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Developer Tools · head to head

Ona (formerly Gitpod) vs Raycast

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
Raycast logo

Raycast

Technology

Blazingly fast, totally extendable launcher

From
Free
Free plan
Yes

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.; Raycast the free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history
  • They diverge on capability: Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Raycast covers Application launcher.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Ona (formerly Gitpod) and Raycast differ
AttributeOna (formerly Gitpod)Raycast
Pricing modelPer month by compute unitfreemium
PlatformsWeb, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud PlatformMacos
CategoryDeveloper ToolsTechnology
FoundedUnknown2020

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 Raycast

  • Application launcher
  • File search
  • Clipboard history
  • Snippets
  • Window management
  • Calculator
  • System commands
  • Extension ecosystem

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

Raycast

  • App launchingnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Quick calculationsnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • File navigationnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Snippet expansionnot Ona (formerly Gitpod)
  • Workflow automationnot 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.

Raycast

  • The free plan includes 50 Raycast AI messages, 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history
  • Advanced AI models are sold only as an add-on to the paid Pro plan at a further $8 per month on top of the $10 subscription
  • Free team workspaces cap sharing at 30 snippets, 30 quicklinks and 5 commands across all extensions
  • Teams Pro is $15 per user per month, billed per seat rather than per workspace

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

Raycast

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core features: Clipboard History, Quicklinks, Calculator, Snippets, Window Management
    • Thousands of community extensions
    • 3-month clipboard history
  • Pro$10/month
    • Raycast AI with advanced models
    • Unlimited clipboard history
    • Unlimited notes
  • Pro Annual$8/month
    • Same as Pro plan
    • Annual billing saves 20% compared to monthly
  • Teams FreeFree
    • No cost per user
    • Shared extensions, snippets, and quicklinks

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.

Choose Raycast if

  • You need application launcher.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Macos.
  • You also want file search.

Questions people ask

Is Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Raycast better?
Neither clearly leads. Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and Raycast at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Raycast?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) starts at Free and Raycast at Free.
Does Ona (formerly Gitpod) or Raycast run on more platforms?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) runs on Web, Linux, macOS, Windows, AWS, Google Cloud Platform. Raycast runs on Macos.
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 Raycast is typically brought in for.
What can Ona (formerly Gitpod) do that Raycast cannot?
Ona (formerly Gitpod) covers Ephemeral environments, Agent sessions, Bring your own cloud, Devcontainer standard. Raycast covers Application launcher, File search, Clipboard history, Snippets.

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.

Raycast: Does Raycast offer a free plan?

Yes. Raycast has a free plan with core features including clipboard history, quicklinks, calculator, snippets, window management, and access to thousands of community extensions.

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.

Raycast: How much does Raycast Pro cost?

Raycast Pro costs $10 per month or $8 per month when billed annually, saving 20% with yearly subscription.

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.

Raycast: Does Raycast offer team plans?

Yes. Teams Free tier is available at no cost per user with shared extensions and snippets. Teams Pro costs $15 per user per month with unlimited team members.

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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