GitNotēs for GitHub, GitLab, Gitea & Forgejo
Your notes should not be locked to a single host. GitNotēs connects to any Git provider — GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo, or any self-hosted instance — using the same simple workflow.
The Host Is Your Choice
GitNotēs is not tied to any specific Git provider. When you connect a repository, you choose where it lives. GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Forgejo — it is the same interface, the same sync behavior, the same conflict resolution.
This matters for several reasons:
- You already have a preferred host. If your company uses GitLab, you do not need a separate GitHub account for your notes.
- Data sovereignty. Some users prefer to self-host Gitea or Forgejo on their own server so their notes never leave their infrastructure.
- Switching hosts is easy. Because Git is Git, you can change the remote URL and your entire history moves with it.
Learn more about the benefits of Git-backed notes →
The Four Hosts at a Glance
GitHub
The largest Git host. Free private repos and OAuth sign-in for personal note-taking.
Best for: Personal notes, public contributions, GitHub Pages integration
GitLab
Strong CI/CD and DevOps features. Offers both .com hosting and fully self-hosted deployments.
Best for: Self-hosted teams, GitLab CI integration, enterprise environments
Gitea
Lightweight, self-hostable Git service. Single binary deployment, minimal resources, MIT licence.
Best for: Personal self-hosted, low-resource servers, maximum control
Forgejo
Community-driven fork of Gitea. Fully open source, focused on simplicity and federation.
Best for: Fully open source stack, federated hosting, community-driven projects
GitHub
GitHub is the most widely used Git host. It offers free private repositories with generous commit limits, making it a popular choice for personal note-taking with GitNotēs.
GitNotēs connects to GitHub using OAuth — tap Sign in with GitHub, authorize the app, and you are done. No personal access token to generate, no SSH keys to configure.
Set up a GitHub notes repository in 30 seconds →
GitLab
GitLab is a full DevOps platform with strong CI/CD, container registry, and issue tracking built in. It offers both cloud hosting at gitlab.com and a self-hosted version for enterprises.
GitNotēs connects to GitLab.com via OAuth or a personal access token. For self-hosted GitLab instances, use a personal access token configured with the appropriate scopes.
If you already use GitLab at work or self-host it on your server, you can create a private repository there and use GitNotēs to manage your notes with the same workflow as GitHub.
Gitea
Gitea is a lightweight, self-hostable Git service. It runs on a single binary with minimal resource requirements — you can run it on a Raspberry Pi. It is open source under the MIT licence.
Because Gitea is self-hosted, your notes never touch a third-party server. GitNotēs connects using your Gitea instance URL and a personal access token. The setup is the same whether your Gitea instance is on a local machine, a NAS, or a VPS.
Forgejo
Forgejo is a community-driven fork of Gitea, created to ensure a fully open source path for the project. It is run by a non-profit and places strong emphasis on federation and user freedom.
GitNotēs connects to Forgejo the same way it connects to Gitea — using your instance URL and a personal access token. If you value open source software and community governance, Forgejo is a natural fit for hosting your notes.
Self-Hosted Instances
Both Gitea and GitLab support full self-hosting. This means your notes can live on a server you own and control — not on someone else's cloud.
Self-hosting is especially relevant for:
- Privacy-sensitive users who want to know exactly where their data lives.
- Teams that need notes to stay within their own infrastructure.
- Power users who already run a home lab or personal server.
GitNotēs supports self-hosted GitLab (self-managed), GitHub Enterprise Server, and custom Forgejo or Gitea deployments, alongside the cloud-hosted versions of each platform.
AI Notes and the Git Workflow
GitNotēs includes an AI assistant that can draft notes, summarize content, and answer questions about your notes. When AI generates content, that content goes through the same Git staging and sync workflow as any manually written note.
AI-created notes are saved as Markdown files, committed to your local Git repository, and pushed to your remote. They never bypass the Git workflow — no opaque AI-generated blobs, no notes that exist only in the app. Every word AI produces is a file you can read, edit, and move without GitNotēs.
See how GitNotēs compares to other Git-backed note apps →
One App, Any Host
The goal of GitNotēs is to give you a great mobile notes experience while keeping your data in a Git repository you control. The host is an implementation detail — the important part is that your notes are files, in a repo, on a server you chose.
Whether you use GitHub because it is the easiest, GitLab because it integrates with your company's workflow, or Forgejo because you believe in open source infrastructure — GitNotēs works there too.
See how GitNotēs handles conflicts when editing across multiple devices →