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Databases · head to head

Dragonfly vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Dragonfly logo

Dragonfly

Databases

High-performance Redis-compatible in-memory datastore with 25x better throughput

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit DragonflyFull review
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
Visit Ona (formerly Gitpod)Full review

The short version

  • Dragonfly is a modern in-memory data store.
  • Free plans on both; paid from $2000/mo and $20/mo.
  • Only Dragonfly lists redis API compatibility; only Ona (formerly Gitpod) lists ephemeral environments.
  • Where Dragonfly falls short: flex tier starting at $36/month may be underpriced, requiring careful usage monitoring.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Dragonfly and Ona (formerly Gitpod) differ
AttributeDragonflyOna (formerly Gitpod)
Pricing modelUsage-based cloud pricing with flexible tiersPer month by compute unit
PlatformsWeb, AWS, GCP, AzureWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS
CategoryDatabasesDeveloper Tools

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

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 Dragonfly

  • Redis API compatibility
  • Thread-per-core architecture
  • High-performance caching
  • Memory efficiency
  • Real-time leaderboards
  • Message queue support
  • ML feature serving
  • Cloud deployment

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.

Dragonfly

  • High-throughput caching for web applicationsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Real-time leaderboards and rankingsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Message queue and event processingnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • ML model feature serving at millisecond latenciesnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Gaming session state and player data storagenot 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 Dragonfly
  • Running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptopnot Dragonfly
  • Keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled accountnot Dragonfly
  • Reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machinenot Dragonfly

Where each one falls short

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

Dragonfly

  • Flex tier starting at $36/month may be underpriced, requiring careful usage monitoring
  • Business tier $2,000/month represents significant jump in cost
  • Limited to in-memory storage, not suitable for cold data or archival
  • Bring-your-own-cloud requirement on Business tier adds operational complexity
  • Cloud availability dependent on AWS/GCP/Azure uptime

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

Dragonfly

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 100 cloud credits for new signups
    • Equivalent to free trial
  • Business$2,000/mo
    • Starting price for enterprise offering
    • Bring-your-own-cloud deployment
    • Auto-scaling with custom SLAs
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Custom pricing
    • Any-cloud deployment
    • Custom instances and sizing

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/mo
    • 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
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • 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 Dragonfly if

  • You need redis api compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, AWS, GCP, Azure.
  • You also want thread-per-core architecture.
Dragonfly review

Choose Ona (formerly Gitpod) if

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

Questions people ask

Is Dragonfly or Ona (formerly Gitpod) better?
Neither clearly leads. Dragonfly 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, Dragonfly or Ona (formerly Gitpod)?
Dragonfly starts at Free and Ona (formerly Gitpod) at Free.
Does Dragonfly or Ona (formerly Gitpod) run on more platforms?
Dragonfly runs on Web, AWS, GCP, Azure. Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS.
Can I use Dragonfly for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dragonfly best used for?
Dragonfly is most often used for high-throughput caching for web applications, real-time leaderboards and rankings, message queue and event processing, ml model feature serving at millisecond latencies. Of those, high-throughput caching for web applications and real-time leaderboards and rankings are not what Ona (formerly Gitpod) is typically brought in for.
What can Dragonfly do that Ona (formerly Gitpod) cannot?
Dragonfly covers Redis API compatibility, Thread-per-core architecture, High-performance caching, Memory efficiency. Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dragonfly: How much faster is Dragonfly than Redis?

Dragonfly achieves 3.97M queries per second compared to Redis's 718K QPS, representing a 25x improvement. Memory efficiency is also 30% better.

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.

Dragonfly: Can I migrate from Redis to Dragonfly without code changes?

Yes. Dragonfly maintains full API compatibility with Redis and Memcached, allowing drop-in replacement with minimal to no code modifications.

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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