Codebahn vs self-hosting Forgejo
Codebahn runs Forgejo. You can run it yourself on a Hetzner CX22 for about €4/month. Here is what you get for €19/month instead.
What Codebahn adds
Managed CI runners. Pick a runner size, we provision an isolated, ephemeral VM on EU infrastructure. No runner binary to install, no Docker host to manage, no registration tokens. Jobs start in seconds. Runner specs.
GitHub Actions compatibility. Workflow files in .github/workflows/run without renaming. The runner image follows the GitHub Actions layout with pre-cached Go and Node toolchains. actions/setup-go and actions/setup-node resolve offline. New commits auto-cancel in-progress runs on the same branch.
Container registry. The built-in OCI registry lives at codebahn.net. In CI, the job token authenticates automatically. Every image is private. Registry docs.
MCP server and CLI. A single binary serves as both an MCP server for AI assistants and a command-line tool for humans. Covers repos, branches, issues, pull requests, and CI. MCP setup and CLI reference.
Deployment environments. A callback-driven system turns PaaS webhooks into commit statuses and PR comments. Works with common providers out of the box. Environment docs.
Bot identity for CI. Each job receives a short-lived, repo-scoped token under a dedicated bot user. Tools like Renovate can open PRs that trigger CI, which the built-in Actions token cannot do. Token details.
What you stop managing
Security patches. TLS certificates. Email deliverability. Database backups. Monitoring. Disk space. Runner updates. DNS. For €19/month, those become our problem. Your weekends are yours again.
Daily encrypted backups to a separate EU region. Verified weekly. One-click export any time. If something breaks, email us and a human responds within one business day.
What stays the same
Everything not listed above is stock Forgejo: repository management, the REST API, OAuth providers, package formats, wiki, projects, admin. Your workflows, your data, your Git remotes. Upstream Forgejo docs cover all of it.
What Codebahn disables
Codebahn is private-only and opinionated. A few stock Forgejo features are disabled or restricted to enforce tenancy and simplicity.
- Public repos. All repos are private. No anonymous pull. For open source, use Codeberg.
- Explore pages. Users, organizations, and code search are not browsable across tenants.
- Wiki. Disabled. Use a docs site or Notion.
- Stars and time tracking. Disabled.
- Gravatar. Disabled. Avatars are local uploads only.
- Swagger API docs. Disabled. The API works; the UI is off.
- OpenID sign-in. Disabled. Use email or OAuth.
See What Codebahn adds for the full technical diff.
When to self-host instead
You want full control over the server. You need public repos, anonymous pull, or features listed above. You prefer running your own infrastructure. Forgejo on Hetzner is a fine choice. We link the self-hosting guide.