Daytona vs GitHub Codespaces
Daytona
daytona.ioGitHub Codespaces
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Daytona | GitHub Codespaces |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $0.07/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 8 |
| Spec score · Cloud Development Environments | 9.2 (#1) | 8.6 (#7) |
| Spec score · Coding Playgrounds | 9.2 (#8) | 8.9 (#14) |
| Founded | 2023 | 2008 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Self-hosting | Bring-your-own-compute custom regions let organizations attach their own runner machines and control locality and infrastructure. | GitHub states that Codespaces cannot be self-hosted. |
Plans
Daytona
- Pay-as-you-goPrice not published
- Free compute creditFree
- Start-upsFree
- StorageFree
- Memory$0.02 a month
- Compute vCPU$0.05 a month
- Windows compute$0.09 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Pay as you goPrice not published
GitHub Codespaces
- 2-core compute$0.18 a month
- 4-core compute$0.36 a month
- 8-core compute$0.72 a month
- 16-core compute$1.44 a month
- 32-core compute$2.88 a month
- Codespaces storage$0.07 a month
- GitHub Codespaces personal included usageFree
- GitHub Codespaces pay-as-you-go$0.18 a month
In their own words
Daytona
Daytona provides a secure, elastic runtime for executing AI-generated code and agent workflows. Its homepage states that sandbox creation takes under 90ms, and Daytona describes runtime isolation for code execution. Programmatic controls cover processes, file-system operations, Git integration, and built-in language-server support. SDK examples or interfaces are shown for Python, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, and Java. Listed uses include AI evaluations, code interpreter workloads, coding agents, and data analysis. The product's listed environments include API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows; its CLI documentation supports macOS, Linux, and Windows. Documentation lists Claude, Cursor, and Windsurf as supported agents. Network options include IP and domain allow lists, outbound blocking, and chained proxies. Organization-scoped secrets are encrypted at rest and injected as placeholders into sandboxes, with plaintext substituted only for allowed HTTPS hosts. Daytona has free offerings and usage-based pricing; compute, memory, storage, and Windows rates are listed, while Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales.
GitHub Codespaces
GitHub Codespaces provides cloud development environments configured for a repository and hosted by GitHub. Repository dev container files can define a repeatable environment; users can start from a template or a branch or commit. Each codespace runs in a Docker container on a GitHub-hosted virtual machine, with machine choices from 2 cores, 8 GB RAM, and 32 GB storage to 32 cores, 128 GB RAM, and 128 GB storage. Connect through a browser, Visual Studio Code, or GitHub CLI from an internet-connected device, including an iPad. The Codespaces extension also connects a GitHub account to local Visual Studio Code. Each codespace has its own virtual machine and isolated network; connections use a TLS-encrypted tunnel and GitHub authentication, and forwarded ports are private by default. GitHub Free personal accounts include 120 compute hours and 15 GB-month of storage; Pro includes 180 hours and 20 GB-month. Usage is billed monthly, with 2-core compute at $0.18 a month and storage at $0.07 a month. Codespaces cannot be self-hosted and is unavailable for repositories owned by managed user accounts.