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Cloud · head to head

Akamai vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Akamai logo

Akamai

Cloud

Leading content delivery and security platform

From
$1000/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Ona (formerly Gitpod) logo

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Developer Tools

Cloud development environments repositioned as a control plane for software engineering agents

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Akamai no public pricing available; custom quotes required; Ona (formerly Gitpod) acquisition risk has already materialised: the company closed a sale to OpenAI on 10 August 2026 and now sits inside the Codex team, so nothing public guarantees pricing, continuity or neutrality between model vendors beyond honouring existing commitments.
  • They diverge on capability: Akamai covers CDN, Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akamai and Ona (formerly Gitpod) actually diverge.

Attributes where Akamai and Ona (formerly Gitpod) differ
AttributeAkamaiOna (formerly Gitpod)
Starting price$1000/monthFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by compute unit
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded1998Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Akamai

  • CDN
  • DDoS Protection
  • Web Application Firewall
  • Bot Management
  • Image Optimization
  • Video Platform
  • API Gateway
  • Analytics

Only in Ona (formerly Gitpod)

  • Ephemeral environments
  • Agent sessions
  • Bring your own cloud
  • Devcontainer standard
  • Compute unit budgeting
  • Enterprise identity

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Akamai

  • Content delivery and web performance through Ion and adaptive media deliverynot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • DDoS protection, bot management and API securitynot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Running compute, Kubernetes and managed databases on Akamai's cloudnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Edge compute with EdgeWorkersnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Zero trust access for enterprise applicationsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

  • Giving a large engineering team identical, disposable environments so onboarding is a link rather than a two day setupnot Akamai
  • Running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptopnot Akamai
  • Keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled accountnot Akamai
  • Reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machinenot Akamai

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Akamai

  • No public pricing available; custom quotes required
  • Sales-focused pricing model

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

  • Acquisition risk has already materialised: the company closed a sale to OpenAI on 10 August 2026 and now sits inside the Codex team, so nothing public guarantees pricing, continuity or neutrality between model vendors beyond honouring existing commitments.
  • Two disruptive changes of direction inside a year, from development environments to agent orchestration and then from independence to acquisition, mean the product a browser IDE buyer originally chose no longer exists in that form.
  • The Gitpod Classic sunset on 15 October 2025 required manual conversion of configuration, hand-moved secrets, self-rescued workspace data and a brand new account, which is the clearest available precedent for how the vendor handles deprecation.
  • Community self-hosting is finished: the AGPL-3.0 repository is deprecated by its own README, and self-hosted now means a vendor-operated install in your AWS or GCP account, with no Azure, no on-premises and no air-gapped path.
  • Pricing is difficult to model because it runs on a compute unit currency where subscription credits expire at the end of the month, the mapping from units to actual compute is not published on the pricing page, and Enterprise is quotation only.

Pricing, plan by plan

Akamai

$1000/month
  • CDN$1000/month
    • Content delivery
    • Global edge network
    • Real-time analytics
  • Security Suite$2000/month
    • DDoS protection
    • WAF
    • Bot management

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 3 parallel environments
    • Machines up to 4 vCPU, 16 GB memory and 80 GB disk
    • Ona Cloud multi-tenant only
  • Core$20/month
    • From 20 US dollars a month, up to 100 team members
    • Includes 80 to 2,200 recurring compute units a month depending on tier
    • Additional units from 10 US dollars per 40 units
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Single-tenant deployment in your own AWS or GCP account
    • SAML and OIDC single sign-on
    • Dedicated account management and forward deployed engineers

Which should you pick?

Choose Akamai if

  • You need cdn.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want ddos protection.
Akamai review

Choose Ona (formerly Gitpod) if

  • You need ephemeral environments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform.
  • You also want agent sessions.
Ona (formerly Gitpod) review

Questions people ask

Is Akamai or Ona (formerly Gitpod) better?
Neither clearly leads. Akamai starts at $1000/month and Ona (formerly Gitpod) at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Akamai or Ona (formerly Gitpod)?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1000/month for Akamai and Free for Ona (formerly Gitpod).
Does Akamai or Ona (formerly Gitpod) run on more platforms?
Akamai runs on Web, Api. Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform.
Can I use Ona (formerly Gitpod) for free?
Yes. Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akamai starts at $1000/month.
What is Akamai best used for?
Akamai is most often used for content delivery and web performance through ion and adaptive media delivery, ddos protection, bot management and api security, running compute, kubernetes and managed databases on akamai's cloud, edge compute with edgeworkers. Of those, content delivery and web performance through ion and adaptive media delivery and ddos protection, bot management and api security are not what Ona (formerly Gitpod) is typically brought in for.
What can Akamai do that Ona (formerly Gitpod) cannot?
Akamai covers CDN, DDoS Protection, Web Application Firewall, Bot Management. Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Akamai: How is Akamai pricing structured?

Akamai emphasizes straightforward pricing with no hidden fees, no egress surprises, and no vendor lock-in, but specific pricing is not published. Regional pricing pages exist for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and other areas, with customers directed to contact sales.

Source
Ona (formerly Gitpod): Is Gitpod still called Gitpod?

No. It rebranded to Ona in September 2025, and gitpod.io now redirects to ona.com. The company was acquired by OpenAI in a deal that closed on 10 August 2026.

Akamai: Does Akamai offer a free trial?

Akamai offers a promotional trial with $100 in credits for Akamai Cloud, though conditions apply.

Source
Ona (formerly Gitpod): Can I still self-host it for free?

No. The AGPL-3.0 self-hosted project is deprecated by its own README. What is offered now is a vendor-operated single-tenant install in your AWS or GCP account on the Enterprise plan.

Ona (formerly Gitpod): What happened to Gitpod Classic?

Pay-as-you-go Classic was switched off on 15 October 2025. Migration required converting gitpod.yml to devcontainer.json, moving secrets by hand, downloading workspace data before the cutoff and creating a new account.

Ona (formerly Gitpod): What does it cost?

Core starts at 20 US dollars a month and includes a monthly allowance of Ona Compute Units, with more from 10 dollars per 40 units. Subscription credits expire monthly. Enterprise is quoted.

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