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Web Development · head to head

Carrd vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Carrd logo

Carrd

Web Development

Ultra-affordable one-page site builder.

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Carrd free tier strictly limited to 3 sites; any additional sites require upgrading to Pro; 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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Carrd and Ona (formerly Gitpod) differ
AttributeCarrdOna (formerly Gitpod)
Pricing modelfreemiumPer month by compute unit
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform
CategoryWeb DevelopmentDeveloper Tools

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Carrd

Nothing recorded that Ona (formerly Gitpod) does not also cover.

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.

Carrd

  • Indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pagesnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low costnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Link-in-bio alternatives for social media profiles and contact pagesnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Email capture pages for newsletters or lead magnetsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Cost-conscious teams requiring a cheap website alternative to Webflow or Squarespacenot 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 Carrd
  • Running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptopnot Carrd
  • Keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled accountnot Carrd
  • Reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machinenot Carrd

Where each one falls short

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

Carrd

  • Free tier strictly limited to 3 sites; any additional sites require upgrading to Pro
  • Pro plan includes Carrd branding removal but still lacks advanced features (e-commerce, multi-step funnels, complex forms)
  • Single-page design only; does not support multi-page websites or complex site structures
  • Limited template library compared to competitors like Leadpages or Unbounce
  • Annual payment required for Pro tier; no monthly payment option
  • No native A/B testing, analytics dashboard or conversion optimisation tools built-in

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

Carrd

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 3 sites
    • Responsive design
    • Templates and blank pages
  • Pro$19/year
    • Unlimited sites
    • Custom domain with SSL
    • Contact forms

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 Carrd if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.

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.

Questions people ask

Is Carrd or Ona (formerly Gitpod) better?
Neither clearly leads. Carrd starts at Free and Ona (formerly Gitpod) at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Carrd or Ona (formerly Gitpod)?
Carrd starts at Free and Ona (formerly Gitpod) at Free.
Does Carrd or Ona (formerly Gitpod) run on more platforms?
Carrd runs on Web, Mobile. Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform.
Can I use Carrd for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Carrd best used for?
Carrd is most often used for indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pages, small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low cost, link-in-bio alternatives for social media profiles and contact pages, email capture pages for newsletters or lead magnets. Of those, indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pages and small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low cost are not what Ona (formerly Gitpod) is typically brought in for.
What can Carrd do that Ona (formerly Gitpod) cannot?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Carrd: How much does Carrd cost?

Carrd is free for up to 3 sites. The Pro plan costs $19/year and enables unlimited sites with custom domains, forms and integrations.

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.

Carrd: Can I use Carrd for e-commerce?

Carrd's Pro plan supports payment forms with Stripe integration, but it is not a full e-commerce platform. Single-product sales or payment collection is possible, but inventory management and complex product catalogs are not supported.

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.

Carrd: Can I create multi-page websites with Carrd?

No. Carrd is designed for single-page sites only. For multi-page websites, you would need to use a full website builder like Webflow or Squarespace.

Source
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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