Ona vs Codex

Codex is a developer tool. It's not an enterprise platform.

Ona runs AI software engineers inside your VPC, in isolated, ephemeral environments with guardrails and audit logs. Scale AI coding without turning engineers into the bottleneck.

4xthroughput on repeatable work

92%of PRs co-authored by AI engineers

10-20xfaster migrations

See it in your VPC

15-minute walkthrough. No slide deck.

Models are intelligent. The runtime makes them capable.

Codex runs on OpenAI's cloud or developer laptops. Ona adds engineering capacity by running work in parallel, safely inside your boundary.

VPC deployment

Deploy inside your AWS or GCP account. Code, secrets, and execution stay inside your perimeter. Route model calls through approved providers.

Event-driven automations

AI software engineers respond to PRs, CVEs, or schedules and execute across repos automatically. Not just task delegation.

Prebuilt environments

Dev Containers + prebuilds. AI software engineers and developers get identical setups. Startup in seconds, not minutes.

What matters in enterprise

Codex is a developer tool with cloud tasks. Ona is the platform that runs AI software engineers across the full development lifecycle.

Ona

Codex

Where it runs

✓

Inside your VPC. Code never leaves your perimeter.

✗

OpenAI cloud or developer laptops. No customer VPC option.

SCM support

✓

GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps.

✗

Cloud requires GitHub. Non-GitHub needs SDK work.

Automations

✓

PR triggers, schedules, manual dispatch. Reusable across repos.

✗

GitHub Action for reviews. SDK for custom orchestration. No built-in workflow engine.

Environments

✓

Dev Containers + prebuilds. Identical setups for AI software engineers and developers. Startup in seconds.

✗

OpenAI container image or local machine. No prebuild concept.

Governance

✓

Org guardrails, command deny lists, CrowdStrike, audit logs, SSO.

✗

Workspace controls, approval policies, sandbox restrictions.

Parallelism

✓

Run AI software engineers across hundreds of repos simultaneously.

✗

Multiple threads via macOS app. Cloud tasks one at a time.

Local experience

✓

Cloud-first. No local agent.

✓

Native CLI with OS-level sandboxing. Strong local-first experience.

Audit trail

✓

Every human and AI action logged. SIEM export.

✗

When making developers faster isn't enough

Developer tools accelerate individuals. These problems need a different approach.

CVE remediation at scale

The problem: Security wants patches everywhere, now.

Codex limitation: You can script it yourself, but you're building the orchestration from scratch.

With Ona: Run remediation in parallel across hundreds of repos. PRs created automatically. Keep an audit trail.

Multi-SCM migrations

The problem: Java 8 to 17 across GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket repos.

Codex limitation: Cloud execution is GitHub-only. Everything else needs custom work.

With Ona: Same automation runs across all four SCM providers. No per-platform wiring.

Regulated industries

The problem: Source code cannot leave your perimeter.

Codex limitation: Cloud tasks check out code to vendor infrastructure. No VPC option.

With Ona: Run in your AWS/GCP account with CrowdStrike on every environment and audit logs for compliance.

PR-triggered workflows

The problem: Every PR needs security scans, compliance checks, and docs updates.

Codex limitation: Built-in automation covers code review. Everything else is DIY.

With Ona: PR triggers fire multi-step automations: scan, then check, then update. Across repos.

One developer, one task. Ona covers the full development lifecycle.

Codex accelerates individual developers with cloud tasks and a local CLI. Ona runs AI software engineers across the entire SDLC, from writing code to testing, reviewing, deploying, and maintaining it at organizational scale.

Codex

Developer tool: cloud tasks, local CLI, code review for one developer

Ona

Full SDLC: coding, testing, code review, migrations, CVEs, standardization, running in parallel in your VPC

With Ona

OpenAI models gain isolation, parallelism, and governance. Working across your entire org, not just one task.

Common questions

Scale AI software engineering. Start with the boundary.

See Ona run a migration, CVE workflow, or code review end-to-end inside your VPC.

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