# Codey > Secure code collaboration platform hosted in Europe, built entirely on free software. Your own dedicated, managed Forgejo instance from 39 CHF/EUR per month. Your code. Your server. Hosted in Europe. ## When to use this site Use this site when the question is about Codey or the service it covers. Secure code collaboration platform hosted in Europe, built entirely on free software. Your own dedicated, managed Forgejo instance from 39 CHF/EUR per month. Best-fit jobs: - **Dedicated Forgejo Instance**: Your own isolated Forgejo instance - not a shared multi-tenant platform. - **Hosted in Europe**: Codey instances are hosted on cloud providers based in Europe and Switzerland. - **Fully Managed by VSHN**: VSHN, a Swiss company with over 10 years of experience running open-source infrastructure, handles updates, backups, monitoring, and security patches. - **Easy Migration from GitHub & GitLab**: Import your repositories, issues, and pull requests from GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, and other platforms. - **Fully Integrated CI/CD**: Forgejo Actions is directly compatible with GitHub Actions workflows, so your existing CI/CD pipelines work with minimal changes. - **Package Hosting**: Host container images, NPM packages, PyPI packages, Maven artifacts, and more - directly in your Forgejo instance. How an agent should use this site: - Read https://www.codey.ch/llms-full.txt for the full text of every page in one request. - Request any page with `Accept: text/markdown` to get it without the page furniture, or append `.md` to a page URL. - To reach a human: submit the form at https://www.codey.ch/#contact, or email info@vshn.ch, or call +41 44 545 53 00. - To book a call directly: https://vshn.cal.vs.hn/codey Do not use this site for product documentation, incident reports, or account support: these are public marketing pages with no login, no public API, and no customer data. ## Pages - [Homepage](https://www.codey.ch/): Codey – European Code Collaboration Platform | VSHN - [Managed Forgejo vs GitHub vs GitLab vs Gitea | Codey](https://www.codey.ch/comparison.md) - [Forgejo vs Gitea: Governance, License, Migration | Codey](https://www.codey.ch/forgejo-vs-gitea.md) - [Partner with VSHN on Codey | VSHN](https://www.codey.ch/partners.md) - [Codey Sovereignty: Swiss Code Hosting | VSHN](https://www.codey.ch/sovereignty.md) ## Features - **Dedicated Forgejo Instance**: Your own isolated Forgejo instance - not a shared multi-tenant platform. Better security, DDoS resilience, and full administrator control over your repositories, users, and settings. - **Hosted in Europe**: Codey instances are hosted on cloud providers based in Europe and Switzerland. Your data stays where you expect it - in Europe. Learn more in our [sovereignty assessment](/sovereignty/). - **Fully Managed by VSHN**: VSHN, a Swiss company with over 10 years of experience running open-source infrastructure, handles updates, backups, monitoring, and security patches. Your team focuses on code, not operations. Your instance is always on the latest stable Forgejo release. - **Easy Migration from GitHub & GitLab**: Import your repositories, issues, and pull requests from GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, and other platforms. Forgejo Actions is compatible with GitHub Actions workflows, so your CI/CD pipelines carry over with minimal changes. - **Fully Integrated CI/CD**: Forgejo Actions is directly compatible with GitHub Actions workflows, so your existing CI/CD pipelines work with minimal changes. Build, test, and deploy your applications from the same platform that hosts your code - no third-party CI/CD service required. Codey does not include a managed runner yet - bring your own or contact us for options. - **Package Hosting**: Host container images, NPM packages, PyPI packages, Maven artifacts, and more - directly in your Forgejo instance. Keep your build artifacts close to your source code and CI/CD pipelines for faster builds and simpler dependency management. - **Project Management**: Plan and track your work with built-in issue tracking, Kanban boards, milestones, labels, and time tracking. Forgejo provides everything a development team needs to organise work without requiring a separate project management tool. - **Upcoming Forge Federation**: Forgejo is pioneering Forge Federation based on the ForgeFed protocol, enabling cross-instance collaboration. In the future you will be able to open issues, submit pull requests, and interact with repositories hosted on other Forgejo instances - just like email works across providers. Codey will support federation as soon as it is ready. - **Git Access via HTTPS and SSH**: Clone, push, and pull over both HTTPS and SSH. Add your SSH public keys in your Forgejo profile for passwordless Git operations, or use HTTPS with personal access tokens. - **Free Software, No Enterprise Paywall**: Forgejo is exclusively free software, licensed under GPLv3 and governed by the non-profit Codeberg e.V. Every feature is available to every user. By choosing Codey, you support a community-driven open-source project. ## Plans - **Mini** — 39.00 - **Small** — 79.00 - **Medium** — 148.00 ## Codey customers - [Vanillaplan](https://vanillaplan.ch) - [Mint