Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Ona (formerly Gitpod) vs Principle

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
P

Principle

Design

Animate your ideas, design better apps

From
$129/one-time
Free plan
No
Visit PrincipleFull review

The short version

  • Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free plan, then $20/mo; Principle starts at $129 one-off.
  • Only Ona (formerly Gitpod) lists ephemeral environments; only Principle lists timeline-based animation.
  • Where Principle falls short: macOS only with no Windows or Linux editor available.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Ona (formerly Gitpod) and Principle differ
AttributeOna (formerly Gitpod)Principle
Starting priceFree$129/one-time
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWSmacOS
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDesign

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Principle, founded for Ona (formerly Gitpod).

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 Principle

  • Timeline-based animation
  • Interactive prototypes
  • Touch gestures
  • Component reuse
  • Video export
  • Sketch import
  • Figma import
  • Driver animations

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 Principle
  • Running several coding agents in parallel against real databases and services instead of on a laptopnot Principle
  • Keeping source code off contractor and offshore laptops by moving the whole environment into a controlled accountnot Principle
  • Reproducing a hard-to-configure toolchain for a short-lived project without polluting anyone machinenot Principle

Principle

  • Mobile app prototypesnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Micro-interactionsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Animation designnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • User flow designnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Gesture-based interfacesnot 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

Principle

  • macOS only with no Windows or Linux editor available
  • No vector morphing capability for complex shape transformations
  • Limited asset creation tools; cannot create vectors or shapes directly within Principle
  • Sketch import flattens certain properties including paths, fills, borders, masks, blur effects, and text layers
  • Limited variable support, logical loops, and data input capabilities compared to tools like ProtoPie or Origami

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/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

Principle

$129/one-time
  • License$129 one-off
    • One year of upgrades
    • Full access to all features
  • Upgrade License$99/yr
    • Annual renewal for ongoing upgrades

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.
  • You also want agent sessions.
Ona (formerly Gitpod) review

Choose Principle if

  • You need timeline-based animation.
  • You work on macOS.
  • You also want interactive prototypes.
Principle review

Questions people ask

Is Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Principle better?
Neither clearly leads. Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and Principle at $129/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Principle?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Ona (formerly Gitpod) and $129/one-time for Principle.
Does Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Principle run on more platforms?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS. Principle runs on macOS.
Can I use Ona (formerly Gitpod) for free?
Yes. Ona (formerly Gitpod) has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Principle starts at $129/one-time.
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 Principle is typically brought in for.
What can Ona (formerly Gitpod) do that Principle cannot?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard. Principle covers Timeline-based animation, Interactive prototypes, Touch gestures, Component reuse.

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.

Principle: Does Principle run on Windows or Linux?

No. Principle is macOS only and runs on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. There is no Windows or Linux editor available; however, prototypes can be shared and viewed on any platform via web link.

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.

Principle: What is the cost of Principle?

Principle costs $129 for a one-time purchase with 1 year of upgrades included. After 1 year, upgrade licenses cost $99/year. A 14-day free trial is available with all features included.

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.

Principle: Can I import designs from Figma or Sketch into Principle?

Yes. Principle supports importing designs from Figma and Sketch with intelligent merging of re-imported files. Some Sketch properties such as paths, fills, borders, blur effects, masks, and text layers are flattened upon import.

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.

Principle: How do I share Principle prototypes with others?

Prototypes can be shared via web link with one click (File > Export > Share to Web). Recipients can view and interact with prototypes in any browser on any platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS. No installation required.

Source
Principle: Can I create vector shapes and morphing animations in Principle?

Principle does not support vector morphing, where vector objects transform into other vector shapes. It also has limited asset creation capabilities and editing is restricted to basic operations like scale and rotate.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Ona (formerly Gitpod)

More on Principle

Keep looking

Other head to heads