — | — |
| 10 | Entire.io | 30 | 24 | 56% | 6 | — | — |
| 11 | Cursor Origin | 18 | 72 | 20% | 4 | — | — |
| 12 | Codefloe | 17 | 6 | 74% | 6 | — | Approved |
| 13 | SourceForge | 16 | 55 | 23% | 6 | — | — |
| 14 | gitolite | 14 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 15 | Launchpad by Canonical | 11 | 18 | 38% | 8 | — | — |
| 16 | Gogs | 10 | 2 | 83% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Tied 17 | Tangled Knot | 8 | 2 | 80% | 7 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | Pierre Code Storage | 8 | 6 | 57% | 3 | — | — |
| 19 | Gitlawb | 7 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | GitSocial | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | Pushin | 6 | 2 | 75% | 1 | — | — |
| 22 | OneDev | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same Git forge in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to Git forges that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
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