Best offer on record: Self-hosted open-source Gitea (free tier). 5 verified findings, checked 2026-10-22.
Offers
Self-hosted open-source Gitea (free tier) high confidence
The core Gitea release is open source under the MIT license and is free to run: 'Full control, unlimited users and repositories.' Bundles code hosting, issue tracking, pull requests, project management, Gitea Actions (GitHub-Actions-compatible CI/CD), and a package registry. Free features listed on the pricing page: code hosting, issue tracking, PRs, project management, Gitea Actions, packages, rapid updates, active contributions, community support. No repo/user/storage cap is published — you are limited only by your own infrastructure. This is the primary free path for students and startups: replace paid GitLab/GitHub tiers at $0 license cost.
Eligibility
Open to anyone: individuals, students, startups, and companies. No .edu email, startup-age or funding cap, and no credit card required. You must supply your own host (VPS/bare metal/K8s) and bear your own compute/data/egress costs.
How to claim
No application needed. Download the free binary or Docker image (gitea.com products page / github.com/gitea) and install on your own Linux/Windows server or VPS; configure a DB (SQLite/MySQL/PostgreSQL). Unlimited users/repos forever. Enterprise extras (SAML SSO, audit logs, K8s autoscaling runners, SLA support) are NOT in the OSS build.
Expiry
None — perpetual MIT license, no sunset date.
Gotchas
Trial-vs-free: this is a genuinely free, permanent license (not a trial). Self-hosted = you pay your cloud provider for CPU/egress; Gitea's license is free but the box is not. No managed CI runners are provided — OSS Gitea Actions requires you to run your own runners. Enterprise-only features absent; support is community-only.
gitea.com — free first-party hosted Gitea instance medium confidence
Gitea operates gitea.com, a free public first-party Gitea instance: anyone can register a free account and host repositories on Gitea's own infrastructure at no charge. The sign-up form (gitea.com/user/sign_up) has only username/email/password plus OAuth (GitHub/GitLab/Google/OpenID) — no credit card or payment field. It is described as a 'free public first-party instance' hosting public repos (59 public repos on the Gitea org). No repo/storage cap is published on the page.
Eligibility
Open to everyone (individuals, students, startups). No .edu requirement, no startup/funding cap, no credit card required. Free to register.
How to claim
Register at gitea.com/user/sign_up, then create repos/projects. Hosts Gitea.org's own public open-source code (gitea/gitea, runner, tea CLI, etc.).
Expiry
Ongoing free service, subject to Gitea's terms; no published sunset date.
Gotchas
Free CI runners are NOT available on gitea.com (as of Nov 2025, maintainers confirmed there are no free managed runners; Gitea Actions needs a self-hosted runner or paid Gitea Cloud managed runners). The gitea.com root now 303-redirects to about.gitea.com (marketing); use gitea.com/<org>/<repo> for actual hosting. Exact repo/storage caps and private-repo policy are not published — treat as a public/mirror-friendly instance, not a guaranteed production private-code host. Source on no-free-runners: https://forum.gitea.com/t/how-to-make-gitea-actions-work-on-gitea-com/11793
Gitea Cloud is a fully managed, dedicated, single-tenant Gitea instance where you choose provider and region (incl. Frankfurt EU for data residency). A 30-day free trial is offered ('Start your 30-day free trial'); after it ends, it becomes pay-as-you-go (no permanent free hosted tier). Managed Gitea Actions CI/CD runners are included automatically. Unlimited network traffic: incoming traffic is free & unlimited; once the high-speed egress quota is hit, a speed cap applies only to outgoing traffic. A recurring 50% discount is available on most plans (Extra/Max/Ultra unlimited-user tiers excluded). Instances provision in ~2 minutes; public repos can allow anonymous access; 2FA supported.
Eligibility
Open to individual developers, startups, and enterprises — no .edu requirement and no dedicated startup program. No published funding/age cap. Payment is pay-as-you-go after the trial (credit card likely required at checkout; the 30-day trial itself is advertised without a stated CC requirement — not confirmed on the pages read).
How to claim
Go to cloud.gitea.com/signup → 'Start your 30-day free trial' → choose provider/region and a plan (S/M/L or Extra/Max/Ultra) → provision → use fully managed Gitea for 30 days → pay-as-you-go thereafter (apply the 50% discount where offered).
Expiry
Trial lasts 30 days, then pay-as-you-go. No published free-tier renewal; the 30-day trial is one-time.
Gotchas
This is a trial, not a permanent free tier — costs begin after 30 days (pay-as-you-go; add-on object storage is extra). Egress: high-speed quota then speed-capped outgoing (incoming free). 50% discount does not cover Extra/Max/Ultra tiers. Exact $/month per plan tier and the CC-required policy for the trial are not published in the pages read (Cloud site is an SPA). No free managed CI runners outside the trial.
