GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket rent the forge: issues, permissions, actions, and the social layer. The git objects were always portable. Gitea is MIT. Forgejo is GPL-3.0. Either can hold the repositories on a host the client controls. We run our own forge the same way, which is why this recommendation is not theoretical.
What does not come along?
GitHub's marketplace, code scanning as a service, and the network effect of pull requests from strangers. A private company forge does not need the network effect. A public open-source project might. Those are different decisions, and we do not collapse them.
What about GitLab's own offering?
GitLab sells a hosted product and also publishes source. This page recommends Gitea and Forgejo because those are the trees whose licences we confirmed as MIT and GPL-3.0. We do not describe a hosted GitLab plan as ownership.
When should the forge stay rented?
When the team depends on a GitHub Action marketplace they will not rebuild, and the bill is not the pain. Own the forge when the repository is the system of record and the actions can move to a runner you operate. That runner is the next page.
What do we hand over?
We select the system, deploy it on infrastructure you control, connect it to the tools you keep, and write the runbook so your own team can operate it. Support after handover is optional. The rest of the map is in software you can stop renting; the engagement behind it is open-source business systems.
Name one process that still needs a person. We will tell you what a one-time build takes.
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