SaaS vs Self-Hosted

Core concepts

SaaS vs Self-Hosted

• SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) means the application is hosted and maintained by the vendor. Example: GitGuardian SaaS is hosted on GitGuardian's servers, start for free!
• Self-Hosted or On-Premise means the application is hosted on the customer's servers. Example: GitGuardian Self-Hosted is deployed on the customer's servers, choose your installation method.

Deployment

• SaaS: GitGuardian manages and controls the servers, databases, and infrastructure.
• Self-Hosted: GitGuardian ensures compatibility with the customer’s environment.

For more details about self-hosted, refer to the System Requirements page.

Release lifecycle

• SaaS: GitGuardian deploys continuously. New features and fixes reach every workspace as soon as they ship, and GitGuardian can hotfix or roll back at once. (SaaS Release Notes)
• Self-Hosted: GitGuardian publishes one release a month. You decide when to upgrade. GitGuardian sends a newsletter with each release and provides support when needed. (Self-Hosted Release Notes)

How a Self-Hosted release works:

• Monthly releases are numbered YYYY.M.0, for example 2026.9.0, and ship in the second half of the month.
• Hotfixes increment the patch number, for example 2026.6.1, and are listed at the end of the month's release note.
• Required releases ship in January, April, July, and October. They carry database migrations later releases build upon, so you cannot skip them when upgrading across several versions.
• Features ship on SaaS first. A feature lands in Self-Hosted at least one month after its SaaS release. Some take longer, when self-hosted specifics call for additional work. The feature matrix tracks those features and the Self-Hosted version each one became available in.

For more details about self-hosted, refer to the Upgrade page.

Maintenance

• SaaS: GitGuardian monitors the platform and handles alerts.
• Self-Hosted: GitGuardian has no direct visibility and includes self-monitoring capabilities within the platform, managed by the customer.

For more details about self-hosted, refer to the Health Checks page.

Support and Debugging

• SaaS: GitGuardian has full access to data and logs, enabling quick bug identification and fixes.
• Self-Hosted: GitGuardian relies on customer-provided data ("support bundle") to investigate issues, potentially lengthening the resolution process.

For more details about self-hosted, refer to the Support page.

Feature matrix

The software running in our SaaS and Self-Hosted solutions is essentially the same. However, some features are not available in Self-Hosted versions due to significant differences in environments, requiring more effort for them to work in a self-hosted setup. The tables below highlight some of the differences between our SaaS and Self-Hosted offerings.

Release delay

Every new feature ships on SaaS first and reaches Self-Hosted at least one month later. Some features need more time: self-hosted specifics require additional work before they can land. See Release lifecycle.

• ✅ available, with the Self-Hosted version that introduced it
• ⌛ coming soon
• ❌ not available

Honeytoken

For more details, refer to the Honeytoken page.

Feature Name	GitGuardian SaaS	GitGuardian Self-Hosted	Additional Details
Honeytoken "Publicly Exposed" Detailed Location	✅	Partial	The “Publicly Exposed” tag exists for both, but exact location on GitHub.com is available only for SaaS.

Other features

Feature Name	GitGuardian SaaS	GitGuardian Self-Hosted	Additional Details
AI Filters	✅	✅ (2026.6.0)
Similar Incident Grouping (Machine Learning)	✅	⌛	Not supported on self-hosted yet but will be added in a future release.
Incident Prioritization Risk Score (Machine Learning)	✅	⌛	Not supported on self-hosted yet but will be added in a future release.
Public Monitoring	✅	✅ (2026.7.0)	Detects secrets leaked on public sources. On self-hosted, requires outbound network access to reach GitGuardian's Public Monitoring service.
Secret "Publicly Leaked" Tag	✅	Partial	Self-hosted: "Source publicly visible" is always available; "Public incident linked" additionally requires the Public Monitoring feature (available from 2026.7.0); "Outside perimeter" is not available on self-hosted. SaaS: all three exposure types are visible with a Public Monitoring subscription.
Analytics Overview	✅	⌛	Coming soon...
IP allowlist	✅	❌	This feature is not available on self-hosted environments, as there are alternative methods to restrict access.
GG Bridge	✅	✅ (2026.9.0)	On self-hosted, you install the bridge server yourself and declare bridges in your Helm values: see GitGuardian Bridge Self-Hosted.
Generic Detectors for non-VCS sources	✅	⌛
GitGuardian MCP server	✅	✅ (2026.7.0)