Gitpod
✓ Verified by EU AltsCloud development environments that spin up instantly from any Git repo — a German alternative to GitHub Codespaces.
Overview
Gitpod is a Kiel, Germany-based European company building cloud infrastructure and developer tools software since 2019. Despite its EU base, EU Alts has verified that Gitpod is owned by OpenAI (acquisition agreed June 2026, pending regulatory approval / not yet closed) (Germany), and hosts customer data with Cloud dev environments historically run on major public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS) in Not fully re-verified for current product; historically EU/US mixed, so it may still fall under the reach of the US CLOUD Act — worth weighing against AWS on this specific point.
Why European teams pick Gitpod
Teams in Europe still consider Gitpod for its cloud infrastructure product and Germany presence, operating since 2019, but unlike a fully EU-owned provider, Gitpod is owned by OpenAI (acquisition agreed June 2026, pending regulatory approval / not yet closed) (Germany), and hosts customer data with Cloud dev environments historically run on major public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS) in Not fully re-verified for current product; historically EU/US mixed — so it does not fully avoid US CLOUD Act exposure the way some other alternatives to AWS do.
See more EU cloud infrastructure tools or browse other startups from Germany.
About
Gitpod is a Germany-based cloud development environment (CDE) platform that replaces local dev setups with pre-configured, reproducible workspaces running in the cloud. Developers open a repository link and within seconds have a fully configured environment — editor, terminal, runtime, dependencies — running in a container on EU-hosted infrastructure. Gitpod eliminates 'works on my machine' problems, dramatically reduces onboarding time for new team members, and enables development from any device with a browser. It integrates with GitLab, GitHub, and Bitbucket and supports VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. Gitpod is open-source, self-hostable on EU Kubernetes clusters, and compliant with GDPR data processing requirements.
Details
- Founded
- 2019
- Headquarters
- Kiel, Germany
- Ownership
- Owned by OpenAI (acquisition agreed June 2026, pending regulatory approval / not yet closed) (Germany)
- Hosting
- Cloud dev environments historically run on major public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS), Not fully re-verified for current product; historically EU/US mixed
- CLOUD Act
- Exposed
- Verified
- 2026-07-31
- Last checked
- 2026-10-14
- Company size
- 11–50 employees
Categories
Compare with the US product you may be replacing
Gitpod is listed in a category that our US-product comparison pages cover. See every EU option side by side:
Also from Germany
11 other listed companies are based in Germany. In the same categories as Gitpod:
Other EU startups like Gitpod
- Coolify ✓ Verified by EU AltsHungary — Open-source, self-hostable PaaS platform — a Heroku/Render alternative you deploy on your own EU server.
- Exoscale ✓ Verified by EU AltsSwitzerland — Swiss cloud platform for developers with compute, storage and DBaaS — an alternative to AWS.
- Scaleway ✓ Verified by EU AltsFrance — French cloud platform with compute, storage and AI services — a European alternative to AWS.
- Portainer ✓ Verified by EU AltsNew Zealand — Container management UI for Docker and Kubernetes — a New Zealand/European alternative to Rancher.
- DNScale — European managed authoritative DNS platform with anycast, DNSSEC, API automation, Terraform support, and DDoS-protected DNS infrastructure.
- Ploq The Netherlands — Ploq is EU-built webhook infrastructure: retries, event filtering, and health monitoring, GDPR-compliant end to end. SDKs for Node.js and Java, a WordPress plugin, and a forkable Mac/Windows app for sending and receiving events.
Frequently asked questions
What does Gitpod do?
Gitpod is cloud development environments that spin up instantly from any git repo — a german alternative to github codespaces. It is listed under cloud infrastructure and developer tools on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European cloud infrastructure tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from AWS.
Is Gitpod GDPR compliant?
Gitpod is headquartered in Kiel, Germany and processes user data under the GDPR by default. Customer data processing is supervised by Germany's data protection authority, the Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI). However, EU Alts has verified that Gitpod is owned by OpenAI (acquisition agreed June 2026, pending regulatory approval / not yet closed) (Germany), and hosts customer data with Cloud dev environments historically run on major public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS) in Not fully re-verified for current product; historically EU/US mixed, which means — unlike a fully EU-owned provider — it may still be reachable under the US CLOUD Act, similar to AWS in that respect.
How do teams switch from AWS to Gitpod?
Teams evaluating a move from AWS to Gitpod should note: Gitpod is owned by OpenAI (acquisition agreed June 2026, pending regulatory approval / not yet closed) (Germany), and hosts customer data with Cloud dev environments historically run on major public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS) in Not fully re-verified for current product; historically EU/US mixed, so this switch narrows but may not fully close the US CLOUD Act gap. Weigh that against the cloud infrastructure workflow fit before treating it as a complete Schrems II fix.
Where is Gitpod based?
Gitpod is headquartered in Kiel, Germany. The company was founded in 2019. Its main website is https://www.gitpod.io.