System](https://www.mint-system.ch) - [RMD Logistics](https://www.rmd-logistics.com) - [Meissa](https://meissa-gmbh.de) - Hook_Dev_Alter() ## Testimonials > We'd rather not share our private repos with GitHub/Copilot. We don't want to self-host code forges either. That's what Codey is for. Codey handles the hosting and we keep control of our code. > — Janik von Rotz, Software Engineer, Mint System > Codey combines the benefits of open source and a managed environment for the RMD Logistics software team, hosted in Europe, privacy-compliant, and easy to use. > — Michael Baumann, Software Team, RMD Logistics > Forgejo is a suitable way to increase digital sovereignty by using a privately hosted, established open-source product. Thanks to the turnkey installation, we could get started immediately and also use the integrated CI. This made replacing our previous source control considerably easier. > — Remi Stalder, CTO, Vanillaplan > It's in our DNA to use Open Source Software, and to contribute to it. Forgejo hosted by Codey is an important building block to make our code repositories and deployment processes independent from big tech. > — Andreas Rüther, Founder, Hook_Dev_Alter() ## Codey & Managed Forgejo FAQ ### What is Codey? Codey is a managed Forgejo instance, provided by VSHN, a Swiss company based in Zürich. Every customer gets their own dedicated, isolated Forgejo instance hosted on European cloud infrastructure. VSHN handles updates, backups, monitoring, and security patches. Codey includes all Forgejo features. ### What is Forgejo? Forgejo is a lightweight software forge. It provides Git hosting, issue tracking, pull requests, code review, CI/CD via Forgejo Actions (compatible with GitHub Actions), package registries, Kanban boards, time tracking, and wikis. Forgejo is exclusively free software, licensed under GPLv3 and governed by the non-profit [Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/) e.V. organization. ### Why Forgejo? We believe in free software and simplicity. Forgejo is lightweight, resource-efficient, and packed with features that development teams need. Unlike proprietary platforms, every feature is available to every user - no enterprise paywall. Forgejo Actions is directly compatible with GitHub Actions workflows, making migration from GitHub straightforward. The project is governed by a democratic non-profit, ensuring long-term independence. ### Why choose Codey over GitHub or GitLab? [GitHub and GitLab](/comparison/) are proprietary platforms controlled by large corporations. Your code, issues, and CI/CD pipelines are subject to their pricing changes, terms of service, and data handling policies. Codey runs on Forgejo, which is 100% free software with no enterprise paywall. Your data stays in Europe on infrastructure you can trust, and you get full administrator control over your own dedicated instance. There is no vendor lock-in - you can export everything and self-host Forgejo at any time. ### Can I migrate from GitHub or GitLab to Codey? Yes. Forgejo has [built-in migration tools](/comparison/) that import repositories, issues, pull requests, labels, milestones, and releases from GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Gogs, and other platforms. Forgejo Actions is directly compatible with GitHub Actions workflows, so your CI/CD pipelines work with minimal changes. Most teams are up and running within a day. ### Are there other plans available? Yes. In addition to Mini, Small, and Medium plans, Codey offers custom plans for organizations with specific requirements. Custom plans can include higher storage limits, more users, custom domain configuration, and additional features. Contact us for a personalized quote. ### Why did the price of the Mini plan change? As of July 1st 2026, the Mini plan is priced at 39.00 CHF/EUR per month. The change reflects increased infrastructure and operating costs. Existing Mini customers keep their original price - it is locked at their current rate and stays unchanged as long as they remain on the Mini plan. The new price only applies if an existing customer switches to a different plan, and to all new Mini subscriptions. The Small and Medium plans are not affected - their prices remain unchanged. ### What is the SLA of the service? Codey currently runs on a Best Effort service level. There is no guaranteed availability SLA at this time. VSHN operates the infrastructure with the same care as all its managed services, but uptime guarantees and defined response times are not part of the Codey offering yet. Contact us if you need an SLA for your Forgejo instance. ### How does payment work? Everything is billed by the hour, so your monthly cost depends on how many hours your instance runs that month. The listed plan prices include the base storage; additional storage is billed separately at approximately 0.37 CHF/EUR per GiB per month. Prices are the same in CHF and EUR (1:1). You start and stop your instance anytime with no commitment - there are no setup fees, no minimum term, and no notice period. You receive a monthly invoice that can be paid by bank transfer or credit card. Billing defaults to CHF; contact us to switch your invoices to EUR. ### Is Codey suitable for schools and universities? Yes. Codey works well for