The Zig programming language and Leiningen build tool both migrated to Codeberg in late 2025, part of a quiet but steady trend of projects reconsidering GitHub. The migrations weren't announced with fanfare, just practical notes about updating repository URLs.
The drivers are familiar to any enterprise architect: vendor lock-in, unpredictable costs, and increasingly, disagreement with Microsoft's product direction. GitHub Enterprise Server runs $21 per user monthly, with Actions CI/CD billed separately by the minute. Self-hosted alternatives like GForge start at $6 per user with integrated CI/CD. For air-gapped environments or teams with predictable workloads, the economics shift quickly.
The Software Freedom Conservancy's "Give Up GitHub" campaign points to closed-source server code and Copilot occasionally reproducing GPL-licensed code verbatim. The BDS movement escalated Microsoft to a priority boycott target in 2025 after reports that Azure processed intercepted phone recordings to identify airstrike targets in Gaza. Microsoft subsequently terminated Azure services for Israeli military Unit 8200.
For regulated industries, the calculus is straightforward. GitLab, Gitea, and Forgejo offer on-premises deployments with full pipeline control. Migration tooling exists: scripts handle history and branch preservation, CI/CD pipeline converters translate GitHub Actions to GitLab CI or Forgejo Actions syntax. Docker Compose templates deploy self-hosted Git servers in under an hour.
The counterargument: GitHub's ecosystem integration remains unmatched. Copilot, Codespaces, and security scanning represent genuine productivity gains. Most enterprises will stay for the Jira integrations and AWS compatibility, migration friction notwithstanding.
Notably, these migrations cluster in two groups: open source projects with minimal external contribution friction, and regulated enterprises already running air-gapped infrastructure. The pattern suggests this isn't a mass exodus, but a legitimate alternative path for specific use cases.
The real question: at what GitHub Enterprise renewal price does your team start modeling self-hosted costs?