GitLab CE 19.3.1, the open source DevOps platform, deploys as a one-click template onto a dedicated server Selfhost.dev provisions, secures and runs, across six locations on three continents.
One container, TLS and your own domain. One of the slowest deploys in the catalog and worth the wait.
GitLab Community Edition running on a server you control instead of GitLab.com: repositories, merge requests, issues and CI, with the code, the database and every artefact on your machine.
Teams past GitLab.com Free's five users or whose code must stay on infrastructure they choose.
When source code has to stay on infrastructure you can point at. Not when you need working email on day one.
GitLab Docker guides pull gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest, read a root password from a file GitLab deletes after 24 hours and leave the proxy and memory settings to you. On this template each of those is set before the container first boots, the same way every time, on a server with root access over SSH.
external_url is your HTTPS address with nginx["listen_https"] = false and listen_port = 80. That exact combination makes GitLab emit https:// clone URLs while its internal nginx listens on plain HTTP behind a terminating proxy. Get it wrong and every clone URL it hands out is unusable.
Your team, Git clients and CI
TLS and routing
GitLab CE 19.3.1
PostgreSQL
Redis
Root password
| What the Docker guide has you do | On this template |
|---|---|
Pull gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest | Pinned to gitlab-ce:19.3.1-ce.0; it moves only when you move it |
Read initial_root_password, deleted after 24 hours | GITLAB_ROOT_PASSWORD set before first boot |
Set external_url behind your proxy | HTTPS clone URLs from the first boot |
| Tune memory so CE fits the server | Prometheus off, Puma and Sidekiq sized for 8 GB |
| Wire ten SMTP variables into the config | Left out: one empty value stops GitLab booting |
| Close public sign up | gitlab_signup_enabled = false |
| Install a proxy and a certificate | TLS issued and renewed; 22, 80 and 443 open, plus an SSH port if you request one |
GitLab server requirements start at 8 GB of RAM. GitLab's own docs put the baseline at 16 GB and 8 vCPU. They say it can run with at least 8 GB in memory-constrained setups, not the 4 GB some guides quote. This template enforces 8 GB and ships the tuning that makes that work, on a server in your own account.
smtp_enable = false is in the omnibus configThe template deploys in about 25 minutes, most of it GitLab's own migrations.
Pick one of six locations and submit. Smaller servers are refused: 8 GB is a floor the platform enforces.
The container runs GitLab's full migration suite before the interface answers. Don't restart it midway; an interrupted migration usually needs a fresh deployment.
Use the password the console set at deploy. Add your domain from Settings, create your first group and add an SMTP relay before inviting the team.
GitLab hosting cost here is one server rate: that is what self hosted GitLab pricing comes down to. CE is free software and the template adds no fee. Users, repositories and CI minutes never change the bill. A European 8 GB server runs it, billed by the hour against prepaid credits; the rate depends on the machine and its location.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| GitLab CE, the software | $0. It is free and open source |
| Its bundled PostgreSQL and Redis | $0 |
| HTTPS certificate and custom domain | $0 |
| Users, seats or contributors | $0 at any number |
| Bandwidth | $0. Traffic is included in the server price |
| Optional daily backups | +20% of the server price |
| Server | RAM, cores, disk | Where | Rate | About a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cx33 (recommended) | 8 GB, 4 cores, 80 GB | Europe | $0.03/hr | $23.36 |
cax21 (ARM) | 8 GB, 4 cores, 80 GB | Europe | $0.04/hr | $29.20 |
cx43 (room to grow) | 16 GB, 8 cores, 160 GB | Europe | $0.06/hr | $43.22 |
ccx13 | 8 GB, 2 cores, 80 GB | US | $0.16/hr | $119.28 |
cpx32 | 8 GB, 4 cores, 160 GB | Singapore | $0.19/hr | $135.63 |
Monthly figures assume 730 hours.
With a card on file or a past top-up, the server is powered off and held for 24 hours. GitLab stays offline until a top-up in that window restarts it. Welcome-credit-only servers are deleted at zero with their backups, so keep a gitlab-backup create archive elsewhere.
Price it in your own location, no signup.