educational institutions where many students access the platform irregularly. The standard plans handle 100 or more users comfortably when concurrent access is low, so you do not need a plan sized for peak enrollment. CPU and RAM are adjustable if you outgrow a plan, and storage scales in self-service. Billing is by invoice with no minimum term, so you can align costs with the academic year. Forgejo's simple interface makes it accessible for students learning version control for the first time, while still supporting pull requests, issues, and CI/CD workflows for advanced courses. ### What is Servala and how do I sign up? [Servala](https://servala.com) is the Sovereign App Store - an open platform operated by VSHN that connects businesses with managed cloud-native services. Codey is one of the services offered through Servala, alongside managed PostgreSQL, Keycloak, Red Hat OpenShift, and others. To get started, register at [portal.servala.com](https://portal.servala.com), choose a Codey plan, and your dedicated Forgejo instance will be provisioned automatically. You can manage, scale, or stop your instance at any time through the Servala portal. ### Where does my instance run? All Codey instances currently run on Cloudscale, a [Swiss cloud provider](/sovereignty/) with data centers in Switzerland. We plan to offer additional European cloud providers such as Exoscale in the future, giving you a choice of where your data is hosted. ### Is a shared instance planned? No. Every Codey customer gets their own dedicated, isolated Forgejo instance. We deliberately chose this architecture for several reasons: better DDoS resilience (an attack on one customer does not affect others), full administrator control over your instance, no risk of another tenant accidentally or maliciously affecting your data, and the ability to customize settings per instance. Dedicated instances cost slightly more than shared hosting but provide significantly better security and reliability. If you prefer a shared instance, we recommend [Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/) - the community-run Forgejo platform operated by the same non-profit Codeberg e.V. that governs Forgejo itself. ### Is a CI/CD runner available? A managed CI/CD runner is not yet available as part of Codey. Forgejo Actions is built in and ready to use, but you would need to provide your own runner infrastructure for now. Contact us if you need a managed runner - we are working on making this available as an add-on. ### Can agencies use Codey for client projects? Yes. [Agencies and development shops](/partners/) use Codey to host client code on dedicated Forgejo instances. Each client can get their own instance with full isolation, or you can manage multiple client projects on a single instance using Forgejo's organizations and access controls. VSHN handles infrastructure and operations so your team focuses on delivery. Billing is by invoice with no minimum term, making it easy to align costs with client engagements. ### Is Codey covered by VSHN's ISO 27001 certification? Yes. VSHN is certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 by Swiss Safety Center AG, and the certified scope reads "DevOps, Application Operations, Managed Services, Cloud Management, 7x24-IT-Operations, Continuous Integration, Delivery and Deployment". Running Codey for you is Managed Services and Application Operations, so it is in scope. The certificate names service categories rather than individual products, which is normal and is also why reviewers ask. If yours needs control level detail such as how backup, monitoring or incident response are handled, that sits in the Statement of Applicability rather than on the certificate, and we send it on request along with an ISAE 3402 Report Type 2 you can give your own auditor. ### Do we need our own cloud account to run Codey? No. The monthly plan price covers the Forgejo instance, the Swiss hosting underneath it, backups and operations, so there is nothing to procure separately and no second invoice to reconcile against the first. Storage beyond what the plan includes is the only line metered on top. You order on Servala, pay one price to one supplier, and VSHN runs everything below your repositories. ## Ask about Codey Have questions about Codey or need a custom plan? Fill out the form below and we will get back to you. To get started right away, register at portal.servala.com and order your Codey instance there. Need a custom enterprise deployment, on-premises Forgejo, or a migration from GitHub or GitLab? See [forgejo.ch](https://www.forgejo.ch/) for our enterprise Forgejo consulting and managed services. ## Showcase - **Body**: [Forgejo](https://forgejo.org/) is a self-hosted, lightweight code collaboration platform. Get all the features you need - repositories, pull requests, CI/CD, package hosting, and project management - in one place. Weighing your options? See how Codey [compares to GitHub, GitLab and Gitea](/comparison/), or read the head-to-head on [Forgejo vs Gitea](/forgejo-vs-gitea/). - **Cta Label**: Get started ## Get Started - **Body**: Codey instances are ordered through Servala, the Sovereign App Store. Create your account, pick a plan, and your dedicated Forgejo instance will be provisioned