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Chakra UI vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Chakra UI logo

Chakra UI

Web Development

Accessible React component library with a style-props API

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
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

  • Each has a real cost: Chakra UI style props put styling in the component tree, which some teams find harder to scan than stylesheets; 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: Chakra UI covers Style props, 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 Chakra UI and Ona (formerly Gitpod) actually diverge.

Attributes where Chakra UI and Ona (formerly Gitpod) differ
AttributeChakra UIOna (formerly Gitpod)
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month by compute unit
PlatformsWebWeb, 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 Chakra UI

  • Style props
  • Accessible defaults
  • Theme system
  • Composable primitives

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.

Chakra UI

  • React applications wanting accessible components without Material Design’s looknot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Teams who find unstyled primitives too much work but styled libraries too opinionatednot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Rapid internal tools where a coherent theme matters more than a bespoke designnot 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 Chakra UI
  • Running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptopnot Chakra UI
  • Keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled accountnot Chakra UI
  • Reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machinenot Chakra UI

Where each one falls short

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

Chakra UI

  • Style props put styling in the component tree, which some teams find harder to scan than stylesheets
  • Runtime CSS-in-JS has a performance cost, and it interacts awkwardly with React server components
  • Fewer complex widgets than MUI: no comparable data grid or date picker
  • Major version changes have altered the styling approach, making upgrades non-trivial

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

Chakra UI

Free
  • Chakra UIFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

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 Chakra UI if

  • You need style props.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want accessible defaults.
Chakra UI 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 Chakra UI or Ona (formerly Gitpod) better?
Neither clearly leads. Chakra UI 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, Chakra UI or Ona (formerly Gitpod)?
Chakra UI starts at Free and Ona (formerly Gitpod) at Free.
Does Chakra UI or Ona (formerly Gitpod) run on more platforms?
Chakra UI runs on Web. Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform.
Can I use Chakra UI for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chakra UI best used for?
Chakra UI is most often used for react applications wanting accessible components without material design’s look, teams who find unstyled primitives too much work but styled libraries too opinionated, rapid internal tools where a coherent theme matters more than a bespoke design. Of those, react applications wanting accessible components without material design’s look and teams who find unstyled primitives too much work but styled libraries too opinionated are not what Ona (formerly Gitpod) is typically brought in for.
What can Chakra UI do that Ona (formerly Gitpod) cannot?
Chakra UI covers Style props, Accessible defaults, Theme system, Composable primitives. Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chakra UI: Is Chakra UI free?

Yes, open source under the MIT licence.

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.

Chakra UI: Chakra UI or MUI?

MUI has more components including advanced data grids, but carries Material Design opinions. Chakra is lighter on visual opinion and easier to theme, with a smaller component set.

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.

Chakra UI: Does Chakra handle accessibility?

Yes, components implement WAI-ARIA patterns by default, which is one of its stated design goals.

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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