About Codebahn
Codebahn is an independent, EU-based company building managed Git and CI for developers and teams. The product runs on Forgejo, an open-source forge, with infrastructure hosted entirely in the EU by EU-incorporated providers. The company is funded entirely by its customers.
European software ended up on American infrastructure. Nobody chose it.
One version of why Codebahn exists
I've been working in "the tech industry" since about the Y2K problem was no longer a problem. As a programmer, I've used all sorts of ways to manage source code, some better than others.
With the release of Git in 2005 version control clicked for me, it matched how my brain worked. The launch of GitHub in 2008 was nothing short of a revelation, with hosted Git repos, the introduction of pull requests, integrated issue tracking, and just a very slick environment to build and collaborate on software in.
Fast-forward almost 20 years, and GitHub has turned into a behemoth. I use almost none of it. I'm annoyed that it's slow, frustrated when I can't find the feature I'm looking for, and helpless when there is an outage.
We know about this pattern. If something gets too big, it starts to deteriorate. With more requests and suggestions from enterprise customers, from shareholders, from the hundred teams building on the product itself. The constant need to grow, to find something to add that will make the next customer subscribe, and for the revenue to go up. I've worked at several of those companies.
This is the system we're in, and while it's not all bad, it comes with a set of tradeoffs. Naturally there will be a constant sprawl of new features, and an increasing surface area for users to relate to, and for the product teams to manage, keep performant, reliable, and secure. Then there's how we pay for our services, through our money or through some combination of data that we give up in exchange.
Related but distinct, this gravitational pull towards seemingly cheap or in some cases "free" services means a majority of us, individuals and corporations, have an unhealthy dependency on one or more of the Big Tech companies, all within US jurisdiction. It's convenient, it's cheap, it mostly works. Until it doesn't, or the price, monetary or otherwise, becomes too high.
I want to live in a world where there are options, where there is flexibility, where there is a choice, where I know I'm not taken advantage of, where small businesses can thrive, where I pay with money and not my time, data or attention, while working and enjoying life in Europe.
This is what Codebahn is a manifestation of. It's managed Git hosting and CI aimed at small to medium sized development teams. Based on open source with my personal flavor added on top. Swedish company, EU infrastructure.
You pay with money, and I provide a service that you want to use, for as long as that holds true.
I've self-hosted Codebahn on Codebahn since day one. I'm obviously biased, but it's a joy to work in.
Look around, email me with questions, check out the demo, try it. If you're unhappy for any reason, I'll refund you.
That's it, that's the spiel.
Founder
Revenue, not funding
Codebahn is completely independent, self-funded, and bootstrapped. Revenue comes from customer subscriptions, and that revenue covers infrastructure, development, and support. Subscription-funded means the incentive is to keep customers, not to convert them. I build Codebahn and I answer your email. Read more about what independent means for the product.
What I believe
- Simple. Fewer things, done properly. The rest I leave out on purpose.
- Developer-first. When interests conflict, the person writing and shipping the code wins.
- Simple pricing. Per-seat for teams, flat for individuals. Your bill follows your member list.
- EU-hosted. Swedish company, EU infrastructure, every sub-processor EU-incorporated.
- Built on open source. Forgejo is GPL-3.0. Your data exports in standard format, any time.
- Private. Every repo is private. No AI training pipeline, no telemetry, no tracking.
Where Codebahn is today
Codebahn is new. I am honest about where it fits and where it doesn't. Here is what I can show you: where the servers are, who owns the company, every sub-processor. Then you decide. The company is Hackerman AB, incorporated in Sweden; brand assets are on the press page.
If Codebahn goes away, your data exports in standard Forgejo format. Your code is always yours. See the continuity page for what's in place if I'm not.
Use it for 14 days. If it's not right, one email and I refund it. Simon, founder