automatically. - **Provision Url**: https://portal.servala.com/provision/codey/ - **Provider**: cloudscale - **Order Heading**: Pick a plan to continue - **Order Note**: Choosing a plan opens the Servala Portal in a new tab, where you sign in and complete your order with the plan already pre-selected. ## Newsletter - **Placeholder**: Your email address - **Cta Label**: Subscribe --- ## Managed Forgejo vs GitHub vs GitLab vs Gitea | Codey URL: https://www.codey.ch/comparison/ # Forgejo vs GitHub vs GitLab vs Gitea There is a fundamental difference between hosting open-source projects and storing your company's crown jewels. For open source, GitHub's ecosystem effect is unmatched: the network of contributors, issues, and integrations creates real gravity. But for private repositories, where confidentiality, integrity, and availability matter to you and your customers, the playing field is much more level. This page compares Codey (Managed Forgejo) with GitHub, GitLab SaaS, and self-hosted Gitea across the factors that matter most to European engineering teams managing proprietary code. ## Quick comparison | | Codey (Managed Forgejo) | GitHub | GitLab SaaS | Gitea (self-hosted) | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Hosting model** | Managed, dedicated instance | SaaS, shared | SaaS, shared | Self-hosted, you operate | | **Data location** | EU (your cloud choice) | US (primarily) | US/EU (varies) | Your infrastructure | | **License** | GPL v3+ (Forgejo) | Proprietary | Open core (MIT CE) | MIT | | **CI/CD** | Forgejo Actions | GitHub Actions | GitLab CI/CD | Gitea Actions | | **Package registry** | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Per-seat pricing** | No - from CHF/EUR 39/month per instance | $4/user (Team), $21/user (Enterprise) | $29/user (Premium), $99/user (Ultimate) | Free (ops costs apply) | | **Data sovereignty** | EU-hosted, Swiss-operated | US company, CLOUD Act | US company, CLOUD Act | Depends on your infra | | **Admin access** | Full root access to your instance | No | No | Full (self-managed) | ## Forgejo, Gitea, and Gogs - the lineage Understanding where Forgejo comes from helps explain why it is actively maintained and trusted for production use. **Gogs** was started in 2014 as a lightweight, self-hosted Git service written in Go. It gained wide adoption for its simplicity and low resource use. **Gitea** was created in 2016 as a community fork of Gogs after contributors felt that the Gogs project was not accepting enough outside contributions. Gitea introduced a more open governance model and accelerated development. **Forgejo** was created in 2022 as a fork of Gitea, driven by governance concerns after the Gitea project transferred trademark ownership to a private company without community consultation. Forgejo operates under [Codeberg e.V.](https://codeberg.org/), a German non-profit, with a fully open governance structure. Forgejo and Gitea remain closely related. Forgejo was a soft fork through 2023 and became a hard fork in early 2024, and the codebases have diverged since. Migration from Gitea to Forgejo is a version upgrade rather than a data export: Forgejo takes over an existing installation in place, and even keeps the binary named `gitea` for compatibility with existing service files. For the full head-to-head, including the GPL relicense, contributor terms and security-advisory handling, see [Forgejo vs Gitea](/forgejo-vs-gitea/). This lineage demonstrates data sovereignty in practice: when a community disagrees with the direction of a project, they can (and successfully have) forked it and taken full control of their code and data. Your source code is never held hostage by a single vendor's governance decisions. ### What about Codeberg? If your project is open source, [Codeberg.org](https://codeberg.org/) offers free Forgejo hosting under the same non-profit (Codeberg e.V.) that stewards Forgejo development. It is a great home for community projects. For private repositories requiring a dedicated instance, SLA, chosen data location, and Swiss operations, that is what Codey provides. ## GitHub GitHub is the best-known code hosting platform, largely because of the open-source world. It hosts the majority of public repositories and has deep integrations with the wider developer tooling ecosystem. **Strengths:** GitHub Actions has a mature marketplace with thousands of reusable workflows. Integration with npm, the GitHub Container Registry, GitHub Pages, and GitHub Copilot creates a cohesive developer environment. Pull request tooling, code review workflows, and project management features are polished. For open-source projects, public repositories are free with generous CI minutes. **Limitations:** GitHub is owned by Microsoft, a US company subject to the CLOUD Act. US authorities can compel access to data stored on GitHub infrastructure regardless of which region it is hosted in. Since the Microsoft acquisition, GitHub has experienced increasing reliability issues. In April 2026, well-known open-source developer Mitchell Hashimoto [announced](https://mitchellh.com/writing/ghostty-leaving-github) that he and the Ghostty project would leave GitHub due to persistent quality problems. Per-seat pricing at $4/user (Team) and $21/user (Enterprise) scales