Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

Ona (formerly Gitpod) vs Proton Mail

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
Proton Mail logo

Proton Mail

Cybersecurity

Secure email that protects your privacy

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Proton Mail paid plan pricing not displayed on vendor site
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Ona (formerly Gitpod) and Proton Mail differ
AttributeOna (formerly Gitpod)Proton Mail
Pricing modelPer month by compute unitfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud PlatformWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Ona (formerly Gitpod)

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

Only in Proton Mail

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

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

Proton Mail

  • Encrypted email communicationnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Privacy-focused email servicenot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Family email protectionnot 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.

Proton Mail

  • Paid plan pricing not displayed on vendor site
  • Free tier limited to 1 GB storage
  • Free tier limited to single email address

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

Proton Mail

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Proton Mail review.

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 Proton Mail if

  • You want to start without paying.
Proton Mail review

Questions people ask

Is Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Proton Mail better?
Neither clearly leads. Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and Proton Mail at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Proton Mail?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and Proton Mail at Free.
Does Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Proton Mail run on more platforms?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform. Proton Mail runs on Web.
Can I use Ona (formerly Gitpod) for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Proton Mail is typically brought in for.
What can Ona (formerly Gitpod) do that Proton Mail cannot?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard.

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.

Proton Mail: Is there a free version of Proton Mail?

Yes, Proton Mail offers a free plan with 1 GB storage, 1 encrypted email address, and basic features like folders, labels, and filters.

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.

Proton Mail: What does the Mail Plus plan include?

Mail Plus includes 15 GB storage, 10 encrypted email addresses, support for 1 custom domain, 10 hide-my-email aliases, priority support, and access to Proton Calendar.

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.

Proton Mail: What is included in Proton Unlimited?

Proton Unlimited provides 500 GB storage, 15 email addresses, 3 custom domains, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, access to Mail, Calendar, VPN, Drive, and Pass, plus dedicated support.

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.

Proton Mail: Does Proton Mail offer a money-back guarantee?

Yes, Proton Mail provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for paid plans.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Ona (formerly Gitpod)

More on Proton Mail

Keep looking

Other head to heads