Agent sandboxes / CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps) alternative

A CreateOS sandbox alternative for accumulated agent state

CreateOS gives each sandbox a Firecracker VM, preserves full state on pause, and permits sessions without a lifetime cap. The useful comparison is its plan-specific root-disk capacity and retained-memory charges versus a RootFS that grows while the agent keeps running.

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

When CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps) fits

CreateOS fits workloads that need a full guest kernel, private sandbox networks, managed process tools, and memory-preserving pause or forks. Its own-storage integration can connect S3-compatible buckets to the execution environment.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when the agent needs one durable writable RootFS with automatic online growth, zero compute charges while paused, and supported file operations independent of compute. Match the required process semantics explicitly; ordinary Sandbox0 pause/resume starts fresh processes.

Capabilities

CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps) and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeCreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)No maximum session length; idle auto-pause is off by default and configurable.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 filesCreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)Full-state pause retains the disk; independently mounted buckets have a separate lifecycle.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSCreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)Pause captures the sandbox’s memory and disk, retaining its identity.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 stateCreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)Resume restores full state onto a compatible host; reconnect external connections.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateCreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)Pause snapshots full execution state; a paused source can be forked.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.

CreateOS documents root disk_mib at creation and per-plan maxima, while an attached disk is an S3-compatible bucket mount. Neither the reviewed creation limits nor mount workflow establishes automatic online expansion of the whole writable RootFS.

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 →

No lifetime deadline does not mean no account limit

CreateOS lists no maximum session length and leaves idle auto-pause off by default. Plan caps still count paused as well as running sandboxes, and daily creation quotas are separate. A long-lived agent can reuse its environment while still consuming an open-sandbox slot.

Source 1 ↗

A disk mount and the root disk are different resources

CreateOS calls a registered S3-compatible bucket a disk and supports live attachment. Its sandbox root disk is selected at creation, with published plan limits. A bucket-mounted directory can retain application data without establishing that the whole writable root disk grows automatically.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Paused CPU billing and paused memory billing differ

The current sandbox price page explicitly stops vCPU charges during pause but continues memory and storage charges. Full-state pause saves memory and disk to durable storage and resumes on a compatible host. Include retained memory in an idle-agent budget rather than treating pause as a zero-resource bill.

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.

CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Running CPU
$0.03616363 per vCPU-hour
Rate source ↗
Memory
$0.01159025 per GiB-hour
Memory remains billable while paused.
Rate source ↗
Storage
$0.0001584 per GB-hour
Retained storage bills across the month, including paused time.
Rate source ↗
Egress
$0 egress fee
Rate source ↗

Published resource rates apply across plans with per-second metering; plans determine limits and top-up entitlements. The limits guide lists default 10 GiB root disks and standard plan maxima through 60 GiB, with negotiated enterprise limits possible. Preserve the rate card’s GB storage and GiB memory units.

Check current CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps) 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 CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps)

  1. Inventory root-disk changes, bucket mounts, templates, private networks, managed process IDs, and idle-pause settings.
  2. Port the execution and file APIs, credentials, ingress and egress policies, and templates, testing guest-kernel dependencies on gVisor.
  3. Validate repeated tasks, mounted versus root-disk state, automatic growth, paused files, and active plus paused memory/storage costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in CreateOS Sandbox (NodeOps) 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 ↗createos.sh/docs/Sandbox/Limits/ ↗createos.sh/docs/Sandbox/Concepts/ ↗createos.sh/pricing/sandbox ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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