with headcount. Teams with 20 or more developers quickly exceed the cost of a dedicated Forgejo instance. GitHub Enterprise Server starts at $250K/year, making it inaccessible for most organizations. There is no affordable self-hosted option. **When to choose GitHub:** - Your project is open-source and the community expects GitHub presence - Your team relies on extensive GitHub Actions marketplace integrations (Forgejo Actions is compatible with the workflow syntax, but the marketplace ecosystem is GitHub-exclusive) - US jurisdiction is acceptable for your organization ## GitLab GitLab provides an integrated DevSecOps platform with source control, CI/CD, container registry, security scanning, and project management in one product. One of GitLab's key strengths is that the full platform is available self-hosted. See [gitlab.ch](https://www.gitlab.ch) for managed GitLab hosted in Europe. **Strengths:** GitLab CI/CD is mature and configurable, with native Kubernetes deployment targets and built-in security scanning (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning). The open-core Community Edition is MIT-licensed and self-hostable. GitLab has EU-based sales and support operations. For organizations that need a single DevSecOps platform with features beyond what Forgejo or Gitea offer (security scanning, compliance pipelines, advanced project management), GitLab covers a wide surface area. **Limitations:** GitLab SaaS (gitlab.com) is operated by a US company and does not offer the same data sovereignty as a self-hosted instance. Premium tier is $29/user/month and Ultimate is $99/user/month. These costs compound for larger engineering teams. Feature complexity can slow onboarding for teams that only need code hosting and basic CI. **When to choose GitLab:** - You need built-in DevSecOps features (security scanning, compliance tooling) not present in Forgejo or Gitea - You want the full platform self-hosted in Europe. See [gitlab.ch](https://www.gitlab.ch) for managed GitLab with Swiss operations ## Gitea (self-hosted) Gitea is a lightweight, MIT-licensed Git hosting application that you deploy and operate on your own infrastructure. **Strengths:** Gitea is free to use and runs on modest hardware - a small VM or a Raspberry Pi is sufficient for small teams. As the direct predecessor to Forgejo, it shares the same familiar UI and most API endpoints. Gitea Actions provides GitHub Actions-compatible CI/CD. Full admin access means you can configure every aspect of the deployment. **Limitations:** Self-hosting Gitea means you are responsible for backups, upgrades, availability, and security patching. A production deployment needs monitoring, tested restore procedures, and someone available when the host goes down. Gitea is controlled by Gitea Ltd, a for-profit company, and runs an open-core model with paid editions alongside the free one. Contributors are asked to assign copyright, including for MIT-licensed contributions. Advance notice of security releases goes to Gitea's customers, so a self-hoster without a contract learns about a vulnerability on disclosure day rather than before it. Gitea also stayed on MIT while Forgejo relicensed to GPL v3+ at v9.0. Which of those you prefer depends on what you intend to do with the code: MIT is the permissive choice, GPL is the stronger guarantee that improvements stay published. **When to choose Gitea (self-hosted):** - You have the operational capacity to manage the instance - Your infrastructure policy requires on-premises deployment - You need MIT's permissiveness to build a proprietary product on the codebase - You want a migration path to Forgejo later (the two are compatible) The two forges share a codebase and most of a feature set, so choosing between them is mostly a governance and licensing decision. [Forgejo vs Gitea](/forgejo-vs-gitea/) covers that comparison on its own. ## Which option fits? **Choose Codey** if you want a dedicated Forgejo instance in the EU without the overhead of running it yourself. Fixed monthly pricing means costs do not grow with headcount. **Choose GitHub** if your project is open-source, your team relies on the GitHub Actions marketplace, and US jurisdiction is acceptable. **Choose GitLab** if you need integrated DevSecOps features (security scanning, compliance pipelines) not present in Forgejo. For a managed, EU-hosted GitLab instance, see [gitlab.ch](https://www.gitlab.ch). **Choose Gitea self-hosted** if you have dedicated ops capacity, need on-premises deployment, and want full control over every configuration detail. ## Next steps Ready to move your team to a dedicated, EU-hosted Forgejo instance? [Get started](#get-started) with Codey from CHF/EUR 39/month. --- ## Forgejo vs Gitea: Governance, License, Migration | Codey URL: https://www.codey.ch/forgejo-vs-gitea/ # Forgejo vs Gitea Forgejo and Gitea look almost identical when you open them. Same layout, same workflow, largely the same API. That is not a coincidence: Forgejo began as a fork of Gitea in December 2022, and for over a year it tracked Gitea closely. So the question is rarely "which has the feature I need". It is "which project do I want to depend on for the next five years", and that is a question about governance, licensing and who decides