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Developer Tools · head to head

Ona (formerly Gitpod) vs PhpStorm

Ona (formerly Gitpod) logo

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PhpStorm logo

PhpStorm

Developer Tools

JetBrains IDE for PHP web development

From
$24/month
Rated
-
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: 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.; PhpStorm requires an ongoing paid subscription with no free tier for commercial use.
  • They diverge on capability: Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, PhpStorm covers PHP-aware coding assistance.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Ona (formerly Gitpod) and PhpStorm differ
AttributeOna (formerly Gitpod)PhpStorm
Starting priceFree$24/month
Pricing modelPer month by compute unitsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platformwindows, mac, linux
FoundedUnknown2000

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).

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 Ona (formerly Gitpod)

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

Only in PhpStorm

  • PHP-aware coding assistance
  • Integrated debugger
  • Front-end tooling
  • Database tools
  • Version control integration
  • Docker and remote deployment

What people use each for

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

Ona (formerly Gitpod)

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

PhpStorm

  • Building PHP web applications with Laravel or Symfonynot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Debugging PHP code with Xdebugnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Working across PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in one projectnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Managing databases alongside application codenot Ona (formerly Gitpod)

Where each one falls short

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

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.

PhpStorm

  • Requires an ongoing paid subscription with no free tier for commercial use.
  • Heavier and slower to start than lightweight code editors.
  • Some advanced framework-specific tooling requires additional configuration or plugins.
  • Renewal pricing rises for lapsed subscriptions after the grace period.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

PhpStorm

$24/month
  • Individual$24/month
    • Personal use license
    • Access to PhpStorm
    • Free for students and open-source maintainers
  • Organization$34/month
    • Business use license
    • Access to PhpStorm
    • Volume and renewal discounts

Which should you pick?

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

Choose PhpStorm if

  • You need php-aware coding assistance.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want integrated debugger.
PhpStorm review

Questions people ask

Is Ona (formerly Gitpod) or PhpStorm better?
Neither clearly leads. Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and PhpStorm at $24/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ona (formerly Gitpod) or PhpStorm?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ona (formerly Gitpod) and $24/month for PhpStorm.
Does Ona (formerly Gitpod) or PhpStorm run on more platforms?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform. PhpStorm runs on windows, mac, linux.
Can I use Ona (formerly Gitpod) for free?
Yes. Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. PhpStorm starts at $24/month.
What is Ona (formerly Gitpod) best used for?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) is most often used for giving a large engineering team identical, disposable environments so onboarding is a link rather than a two day setup, running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptop, keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled account, reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machine. Of those, giving a large engineering team identical, disposable environments so onboarding is a link rather than a two day setup and running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptop are not what PhpStorm is typically brought in for.
What can Ona (formerly Gitpod) do that PhpStorm cannot?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard. PhpStorm covers PHP-aware coding assistance, Integrated debugger, Front-end tooling, Database tools.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

PhpStorm: How much does PhpStorm cost?

PhpStorm is sold via JetBrains Toolbox subscription starting around $24/month for individuals and $34/month for organizations, with free licenses for students and open-source maintainers.

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.

PhpStorm: Is there a free trial?

JetBrains offers a free trial of PhpStorm so developers can test it before subscribing.

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.

PhpStorm: What platforms does PhpStorm support?

PhpStorm is a desktop IDE available on Windows, macOS, and Linux via JetBrains Toolbox.

Source
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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