Azure DevOps vs Gitea: What are the differences?

Azure DevOps and Gitea are both popular platforms that offer version control and collaboration tools for software development teams. However, there are several key differences between the two.

1. Deployment Options: Azure DevOps is a cloud-based service, providing seamless integration with other Azure services. On the other hand, Gitea is a self-hosted solution which allows teams to have complete control over their infrastructure environment.

2. Pricing Model: Azure DevOps follows a usage-based pricing model, where the cost is based on the number of users and resources utilized. In contrast, Gitea is an open-source platform, providing a free solution to host and manage repositories without any licensing charges.

3. Scalability: Azure DevOps is highly scalable and can handle large enterprise-level projects, allowing teams to scale up or down their resources based on demand. Gitea, being a self-hosted solution, depends on the hardware and capacity of the hosting environment, potentially limiting its scalability.

4. Built-in CI/CD: Azure DevOps provides built-in continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, making it easy to automate software build, test, and deployment processes. Gitea, on the other hand, does not offer native CI/CD capabilities, requiring users to integrate with separate tools for achieving the same functionality.

5. Integration Ecosystem: Azure DevOps offers seamless integrations with various Microsoft services, including Azure cloud services, Visual Studio IDE, and Microsoft Teams. Gitea, being an open-source platform, provides a wide range of integrations, including popular third-party tools, allowing developers to choose tools that best fit their requirements.

6. Community and Support: Azure DevOps has a larger user community and professional support from Microsoft, ensuring timely bug fixes, updates, and documentation. Gitea, being open-source, relies on community support, which might result in longer response times for issue resolutions.

In Summary, Azure DevOps is a cloud-based, scalable solution with built-in CI/CD capabilities and tight integration with Microsoft services, whereas Gitea is a self-hosted, open-source platform with a customizable infrastructure, free pricing, and a wide range of integrations. Choose Azure DevOps for enterprise-scale projects with Microsoft-centric development environments, while Gitea is suitable for small to medium-sized teams looking for a flexible, self-hosted solution.