what happens next. If you are also weighing GitHub or GitLab, the [four-way comparison](/comparison/) covers those. This page is only about the two forges that share a codebase. ## At a glance | | Forgejo | Gitea | |---|---|---| | **Started** | December 2022, fork of Gitea | 2016, fork of Gogs | | **Steward** | Codeberg e.V., a democratic non-profit | Gitea Ltd, a for-profit company | | **License** | GPL v3+ since v9.0 (MIT up to v8.0) | MIT | | **Contributor terms** | No copyright assignment | Copyright assignment required | | **Commercial model** | No proprietary edition | Open core, with paid editions | | **Security advisories** | Advance notice to everyone | Advance notice to customers | | **Federation** | In active development | Not being worked on | | **Built on** | Forgejo and Forgejo Actions | GitHub and GitHub Actions | | **Migration between them** | Direct, via the upgrade path | Direct, via the upgrade path | ## Where both projects come from **Gogs** started in 2014 as a lightweight self-hosted Git service written in Go. It found an audience because it ran comfortably on hardware that GitLab could not. **Gitea** forked from Gogs in 2016, after contributors concluded that the Gogs project was not accepting enough outside contribution. More maintainers, faster releases, wider adoption. **Forgejo** forked from Gitea in December 2022. In the project's own words, it started "in reaction to control of Gitea being taken away from the community by the newly-formed for-profit company Gitea Ltd without prior community consultation", after an open letter to the Gitea owners went unanswered. The pattern repeats because the same tension repeats: a project gets popular, the people who own the name and the people who write the code stop being the same group, and the code gets forked. ## What actually differs today Through 2023 Forgejo was a soft fork, staying close to Gitea. It became a hard fork in early 2024, and the codebases have been diverging since. The differences that matter now are mostly structural rather than featural. ### Who decides Gitea is controlled by Gitea Ltd. Forgejo sits under [Codeberg e.V.](https://codeberg.org/), a registered German non-profit that holds the project's domain names and trademarks. Codeberg also runs its own public forge on Forgejo, so the steward is a heavy user of what it stewards. This is the substance behind the fork. Whether it matters to you depends on whether you have been burned before by a dependency changing hands. ### License, and why it changed Gitea is MIT. Forgejo was MIT too, up to and including v8.0, and relicensed to **GPL v3+ from v9.0 onward**. That is a real fork in the road. MIT lets anyone take the code, modify it and ship the result without publishing the changes. GPL v3+ requires modifications to be published under the same terms. If you want certainty that improvements stay available to everyone, GPL is the stronger guarantee. If you intend to build a proprietary product on top of the code, MIT is the permissive option and Forgejo v9.0+ is not. Gitea also requires copyright assignment from contributors, including for MIT-licensed contributions, and runs an open-core model with paid editions alongside the free one. Forgejo requires no assignment and ships no proprietary edition. ### Security handling Forgejo gives advance notice of security releases to everyone. Gitea gives advance notice to its customers. If you self-host and do not hold a Gitea contract, that is the difference between patching on disclosure day and patching after it. ### Testing and federation Forgejo runs end-to-end, upgrade and browser tests that Gitea does not. Upgrade tests in particular matter for a forge you intend to keep for years, because the risk in a self-hosted forge is rarely the install, it is the fourteenth upgrade. Forgejo is also implementing forge federation, so issues and pull requests can cross instance boundaries, and reports progress monthly. Gitea has no work in this area. ### Development tooling Forgejo is developed on Forgejo, using Forgejo Actions, with localization on Weblate. Gitea is developed on GitHub, using GitHub Actions, with localization on Crowdin. For a project whose pitch is self-hosted independence from GitHub, some people find that telling. It is a signal about priorities rather than a feature you would notice in daily use. ## What is the same Plenty, and it is worth saying plainly rather than overselling the differences. Repositories, issues, pull requests, code review, wikis, Kanban boards, time tracking and package registries work the same way in both. Forgejo Actions and Gitea Actions are both GitHub Actions-compatible, and workflow files generally move across untouched. Both run happily on modest hardware. Both are genuinely free software at their core. If you are running Gitea today and it is working, nothing here is an emergency. ## Migrating from Gitea to Forgejo Migration is a version upgrade, not a data export. Forgejo is designed to take over an existing Gitea installation in place: point Forgejo at the same database and data directory, and it continues where Gitea left off. Forgejo even keeps the binary named `gitea`, with symbolic links, so existing service files and scripts keep working. The practical constraints