GitLab.com Free is hosted and genuinely good up to five users per top-level group. From the sixth you need Premium, priced per user and billed annually. CE on your own server has no Premium features, but a European 8 GB server is $23.36 a month for any headcount.
| GitLab.com Free | GitLab.com Premium | GitLab CE here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | Per user, billed annually | $23.36/mo for the server |
| Users | 5 per top-level group | Unlimited licensed | Unlimited |
| CI compute | 400 minutes/mo | 10,000 minutes/mo | Your own server, no meter |
| Where the code lives | GitLab's infrastructure | GitLab's infrastructure | A server you chose, in one of six locations |
| Premium features | No | Yes | No; CE does not contain them |
GitLab.com plans and compute minutes from about.gitlab.com/pricing. Ultimate is priced on request. Ours is a European 8 GB server at 730 hours.
If your team needs working email on day one or Premium features such as merge approvals and epics, GitLab.com is the better call. It is hosted, free up to five users and maintained by the people who write GitLab.
gitlab-ce:19.3.1-ce.0 is pinned. A floating tag is how a live GitLab gets dragged onto a new major and runs an irreversible migration.GitLab's template deploys in about 25 minutes. That is the platform's own budget, not an estimate.
smtp_enable = false is in the omnibus config, so resets and invitations won't send. Our self host GitLab guide has the full SMTP block.None of these a dealbreaker? The template deploys in about 25 minutes.
Launch GitLabGitLab backup and restore works two ways: a daily image of the whole server and GitLab's own gitlab-backup archive of repositories, database, uploads and CI artefacts. Every clone your team holds is a copy of the code too; the archive is what brings back the issues, merge requests and settings.
| Method | What it covers | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Daily server backup (optional, +20%) | The whole server, last 7 kept | With the server; deleted with it |
gitlab-backup create over SSH | Repositories, database, uploads, CI artefacts | Wherever you copy it |
| Your team's Git clones | The code itself | Every developer's machine |
gitlab-backup restore brings an archive back onto any GitLab of the same version.
Send yourself the sizing and the monthly figure for an 8 GB machine in your own location, plus the SMTP options that work with a self hosted GitLab. One email, no newsletter.
Yes. GitLab Community Edition is free and open source, with no user limit and no licence to buy. What costs money is the server it runs on: here a European 8 GB machine billed by the hour. Premium and Ultimate features are separate paid GitLab products and aren't part of CE. See pricing.
In the console, from deployment. This template sets the root password before GitLab first boots, so you never hunt for the initial_root_password file that GitLab's Docker guide points to and which GitLab deletes on the first restart after 24 hours. Sign in as root, then create your own admin account.
At least 8 GB. GitLab's own docs put the baseline at 16 GB and 8 vCPU and say it can run with 8 GB in memory-constrained setups. This template enforces the 8 GB floor and turns off Prometheus, with Puma and Sidekiq sized down, which is what makes CE comfortable on 8 GB.
From another self-managed instance, run gitlab-backup create, copy the archive across and restore it here with the same GitLab version. From GitLab.com, use per-project export and import each file from the new-project screen. Repositories, issues and merge requests come across; CI variables and registry images do not.
No. This template runs Community Edition. Merge approvals, epics, advanced roles and security dashboards are licensed features CE does not contain. No hosting arrangement adds them. If your team needs those, a GitLab plan is the answer; it's a licensing decision rather than a hosting one.
Yes. GitLab starts on a generated HTTPS hostname. You add your own domain afterwards from the resource Settings screen: set the DNS records and verify with a TXT record, then the certificate is issued for you. GitLab's external_url follows it, so every clone URL stays correct.
No, not without work from you. SMTP is hardcoded off, so password resets and member invitations won't deliver until you edit GitLab's omnibus configuration in the container and reconfigure. Our guide on how to self host GitLab by hand has the full SMTP block and the one empty value that stops GitLab booting.
Selfhost.dev is a managed self hosting platform for developers and small teams. Open source apps and databases on dedicated servers you control, billed by the hour, in six locations across three continents.
Best for: GitLab, Jenkins, Grafana, MinIO and managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, ClickHouse, OpenSearch and Kafka.