Forge Cloud Dev vs GitHub Codespaces
Codespaces is the shortest path from a GitHub repo to a running environment. It also cannot run on your own hardware, which is the axis this comparison is about.
Where we win
- Runs on infrastructure you control — the local Docker provider on a laptop, or your own Hetzner project. GitHub states plainly that "Codespaces cannot be self-hosted".
- The same manifest targets local Docker and Hetzner Cloud, so a workspace is not tied to one vendor s runtime.
Where GitHub Codespaces wins
- A genuinely generous free tier: 120 core-hours (60 hours on a 2-core machine) plus 15 GB of storage every month, with nothing to operate.
- Native GitHub integration — repo, PR and Actions context are already there rather than wired up.
- A mature, staffed product with published per-size pricing. Forge Cloud Dev has not opened its beta.
| Forge Cloud Dev | GitHub Codespaces | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted | Yes — local Docker or your own Hetzner project | No |
| Free tier | Beta not open — no published pricing | 120 core-hours + 15 GB storage / month |
| Compute, 2-core | Your own infrastructure cost | $0.18 / hour |
| Compute, 8-core | Your own infrastructure cost | $0.72 / hour |
| Compute, 32-core | Your own infrastructure cost | $2.88 / hour |
| Storage | Your own infrastructure cost | $0.07 / GB-month |
GitHub Codespaces pricing last checked 2026-09-01 — their pricing page. Competitors change pricing; if this date is old, trust their page over ours.