A Gitpod alternative with the hosting included

Gitpod became Ona, and Ona Cloud closed on 31 October 2026. If you used it as a browser IDE for real projects, here is how the remaining options compare with GitHub Codespaces, when one of them is the better pick, and an option where the place you write the app also keeps it online, free and with no card.

What happened to Gitpod

From Ona's own pages:

  • Gitpod renamed itself Ona in September 2025 and moved its focus to AI agents that work in the background (ona.com).
  • Ona joined OpenAI. On 13 October 2026 it announced that Ona Cloud would close on 31 October 2026; new sign-ups closed and workspaces were not moved anywhere (ona.com/stories/ona-core-shutdown).
  • Ona points its former cloud users to OpenAI's Codex. Work that was pushed to your Git repository is safe; the workspaces themselves are gone.

Four questions to ask

Before you move your projects, check these on each provider's own page:

  • Does it read your devcontainer.json? If your whole setup lives there, pick a tool that uses it.
  • Does it stop when you stop? Most cloud IDEs pause the workspace after a short idle time, so the app you are building is only reachable while you work on it.
  • Where does the app go when it is ready? Some tools are only for writing code, and the app needs hosting somewhere else.
  • Is there a free plan, and does it need a card?

How the common options compare

From each provider's own page, checked on 12 November 2026:

  • GitHub Codespaces: a personal GitHub Free account gets a free monthly quota of 120 compute hours and 15 GB of storage; after that a 2-core machine is USD 0.18 an hour. Organisation plans have no free quota. A codespace stops after 30 minutes idle by default and after 12 hours at most, and a stopped one is deleted after 30 days (docs.github.com).
  • Ona (formerly Gitpod): Ona Cloud closed on 31 October 2026; Ona points users to OpenAI's Codex (ona.com).
  • Coder: free and open source, but you install and run it yourself, on your own servers or cloud account (coder.com/pricing).
  • DevPod: free and open source; it runs on your computer and starts workspaces from devcontainer.json on a machine or cloud account you provide (devpod.sh).
  • Uppcoder Spark: VS Code in the browser or SSH, the app and its database on the same platform with their own HTTPS address, on all the time; free, no card, no time limit.

When something else is the better pick

Said plainly, because the right tool depends on the job:

  • Your setup is a devcontainer.json and you want it used as it is: Codespaces or DevPod. Uppcoder reads neither devcontainer.json nor .gitpod.yml.
  • Everything has to run on your company's own servers: Coder.
  • A ready workspace for every branch or pull request, with prebuilds: Codespaces has prebuilds; on Uppcoder each app runs one branch that you pick.
  • Larger machines for a few hours at a time: Codespaces offers several machine sizes, billed by the hour.

What you get on Uppcoder

The free plan (Spark) runs one app with one database. No card needed, and no time limit: if we ever change or end it, you hear from us by email at least 60 days before. What makes it different from a cloud IDE:

  • The editor and the hosting in one place: the app you work on is the app people open, on its own HTTPS address, Private or Public with one switch
  • It stays on when you close the tab; the free plan does not put the app to sleep
  • A real database next to it: PostgreSQL, MySQL or MariaDB, backed up every night to a separate server
  • VS Code in the browser with a terminal, or SSH from your own editor (VS Code Remote, Cursor, JetBrains Gateway, Zed), on the free plan too
  • Ready frameworks to start from: Django, FastAPI, Flask, Node, Next.js, WordPress and more
  • More when you need it: Launch EUR 5 a month (2 own domains, 5 GB disk), Deploy EUR 15 (3 apps, 6 domains), Team EUR 39 (8 apps, collaborators)

Move a project from Gitpod

Your code is in your Git repository, so the move is short. Sign up at portal.uppcoder.com, then Billing, Available Plans, Spark, Start free (confirm your email first). Stacks, Create, Blank stack: pick your framework and add a database if the app needs one; it is connected to the app automatically through DATABASE_URL. Deploy. On the stack page, the app's card has Connect: paste your repository's https address and pick the branch. Uppcoder does not read .gitpod.yml: the framework you picked sets up the runtime, and any extra setup commands from your tasks you run in the web terminal.

Good to know

Said up front:

  • The free plan runs one app with one database; more apps need a paid plan
  • Your own domain needs a paid plan; the free app has its own uppcoder address
  • No devcontainer.json, no prebuilds and no version you install on your own servers

Questions about moving from Gitpod

Is Gitpod still available?

Not as a cloud service. Gitpod became Ona, and Ona Cloud closed on 31 October 2026; Ona points its users to OpenAI's Codex.

Is there a free Gitpod alternative?

GitHub Codespaces has a free monthly quota for personal accounts, and Coder and DevPod are free if you run them on your own machines. Uppcoder's free plan gives one app with one database, VS Code in the browser and SSH, with no card and no time limit.

Does Uppcoder read devcontainer.json or .gitpod.yml?

No. You pick a framework when you create the stack, connect your repository, and run any extra setup in the web terminal. If your setup depends on devcontainer.json, Codespaces or DevPod is the better pick.

How is Uppcoder different from GitHub Codespaces?

A codespace is a place to write code: it stops when you are idle, and the app is hosted somewhere else. On Uppcoder the app you work on is also the hosted app, on its own HTTPS address, and it stays on.

Can I use my own editor?

Yes. Switch on SSH and connect VS Code Remote, Cursor, JetBrains Gateway or Zed, on the free plan too.

Write your app and keep it running in the same place: free, with no card.