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E2B alternatives in 2026: seven options compared

Daytona, Modal, Vercel Sandbox, Cloudflare, Northflank, Runloop and BoxCompute compared on isolation, session limits, what survives a stop and price, with sources for every claim.

By boxy

E2B made the AI agent sandbox a product: an API call gives your agent a Firecracker microVM where it can run code, and the open-source runtime lets you host it yourself. Teams look for alternatives for the usual reasons: the cost adds up at scale, a session can only run for one hour on the free plan and 24 on Pro, they need a region E2B doesn't offer, or they want a machine that stays around.

Here are seven alternatives that come up in most 2026 roundups, what each is built for, and what it costs. We make BoxCompute, which is one of them, so read with that in mind. Every fact about another provider comes from its own pricing page or documentation, read on 26 October 2026 and linked at the end.

The short version

  • Same model, no session cap: Daytona.
  • GPUs and Python at scale: Modal.
  • Agents that mostly wait on the model: Vercel Sandbox, which bills CPU only while it's busy.
  • Already on Cloudflare Workers: Cloudflare Sandbox.
  • Cheapest per hour, or your own cloud account: Northflank.
  • Coding-agent workspaces in your VPC: Runloop.
  • A computer your agent keeps, in Southeast Asia, with an agent included: BoxCompute.

At a glance

Prices are compute only, per hour, for one vCPU and 2 GiB of memory running at full CPU, worked out from each provider's published rates. On a narrow screen, the table scrolls sideways.

IsolationLongest sessionAfter a stop1 vCPU, 2 GiBBest for
E2BFirecracker microVM1 h on Hobby, 24 h on Pro; pausing resets itPause keeps disk and memory, with no expiry$0.083Code interpreters that pause with memory intact
DaytonaContainer by default; VM optionalNo cap; stops after 15 idle minutes by defaultFilesystem kept; archived after 7 days stopped$0.083E2B's model without a session limit
ModalgVisor by default; VM optionalUp to 24 hSandbox ends; filesystem snapshots kept 30 daysAbout $0.119GPUs, Python, large fan-out
Vercel SandboxFirecracker microVM45 min on Hobby, 24 h on ProFilesystem snapshot, kept 30 days after last use$0.170 busy, $0.055 at 10% CPUBursty agents, Vercel teams
Cloudflare SandboxFirecracker microVMNo guaranteed maximum; up to 6 h idleDisk is ephemeral; snapshots in beta, or R2 mountsNo such size; smallest similar about $0.13Apps built on Workers
NorthflankCloud Hypervisor microVMNone; runs until deletedEphemeral unless you attach a volume$0.033Long-lived sandboxes, your own cloud
RunloopMicroVM on its own hypervisor1 h by default, configurableSuspend keeps the disk$0.158 plus storageCoding agents, benchmarks, VPC
BoxComputeFull VM with its own kernelNo fixed limit; maintenance sleep after about 42 hDisk kept with no expiry; stops after 30 idle minNo such size; $0.05 for 0.5 vCPU/1 GiB, $0.15 for 1.5/3 GiBAn agent's own long-lived computer

Daytona

Daytona's rates are the same as E2B's, unit for unit. The differences are elsewhere: sandboxes are containers by default, with an optional VM runtime, and there's no session cap. A sandbox stops after 15 idle minutes unless you change it, keeps its filesystem but not its memory, and is archived after seven days stopped. VM sandboxes can pause with memory intact. New accounts get $200 of free compute.

Daytona's core went closed source in June 2026, and the public repository was archived on 3 October. Choose it for E2B's way of working without the time limit, or for its Windows, macOS and GPU sandboxes. If self-hosting open-source software is the reason you're leaving E2B, it isn't the answer.

Modal

Modal is a Python-first serverless platform with sandboxes as one feature. They run under gVisor by default, with a VM runtime available, start in under a second, and run for up to 24 hours. To continue past that, you snapshot the filesystem and restore it into a new sandbox. Memory snapshots are in alpha.