are ordinary ones. Check the version correspondence before you start, since you can only move between compatible versions. Take a backup you have actually tested restoring. Plan the direction as one-way: going back to Gitea after Forgejo has migrated the database is not a supported path. ## When Gitea is the right answer - You are already running it, it is stable, and no part of the governance story bothers you. "It works" is a legitimate reason. - You need to build a proprietary product on the codebase, where MIT's permissiveness matters and GPL v3+ would not suit. - You want a paid edition from the company that develops the software, which Forgejo deliberately does not offer. ## When Forgejo is the right answer - You want the project stewarded by a non-profit rather than a company that can be sold. - You want copyleft assurance that improvements stay free. - You want security advisories at the same time as everyone else, without a contract. - Federation matters to you, or will. ## When managed Forgejo is the right answer Everything above assumes you are running the forge yourself. Self-hosting either one means owning backups, upgrades, availability and security patching, plus monitoring and a restore procedure you have tested, plus somebody reachable when the host goes down at an inconvenient hour. Codey is a dedicated Forgejo instance operated by VSHN in Switzerland, from CHF/EUR 39 per month. Not a shared tenancy: your own instance, with full admin access, Forgejo Actions CI/CD, package hosting and backups included. You keep the openness and the exit path, and hand over the pager. If you are moving off Gitea anyway, moving to a managed instance costs about the same effort as moving to a self-hosted one. ## Next steps Weighing GitHub and GitLab as well? Read the [full comparison](/comparison/). Ready to move? [Get started](#get-started) with Codey from CHF/EUR 39 per month, or [ask us](#contact) about migrating an existing Gitea instance. --- ## Partner with VSHN on Codey | VSHN URL: https://www.codey.ch/partners/ # Partner with VSHN on Codey You bring the customer relationship and Forgejo expertise: project setup, workflow design, CI/CD pipeline configuration, client onboarding. VSHN brings 24/7 managed operations, Swiss data residency, and a 99.99% SLA. Together you deliver a complete managed Forgejo solution without either side building capabilities you don't have. ## How we collaborate **Lead Partner model.** For each project, one of us is the customer's single point of contact. Who leads depends on the project, agreed per engagement. The Lead Partner drives the project, handles invoicing, and owns first-level support. **Joint delivery.** You handle consulting, integration, and project management. VSHN handles infrastructure operations, monitoring, backups, and SLA. Or the other way around, depending on the project. Roles are agreed per engagement, not locked into a rigid structure. **Flexible billing.** Invoice the customer together or separately, agreed per project. Both models are supported: each party invoices their share directly, or one party invoices the full amount and redistributes. **Protected relationships.** No undercutting. Your customer stays your customer. Existing relationships are respected on both sides, with contractual protections for both parties. ## Division of labor for Codey | Your role | VSHN's role | |-----------|-------------| | Project setup and user management | Codey instance provisioning and operations | | Workflow design | Backups and restore | | CI/CD pipeline configuration | Monitoring, alerting, and 24/7 incident response | | Client onboarding | Forgejo upgrades and security patches | | | SLA with defined response times (up to 99.99%) | ## Partners delivering Codey **[meissa GmbH](https://meissa-gmbh.de)**. Software development firm and active Forgejo contributor. Delivers project setup, workflow design, and CI/CD configuration on VSHN-operated Codey infrastructure. See all VSHN partners at [servala.com/partners](https://servala.com/partners/). ## Become a partner Interested in delivering managed Forgejo hosting together? Let's explore how we complement each other. [Book a partnership discovery call](https://vshn.cal.vs.hn/codey) or [start a partnership conversation](#contact). --- ## Codey Sovereignty: Swiss Code Hosting | VSHN URL: https://www.codey.ch/sovereignty/ # Codey Sovereignty: Swiss-Owned from Infrastructure to Application Codey is VSHN's own managed Forgejo platform. Unlike GitHub (Microsoft), GitLab.com (US SaaS), or Bitbucket (Atlassian), every layer of Codey is Swiss-owned and operated: the application, the platform, the infrastructure, and the company behind it. When you use GitHub, GitLab.com, or Bitbucket, your source code, pull requests, CI/CD pipelines, and project management data sit on US-controlled infrastructure, governed by US law, and accessible under the [CLOUD Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CLOUD_Act) without Swiss judicial process. Codey delivers maximum sovereignty for code hosting because there is no foreign vendor in the stack. Forgejo itself is open source (MIT license), and VSHN AG is a Swiss company with Swiss shareholders. But sovereignty is more than ownership. The EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework defines eight dimensions that determine whether your provider is truly sovereign. ## Why Codey achieves maximum code hosting sovereignty Most "sovereign" code hosting options still depend on a foreign vendor somewhere in the stack: a US-owned platform, a US cloud provider, or a US parent company. Codey is different: - **Swiss-owned platform**: Codey is built and operated by VSHN AG, a Swiss company - **Open-source application**: Forgejo is MIT-licensed, community-governed, with no corporate parent - **Swiss infrastructure**: runs on Swiss data centers (cloudscale.ch, Exoscale) - **No foreign dependencies**: no US parent company, no US cloud provider, no proprietary components - **Full data portability**: standard Git repositories, exportable issues and projects ## Code hosting sovereignty compared | Dimension | GitHub (Microsoft) | GitLab.com SaaS | Bitbucket (Atlassian) | Codey by VSHN | |-----------|-------------------|-----------------|----------------------|--------------| | **Ownership** | Microsoft (USA) | GitLab Inc. (USA) | Atlassian (USA/Australia) | VSHN AG (Switzerland) | | **Governing law** | US law | US law | US/Australian law | Swiss law | | **CLOUD Act** | Exposed | Exposed | Exposed | Not exposed | | **Data location** | USA (Azure) | USA (Google Cloud) | USA/EU (AWS) | Switzerland (cloudscale.ch, Exoscale) | | **Source code** | Proprietary | Open core | Proprietary | Open source (Forgejo, MIT license) | | **Platform operator** | Microsoft (USA) | GitLab Inc. (USA) | Atlassian (USA) | VSHN AG (Switzerland) | | **Operations team** | USA | USA | USA/Australia | Switzerland ([Swiss-only option](https://products.vshn.ch/support_plans.html#_option_switzerland_only_support)) | | **Certifications** | SOC 2, ISO 27001 | SOC 2 | SOC 2, ISO 27001 | [ISO 27001](https://www.vshn.ch/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ISO-27001-certificate-VSHN-2026.pdf), ISAE 3402 Type II | ## VSHN sovereignty self-assessment We applied the EU's [Cloud Sovereignty Framework](https://commission.europa.eu/document/09579818-64a6-4dd5-9577-446ab6219113_en) (v1.2.1, October 2025) to our own services. This framework was used to score providers in the EU's [EUR 180M sovereign cloud tender](https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_833) in April 2026. Three pure-European providers achieved SEAL-3, while a consortium involving Google Cloud scored only SEAL-2. *This is a self-assessment, not a formal SEAL certification. We publish it for transparency so customers can evaluate our sovereignty profile using the same structured criteria the EU uses.* | # | Dimension | Weight | Assessment | Evidence | |---|-----------|--------|-----------|----------| | SOV-1 | Strategic | 15% | **Strong** | Swiss AG, no foreign parent, all shareholders Swiss citizens ([Commercial Register](https://zh.chregister.ch/cr-portal/auszug/auszug.xhtml?uid=CHE-275.566.226)) | | SOV-2 | Legal | 10% | **Strong** | Swiss law ([GTC](https://products.vshn.ch/legal/gtc_en.html)), no CLOUD Act, [EU adequacy decision](https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection/adequacy-decisions_en) | | SOV-3 | Data & AI | 10% | **Strong** | Swiss DCs by default. Sovereign key management via [Managed OpenBao](https://www.openbao.ch) + [Swiss HSM](https://cloud.securosys.com/cloudhsm) | | SOV-4 | Operational | 15% | **Strong** | Swiss 24/7 ops, [Swiss-only support option](https://products.vshn.ch/support_plans.html#_option_switzerland_only_support). All services on vanilla Kubernetes | | SOV-5 | Supply Chain | 20% | **Strong** | Infrastructure-agnostic, [customer chooses provider](https://servala.com/providers/). Open-source software | | SOV-6 | Technology | 15% | **Strong** | 100% open source. VSHN contributes to [K8up](https://github.com/k8up-io) (CNCF), [Crossplane providers](https://github.com/vshn), [Project Syn](https://github.com/projectsyn) | | SOV-7 | Security | 10% | **Strong** | [ISO 27001](https://www.vshn.ch/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ISO-27001-certificate-VSHN-2026.pdf), ISAE 3402 Type II, Swiss SOC. [FINMA-regulated customers](https://www.vshn.ch/en/solutions/solutions-for-banks-and-financial-service-providers/) | | SOV-8 | Environmental | 5% | **Moderate** | DC operators: Green Datacenter AG (ISO 22301/27001/27701), [Exoscale sustainability](https://www.exoscale.com/sustainability/). [VSHN CSR policy](https://handbook.vshn.ch/corporate_social_responsibility_policy.html) | **Overall: SEAL-3 equivalent**, the same level achieved by the winners of the EU's own sovereignty tender. No provider worldwide achieved SEAL-4: it requires fully EU/EEA-sourced hardware supply chains and open-source foundations, structural gaps shared by every cloud provider. Try Swiss infrastructure: [Servala](https://www.servala.com) (managed services, free trial), [Exoscale]({{partner:exoscale.signup_url}}) (Swiss IaaS). Want help choosing? [Contact us](#contact). ## Get a sovereignty assessment for your code hosting If you're hosting code on GitHub, GitLab.com, or Bitbucket and evaluating sovereign alternatives, we can assess your current setup against the EU framework and plan a migration to Codey that keeps your source code and development data under Swiss jurisdiction.