Development environments / Bitrise RDE alternative

Bitrise RDE alternative

Bitrise offers Remote Dev Environments on macOS and Linux alongside its CI products. Terminating an RDE stops compute while preserving its disk changes for restoration. This is a real persistent development service, with stack dependency and lifecycle conditions that matter for long-lived agent work.

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Reviewed 2026-10-19 · Published by the Sandbox0 team

When Bitrise RDE fits

Choose Bitrise RDE for cloud development on its mobile toolchains, Apple silicon, simulators and CI-related stacks. Keep macOS/Xcode workloads on compatible hardware; a Linux runtime cannot replace that operating-system requirement.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for compatible Linux agent environments with whole-RootFS online growth and supported file access while compute remains paused. Export required files and map credentials, device tooling and startup behavior explicitly.

Capabilities

Bitrise RDE and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeBitrise RDEAuto-termination defaults to five inactive days and can be set up to thirty days or disabled. Trials have an eight-hour cap; maintenance can still stop running machines.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 filesBitrise RDERDE termination retains disk changes, subject to original stack availability and deletion rules.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSBitrise RDESession changes against a stack are documented, but complete Linux system-path coverage is not established here.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 stateBitrise RDETerminated disk-backed sessions can be restored; arbitrary process memory is not established.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateBitrise RDEMaintenance/termination retention describes disk, not arbitrary process RAM.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.

Bitrise RDE already retains disk changes across termination and restoration. The reviewed RDE contract does not establish automatic online growth of an entire Linux RootFS, and retention remains tied to the original stack image’s availability.

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.

The reviewed RDE guides describe restoring a machine before terminal, SSH or IDE access. They do not establish read/write access throughout a terminated machine’s supported RootFS while its compute stays stopped.

See paused file operations →

Terminated sessions retain changes, subject to their stack

A session stores its changes against its original stack image. Terminated sessions have no inactivity deletion deadline, but stack removal permanently erases their data and makes restore impossible. You cannot move an existing session to another stack; export or commit work before the published removal date.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Disk retention is not a process-memory guarantee

Auto-termination defaults to five days of inactivity and can be configured up to 30 days or disabled, while trial sessions are capped at eight hours. Infrastructure maintenance can still stop long-running machines. The documentation preserves disk but does not establish arbitrary RAM checkpoint recovery; disks are working storage without backup or a service-level commitment.

Source 1 ↗

Read the specific tier, not the up-to headline

Basic tier 1 includes 480 minutes per OS and one concurrent VM. The up-to-1,440-minute and five-VM figures belong to tier 3. The yearly-equivalent base price differs from monthly billing, and macOS/Linux have separate caps and included-minute pools. CI and Build Hub rates are different products.

Source 1 ↗

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.

Bitrise RDE

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

RDE Basic tier 1
$20/month, or $18/month billed annually
480 included minutes per OS/month and one concurrent VM; separate OS caps apply.
Rate source ↗
RDE Basic tier 3
$60/month, or $54/month billed annually
1,440 minutes per OS/month and up to five concurrent VMs.
Rate source ↗
RDE Pro tier 1
$40/month, or $36/month billed annually
480 minutes per OS/month; different macOS/Linux machine shapes from Basic.
Rate source ↗
Session disk storage
Not separately billed today
Enterprise agreements define storage allowances and excess usage handling.
Rate source ↗

Basic tier 1 lists macOS/Linux monthly caps of $99/$39; tier 3 lists $495/$195. Confirm how cap and base fees appear in the effective quote. Session disks are not backed up, and stack removal permanently deletes dependent sessions.

Check current Bitrise RDE 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 Bitrise RDE

  1. Record RDE stack, OS, tier, saved inputs, system changes, retention and scheduled stack removal.
  2. Export essential work before removal and create a compatible Sandbox0 Linux template; retain separate macOS/device infrastructure as needed.
  3. Test system-path retention, growth, paused files, fresh-process startup and actual tier, OS-cap and model costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Bitrise RDE replacement?

Evaluate API compatibility and product scope. These products serve different core workflows, so a change may require a different architecture.

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 ↗docs.bitrise.io/en/bitrise-rde/getting-started/key-concepts ↗docs.bitrise.io/en/bitrise-rde/getting-started/rde-faq ↗bitrise.io/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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