Choose Modal when your agents need GPUs, or when you already run Python workloads there. Pinning a region costs 1.15 to 1.75 times the base price.

Vercel Sandbox

Vercel runs Firecracker microVMs and bills CPU only while it's actually working. An agent that spends most of its time waiting for a model reply costs a fraction of the busy price: $0.055 an hour at 10% CPU instead of $0.170. Sandboxes save their filesystem automatically when they stop. A session lasts up to 45 minutes on Hobby and 24 hours on Pro, and there are 19 regions, including Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.

Choose it if your agents are bursty, or if your app already lives on Vercel.

Cloudflare Sandbox

Cloudflare's Sandbox SDK runs on Cloudflare Containers, controlled by Durable Objects, and each instance is a Firecracker microVM. Disk is ephemeral by default; you keep state with root-filesystem snapshots, in public beta, or by mounting an R2 bucket. Start-up is usually one to three seconds. There's no instance as small as one vCPU with 2 GiB, because custom sizes need at least 3 GiB per vCPU. CPU is billed only while busy; memory and disk are billed as provisioned.

Choose it if your application is already built on Workers.

Northflank

Northflank is a general application platform with microVM sandboxes. They run until you delete them, start in under a second from a cached image, and at about $0.033 an hour for one vCPU and 2 GB they're the cheapest in this list. They are ephemeral unless you attach a volume. Northflank can also run sandboxes in your own AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle or bare-metal account.

Choose it for long-lived sandboxes at the lowest price, or when the sandboxes must run in your own cloud.

Runloop

Runloop builds devboxes for coding agents: microVMs that suspend and resume with their disk intact, plus tools for running agent benchmarks. Compute isn't billed while a devbox is suspended, but storage is. It can be deployed into your own AWS, Google Cloud or Azure VPC.

Choose it for coding-agent workspaces and evaluations, especially inside a private network.

BoxCompute

BoxCompute gives an agent a full Linux VM with its own kernel, hosted in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The VM keeps its disk with no expiry, including installed packages and /workspace. It stops after 30 idle minutes and costs nothing while stopped. Large and bigger VMs have a desktop where the BoxCompute agent can use Chrome while you watch.

Unlike the others here, we also ship an agent. You can chat with the BoxCompute agent in your browser, or connect Claude, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor through our MCP server and let it drive the VMs. The HTTP API, CLI and SDKs work with LangGraph, CrewAI, the OpenAI Agents SDK and other frameworks.

Where we're weaker:

  • Start time. A new VM takes about 28 seconds and a resume about 20. Everyone above starts in a few seconds or less.
  • One region, Malaysia, and no GPUs.
  • No snapshots or forks of a running machine, and no open-source runtime to host yourself.
  • Small limits. A free account runs two VMs at once, or three with added credit; Starter runs eight.

Choose BoxCompute when an agent works on one project for hours or days and needs its files, packages and desktop to be there tomorrow, especially if your users or data are in Southeast Asia. Eligible new accounts get $5 of free credit for 14 days.

How to choose

  1. Is it a code interpreter or a workspace? For many short runs, choose E2B, Daytona, Modal or Vercel. For one machine an agent comes back to, choose Northflank with a volume, Runloop or BoxCompute.
  2. What has to survive a stop? Memory, as with E2B and Daytona VMs; the filesystem, as with most; or nothing.
  3. Where must it run? Check the region list, or whether it can run in your own cloud, as Northflank, Runloop, E2B Enterprise and Daytona Enterprise can.
  4. Does your agent sit idle? If it mostly waits for the model, Vercel's and Cloudflare's busy-CPU billing changes the maths.

For a deeper look at five of these, see Choosing an AI agent sandbox in 2026. If you're new to the idea, start with What is an AI agent sandbox?.

Sources

Read on 26 October 2026. Prices and limits change often; if something here is out of date, email [email protected] and we'll correct it.

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