Agent sandboxes / Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun alternative

An Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox alternative

Alibaba Cloud’s current Agent Sandbox includes full-state hibernation and snapshots, not just persistent workspace files. Its Flash and Container editions, runtime generations and QoS classes have different contracts. Compare the exact current service with Sandbox0 rather than combining old AgentRun AIO limits and new Agent Sandbox rates.

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Reviewed 2026-10-18 · Published by the Sandbox0 team

When Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun fits

Alibaba Agent Sandbox fits teams invested in Alibaba Cloud integration, E2B-compatible APIs, Kubernetes-based execution or its range of code, browser and desktop environments. Resource class, generation and feature access matter as much as a single advertised unit price.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when a compatible agent needs one durable writable RootFS that grows online as tools and data accumulate, plus supported file operations while guest compute stays paused. Validate any full-VM, Docker or desktop requirements against gVisor and your application stack.

Capabilities

Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRunLegacy AgentRun limits are not established as a universal current Agent Sandbox lifetime; verify the chosen generation and account.View evidence ↗Sandbox0ttl and hard_ttl default to 0 (disabled). Configure idle pause and deletion policies for the same persistent sandbox identity; an idle running sandbox still accrues compute charges.Read documentation →
Persistent filesAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRunDeep hibernation and snapshots retain filesystem state with storage charges.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRunThe current MicroVM snapshot saves running filesystem and memory, including installed environment state.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Persistence extends beyond /workspace to paths such as /usr/local, /etc, and /home. Runtime tmpfs and virtual filesystems are excluded.Read documentation →
Release compute, keep stateAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRunDeep and light hibernation exist with different RAM billing; edition support differs.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRunSecond-generation invited-test snapshots capture memory and filesystem and expire independently.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Experimental memory checkpoints can preserve compatible process state. Use memory: true on both pause and resume on a compatible deployment. A filesystem checkpoint alone does not preserve running processes.Read documentation →

Online RootFS growth

On growth-enabled images, Sandbox0 automatically expands the writable RootFS as free space runs low, within a configured sparse logical ceiling up to 64 TiB. Agent processes keep running. Growth is enabled in the qualified Cloud region; confirm activation for other regions. Existing images and snapshots retain their captured storage geometry. The ceiling is logical capacity, not preallocated host disk.

The reviewed Agent Sandbox guides establish full-state retention and edition/generation-specific storage integrations. They do not establish free-space-triggered automatic online expansion of the entire mounted RootFS. Compare the selected instance geometry and snapshots separately from Sandbox0’s growth-enabled device ceiling.

Files while compute is paused

Sandbox0's Files API reads persistent files without resuming compute. Filesystem-only pauses also permit edits; retained-memory pauses are read-only and reject mutations with 409. SSH, SFTP, file watching, and runtime-only mounts require running compute.

See paused file operations →

Whole-state hibernation is supported, with two billing paths

Deep hibernation saves execution state including memory and filesystem, stops CPU/RAM charges and retains storage charges. Light hibernation retains RAM charges as well as disk. The active-state disk allowance does not carry into deep hibernation or saved snapshots; retained capacity includes declared memory plus disk in the published formula.

Source 1 ↗

MicroVM snapshots have an independent seven-day lifecycle

The current invited-test Snapshot guide supports the second runtime generation, retains memory/filesystem and defaults to seven-day expiry. A snapshot outlives deletion of its source or template, but expires independently. Generation-one and generation-two images and configuration are not automatically interchangeable; validate actual templates before changing runtime.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Legacy AgentRun AIO is not the current contract for every sandbox

The official upgrade guide describes moving from AgentRun SDK calls to FC/E2B-compatible create, code and file APIs. That is a migration between product surfaces, not permission to apply an older AIO six-hour limit to every current Agent Sandbox. Keep the selected edition, generation, region and QoS together when estimating or implementing.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Pricing

Compare billing models, then price your workload

CPU allocation, memory, billing minimums, disk, plan fees, and supported workload differ. These meters are not equal-performance machine quotes. Confirm region, resource units, and included allowances before estimating a total.

Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

International-site Default CPU, Hong Kong/outside China
$0.00000496 per vCPU-second
Reference rate for this region group and QoS class, not a global flat rate.
Rate source ↗
International-site Default memory, same region group
$0.00000248 per GiB-second
Rate source ↗
International-site disk, same region group
$0.0000000703 per GiB-second
Active disk has a 15 GiB allowance; deep hibernation/snapshots have none.
Rate source ↗
International-site Economy CPU, same region group
$0.00000381 per vCPU-second
Economy permits performance fluctuation; it is not an equal-throughput substitute for another class.
Rate source ↗

The published table is reference pricing, billed by the second with a one-second minimum and hourly settlement. Deep-state storage uses declared memory plus disk capacity in the published formula, rather than only incremental changed bytes. China-site CNY rates and international USD rates are separate offers; additional cloud products bill independently.

Check current Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun pricing ↗

Sandbox0

$0.015/GiB-hour compute (billed by the second at approximately $0.000004167/GiB-second), plus $0.02/GiB-month of retained incremental RootFS and memory checkpoint data. Shared base images and platform recovery retention are excluded; paused sandboxes accrue storage charges only.

Compute / GiB-hour
$0.015
Retained data / GiB-month
$0.02
Paused compute
$0.00

A 4 GiB agent, 100 running hours

$6.00 compute

4 GiB × 100 hours, billed by the second. Keeping 20 GiB of billable incremental data for a full billing month adds $0.40. CPU is derived from memory by the platform; choose a tier that fits your workload.

Understand storage billing →

Before migrating from Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun

  1. Identify legacy versus current product, edition, generation, QoS, region, template compatibility and snapshots with remaining expiry; export critical data before destroying sources.
  2. Port compatible toolchains, image setup, E2B/AgentRun call patterns, credentials and network/storage integrations to the target runtime.
  3. Test repeated checkpoint/resume, system changes outside the workspace, online RootFS growth, paused files and declared-capacity versus retained-incremental-storage cost.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox / FC / AgentRun replacement?

Evaluate API compatibility and product scope. A shared sandbox category does not make SDKs, lifecycle semantics, or limits interchangeable.

Does keeping files also keep a running agent?

Filesystem state and volatile process state are separate. Sandbox0 requires explicit compatible memory checkpoints to preserve running processes; its default filesystem resume starts fresh processes.

Sources and review scope

The Boat team's Battleships directory is the discovery source. References below describe the product and plan discussed on this page. Check current availability, regional terms and billing units before migrating. Where the cited material does not establish a capability or price, the comparison identifies that uncertainty.

Battleships research record ↗www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/agent-sandbox/product-overview/billing-overview ↗help.aliyun.com/zh/agent-sandbox/snapshot-invited-test ↗help.aliyun.com/zh/agent-sandbox/runtime-gen1-vs-gen2 ↗www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/agentrun/agenrun-sandbox-upgrade-fc-cloud-sandbox-scheme ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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