head to head · open source
gitpod vs gentle-shell
gitpod has 13,803 GitHub stars, 1,392 forks, 452 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. gentle-shell has 1,553 stars, 252 forks, 369 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gitpod leads on adoption by 789% (13,803 vs 1,553 stars). gitpod is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; gentle-shell is written in TypeScript under MIT. gitpod has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, gentle-shell 16%. gentle-shell was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (code-review), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| gitpod | gentle-shell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 252 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gitpod if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gentle-shell if
- You want the gentle-shell feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and gentle-shell fits your workflow better
About gitpod
Gitpod has been renamed to Ona mission control for software projects and software engineering agents . We no longer recommend this version of Gitpod, users should take advantage of Ona's free tier or contact sales for enterprise. With Ona you gain more powerful development environments than Gitpod Classic with industry standard specifications based on Dev Container and Ona Agents. Gitpod Classic Gitpod Classic is a developer platform providing on demand, pre configured development environments in the cloud. It allows developers to spin up secure workspaces with a simple .gitpod.yml configuration file…
read the full gitpod overview →
About gentle-shell
gentle shell™ Your coding agent for controlled development in the workspace you lead. Website · Quickstart · Docs · Wiki Your terminal can run an agent. Your workspace should help you lead it. gentle shell is your coding agent, bringing your changes, tasks, and engineering workflow together—built for Pi. One workspace. A coding agent you direct. A workflow you can inspect. BUILT FOR PI · Coding agent workspace · Focused agents · ODD + optional SDD ★ Star gentle shell on GitHub Built for Pi. Shaped by Gentle AI. Features gentle shell — Your coding agent, in the workspace you lead A complete workspace for the…
read the full gentle-shell overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gitpod or gentle-shell more popular?
gitpod has 13,803 GitHub stars and gentle-shell has 1,553. gitpod has the larger community by that measure.
Are gitpod and gentle-shell free?
Both are open source. gitpod is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and gentle-shell under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gitpod and gentle-shell?
gitpod is written in TypeScript and gentle-shell in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gitpod or gentle-shell?
Choose gitpod if you want the larger community (13,803 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose gentle-shell if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.