Daytona

An open-source, self-hosted manager for secure, standardized dev environments, supporting multiple providers and IDEs, an alternative to GitHub Codespaces.

Daytona is an open-source, self-hosted development environment manager, offering secure and standardized environments. It supports multiple providers like AWS and Azure, with IDE support for VS Code and JetBrains, and a free SDK for programmatic control, positioning it as an enterprise-grade GitHub Codespaces alternative.

devpod

An open-source, client-only tool for creating reproducible dev environments, usable with any IDE and deployable on any cloud or locally.

DevPod is an open-source, client-only tool for creating reproducible dev environments, usable with any IDE like VS Code and JetBrains. It supports deployment on any cloud, Kubernetes, or locally, with features like prebuilds and auto-inactivity shutdown, making it cost-effective and flexible, as noted in its documentation.

hocus

A self-hosted platform for automated, disposable dev environments with continuous building and Git integration, enhancing workflow efficiency.

Hocus is a self-hosted platform for automated, disposable dev environments, integrating with Git providers like GitHub and GitLab. It offers continuous building like a CI system, with micro VMs for consistency, suitable for teams seeking self-hosted solutions, as seen in its documentation, though it’s no longer actively maintained.

Note: hocus has discontinued its software.

Coder / Code-server

An open-source, self-hosted platform for secure, scalable development environments, offering control and efficiency.

Coder is an open-source, self-hosted platform for cloud development environments, providing secure and scalable setups. It supports VM, Kubernetes, and other infrastructures, with features like WireGuard® networking and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, catering to enterprises needing control, as seen in its security details.

DevSpace

An open-source CLI tool for automating deployment and development workflows on any standard-compliant container runtime.

DevSpace, found at devspace.sh, is a client-only, open-source CLI tool for Kubernetes development. It automates deployment workflows, allowing developers to work directly inside containers, with features like file synchronization and port forwarding. It integrates with Helm and kubectl, requiring no cluster installation, making it suitable for teams using Kubernetes, as noted in its documentation.

Tilt

An open-source, self-hosted platform for local development, offering live updates and collaboration features for teams.

While tilt is not a direct alternative to GitHub Codespaces, it’s an open-source, self-hosted platform for local development, offering live updates and collaboration features. It supports multiple languages and frameworks, with features like live logs and resource management, making it suitable for teams seeking a local development environment, as seen in its documentation.

Note: Tilt is part of Docker, Inc.

Service Name	Pricing Model	Hosted Type	Supported Languages/Technologies	Collaboration	Security	Scalability	Integration
daytona.io	Open-Source	Self-Hosted	Multiple	Yes	High	High	Git, IDEs
devpod.sh	Open-Source	Both	Any defined in devcontainer.json	Yes	High	High	Any IDE, multiple providers
hocus.dev	Open-Source	Self-Hosted	Any defined in hocus.yml	Yes	High	High	Git providers
coder.com	Open-Source	Self-Hosted	Any in containers	Yes	High	High	GitHub, GitLab
devspace.sh	Open-Source	Self-Hosted	Any in containers	Yes	High	High	Helm, Kube
tilt.dev	Open-Source	Self-Hosted	Any in containers	Yes	High	High	Multiple languages, frameworks

Cloud Offerings

Find cloud hosted / saas alternatives to GitHub Codespaces in the first part of this series here.