Gitea Enterprise is the enhanced, closed-source edition (SAML SSO, audit logs, Kubernetes AutoScaling Runners, mandatory 2FA, IP allowlist, enterprise themes, priority SLA support, installation/upgrade assistant, emergency remote support). A 30-day free trial is offered via the customers portal with full Enterprise features. List price is $19/user/month, with a recurring 50% discount shown as $9.50/user/month; a 1-year commitment is required with online payment. Licenses are user-count based and can be resized at any time; after a trial you can keep paying or revert to open-source Gitea (fully data/config compatible).
Eligibility
For companies/enterprises (and 'small companies' — discounts available for non-profits and small companies; FAQ notes discounted or even free quotes for education/non-profit on request). Not a dedicated free startup program. No .edu requirement for the trial itself; paid tier needs online payment (credit card) with a 1-year commitment.
How to claim
Go to customers.gitea.com → sign in with an organization account → 'Request Trial' → specify desired user count → a 30-day trial license is auto-issued → download license.key → in Gitea Enterprise admin: Site Administration → Enterprise License → Upload License. During the trial all Enterprise functions are free.
Expiry
Trial = 30 days. Paid licenses run for the committed term (typically 1 year, resizable), renewable; if unpaid after trial the instance falls back to open-source Gitea behavior (no data loss).
Gotchas
Trial-vs-paid: free only for 30 days, then $19/user/month list ($9.50 with the 50% recurring discount) on a 1-year commitment. Exceeding the user count just blocks new sign-ups (resize for free). Resale of Gitea Enterprise is prohibited. Non-profit/small-company discounts and even free quotes require contacting Gitea — they are not self-serve.
Gitea Education Program — free 12-month Gitea Enterprise license (institutions) high confidence
Eligible non-profit K-12 and higher-education institutions receive a no-cost Gitea Enterprise license for 12 months, self-hosted, with community technical support only (no commercial support / no SLA). Renewable annually after an eligibility review. Covers coursework, labs, capstones, student group projects, non-commercial academic research, and internal school collaboration tied to the academic mission.
Eligibility
Institution-level, NOT individual students. Eligible: non-profit K-12 schools, colleges, and universities officially recognized/authorized/accredited/licensed or otherwise approved by the relevant education authority. Applications must come from full-time faculty/staff using an institutional email. Excluded: for-profit training firms, commercial bootcamps, private coaching, unrecognized/unaccredited organizations, and requests from students, alumni, or external consultants. Use is limited to academic/non-commercial — no commercial software delivery, paid hosting, or revenue-generating services. A .edu address is not strictly required, but an institutional email from a recognized non-profit institution is; proof of recognition/accreditation is required.
How to claim
Apply via the contact form at about.gitea.com/contact/form/?program=education. Provide: institution name/website/country, a link or document showing education-authority recognition/accreditation, non-profit confirmation, applicant name/role/institutional email, expected user count + short usage summary, and acknowledgement that only community support is included. Every request is manually reviewed; on approval you get a tailored 12-month Enterprise license.
Expiry
12 months, renewable annually after re-confirming eligibility and usage scope. Notify Gitea if eligibility or usage changes.
Gotchas
Students cannot apply directly — they benefit only via their school's license. Community support only (no commercial/SLA support). Non-commercial academic use only; commercial/resale/revenue use is prohibited and could void the license. No fixed seat count — scoped to the institution's expected users.
try.gitea.io — the free hosted "try" instance listed in the known-so-far notes — no longer resolves (DNS getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND on two attempts as of 2026-10-22), indicating it has been retired or repurposed; no current official page or terms could be found. Treat it as defunct. gitea.com's root domain now 303-redirects to about.gitea.com (marketing site); the free first-party public instance still serves orgs/repos under gitea.com/<org>/<repo>, but gitea.com no longer offers free managed CI runners (confirmed by a Gitea maintainer on the forum, Nov 2025 — Gitea Actions on gitea.com needs a self-hosted runner or paid Gitea Cloud managed runners). No dedicated Gitea startup program with free credits exists as of 2026-10-22 (startups' free path = self-hosted OSS Gitea + the Gitea Cloud 30-day trial). Recurring 2024→2026 changes still in effect: Gitea Cloud added a Frankfurt (EU) region, add-on object storage, unlimited network traffic (incoming free, outgoing speed-capped past a high-speed quota), and a 50% recurring discount on most plans; Enterprise lists at $19/user/month with a 50% discount to $9.50/user/month on a 1-year commitment. The Education Program (free 12-month Enterprise license for non-profit institutions) is current and live on about.gitea.com/education. Note: WebSearch budget was exhausted, so verification relied on WebFetch of official Gitea pages (about.gitea.com products/pricing/education, gitea.com, docs.gitea.com/enterprise, cloud.gitea.com) plus one forum confirmation.