Prized vs GitHub Codespaces, Coder and DevPod
Updated
How a Prized box compares with GitHub Codespaces, Coder and DevPod as a cloud dev environment: who runs it, devcontainer.json, how long it runs, files and ports, price and free use, each fact from the vendor's own pages, checked October 27, 2026.
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A Prized box is a hosted cloud Linux machine with no maximum run time: it keeps its disk, syncs a project folder with your computer, puts its ports on your localhost, and keeps coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex working after you close the laptop. Ona Cloud, formerly Gitpod, closes on October 31, 2026; Moving from Ona covers that move.
At a glance
| Prized box | GitHub Codespaces | Coder | DevPod | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Prized, hosted | GitHub, hosted | You: the control plane and the workspaces run on your infrastructure | You: a client on your computer creates the machine in your cloud, a Kubernetes cluster, or local Docker |
| What you get | A dedicated VM (Ubuntu 24.04, x86_64) with its own kernel; Docker runs on it | A Docker container on a VM dedicated to it | What your Terraform template defines: a VM, a container, or a Kubernetes pod | A dev container on the machine your provider creates |
| Environment as code | A setup script, or prized setup copying your machine's tools; a devcontainer.json builds on the box with the Dev Containers CLI | devcontainer.json | Terraform templates; dev containers supported | devcontainer.json |
| Longest run | No maximum; on the free credit, a box pauses after 2 idle hours, never in its first 24 | 12 hours, even while you use it; stops after 30 idle minutes by default (5 minutes to 4 hours) | Set by your templates and schedules | Set by you and your provider |
| After it stops | The disk stays until you delete the box; Nano to Small also keep running processes through a pause of up to 3 days | Files stay; a codespace left stopped for 30 days is deleted by default | Up to your infrastructure | Up to your provider |
| Files on your computer | A project folder synced both ways, .git included | The files stay in the codespace; your editor connects to it | Two-way sync with Coder Desktop | The files stay in the workspace; your IDE connects over SSH |
| Ports | With the prized CLI connected, 3000 to 9999 open on your localhost by themselves, no editor needed (7377 never, 5900 off by default) | Forwarded on their own when a server prints a localhost URL, to an app.github.dev link; on your localhost through VS Code desktop or gh codespace ports forward | Every port at workspace-name.coder:PORT with Coder Desktop | Forwarded while an IDE or devpod ssh session is open |
| Editors | Any editor that opens an SSH host (VS Code, Cursor), a browser terminal | VS Code, desktop or browser; SSH through GitHub CLI | VS Code, JetBrains, Cursor, Jupyter | VS Code and JetBrains; others over SSH |
| 2 vCPU and 8 GB, an hour | $0.068 (Extra Small, 150 GB disk included) | $0.18 (2-core, 32 GB disk; the storage it uses billed apart) | Your cloud's price | Your cloud's price |
| 32 vCPU and 128 GB, an hour | $1.370 (Extra Large, 2 TB disk included, with a plan) | $2.88 (32-core, 128 GB disk; the storage it uses billed apart) | Your cloud's price | Your cloud's price |
| Stopped or asleep | The sleep rate on the whole disk: $0.015 an hour for an Extra Small's 150 GB, about $10.95 a month | $0.07 per GB-month of what the codespace stores | Your cloud's storage price | Your cloud's storage price |
| Free use | $30 of credit once, no card, for one box from Nano to Small | Each month on a personal account: 120 core-hours and 15 GB-month on GitHub Free (60 hours on 2 cores), 180 and 20 on Pro; none for organizations | Community edition, free; Premium is priced per user | Free and open source |
Prices are list prices, before plans or discounts. A Prized box's hour includes its disk, and asleep it pays for that whole disk, so a stopped codespace storing a few GB costs less to keep than a sleeping box. Every size and rate is on Machines and Billing.
When another one fits better
- Your team lives in GitHub and wants an environment per branch: Codespaces starts from the repo's devcontainer.json, with prebuilds, on your GitHub bill.
- Everything must stay on your own infrastructure, air-gapped or under your own cloud account: Coder.
- Free and client-only, on any cloud or local Docker: DevPod. Its latest stable release on GitHub is v0.6.15, from March 2025.
- A few hours a month on a personal account: Codespaces' free use (60 hours on 2 cores) comes back every month; Prized's $30 of credit comes once.
- arm64 or a GPU: Coder or DevPod, on infrastructure that has them. Prized boxes are x86_64 with no GPU (Machines).
Common questions
Is Prized a GitHub Codespaces alternative?
Yes, for a hosted Linux machine you work on every day. The differences are run time and where the work shows up: a box has no maximum run time where a codespace stops at 12 hours, and the box's project folder syncs to your computer with its ports on your localhost, no editor open.
Does Prized work with devcontainer.json?
Yes. Install the Dev Containers CLI on the box and build the repo's .devcontainer/ there, with nothing Prized-specific in the file (Use your devcontainer.json).
Can a coding agent keep running after I close my laptop?
Yes. The agent runs in a session on the box that outlives your connection (Keep Claude Code running, Run Codex in the cloud).
Where should I move from Ona or Gitpod?
Save your work before October 31, 2026, then turn .gitpod.yml or devcontainer.json into a setup script on a box (Moving from Ona).
Moving over
- Get a box: sign up at prized.dev; the tour starts a box on $30 of free credit, with no card (Quickstart).
- Bring the environment: run
prized setupin the project folder to copy your tools, or build the repo's devcontainer.json on the box (Bring your environment, Use your devcontainer.json). - Open it in your editor: Cursor or VS Code over Remote-SSH, or work locally with sync.
Sources
Checked October 27, 2026:
- GitHub Codespaces: billing (prices, free use), included usage (core-hours), what Codespaces are (machine types, the container), lifecycle (12-hour lifetime, 30-day deletion), timeout, GitHub CLI (ports, SSH).
- Coder: about (self-hosted, Terraform), Coder Desktop (sync, ports), pricing (editions, editors).
- DevPod: what DevPod is (client-only, devcontainer.json, editors), troubleshooting (port forwarding), releases.
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