Browser platforms / Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox alternative

A Firecrawl Interact alternative

Firecrawl supplies managed web extraction and interaction, including standalone Browser Sandbox sessions and interactions continuing from a scrape. Its saved browser profiles and live sandbox files have different retention. Compare those web services with the complete persistent Linux environment a broader agent may need.

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

When Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox fits

Firecrawl fits agents that want scraping plus prompt-driven or code-driven browser interaction, live views and managed browser setup. Its API/SDK browser sessions can also complement an agent harness running on a separate persistent computer.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when the agent needs durable installed software, configuration and files across the writable RootFS, with online growth and supported no-wake files. Web extraction, browser setup, interaction models and artifact transport still need an application or retained remote service.

Capabilities

Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeFirecrawl Interact / Browser SandboxThe documented standalone session TTL ranges up to 3600 seconds, distinct from reusable profile lifetime.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 filesFirecrawl Interact / Browser SandboxProfiles retain browser state, while session disk files are explicitly ephemeral; no general durable disk is established.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSFirecrawl Interact / Browser SandboxThe guide says session filesystem downloads are lost on session end and profiles do not retain disk files.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 stateFirecrawl Interact / Browser SandboxA profile and active-session lifecycle do not establish arbitrary retained-machine pause/resume.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateFirecrawl Interact / Browser SandboxPersistent browser profiles do not establish arbitrary running process-memory checkpoints.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.

Firecrawl’s ephemeral session filesystem and reusable browser profiles do not provide the same retention contract as an automatically growing durable Linux RootFS. A longer browser TTL alone would not retain installed system tools and files after session deletion.

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 Browser Sandbox guide requires exporting file contents before session end; a profile only preserves browser state. A no-wake complete-RootFS editing API is not established. Sandbox0 exposes supported persistent files while paused, with filesystem-only mutations and read-only memory checkpoints.

See paused file operations →

Standalone sessions and scrape-bound Interact use different entry points

Browser Sandbox starts a session directly through the API/SDK; scrape-bound Interact continues from a scrapeId. The guide recommends Interact for CLI/MCP flows and treats the hidden browser CLI path as legacy. Preserve that distinction when mapping session IDs, profile state and cleanup in an integration.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Persistent profiles retain browser state; session files expire

The browser guide explicitly says downloaded files are lost when a session ends. Profiles retain cookies and localStorage, not disk files. The documented default session TTL is 10 minutes with a one-hour maximum; inactivity has its own timer. Export results during the session instead of relying on the profile as a filesystem backup.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Prompt use changes the session’s browser-minute meter

The guide lists 2 credits/browser-minute for code-only sessions and 7 when a session uses a prompt, with a one-minute minimum. Zero Data Retention adds 2 credits/minute. These are browser-session meters drawn from the same plan credit balance as other Firecrawl features, not a universal per-page or per-vCPU rate.

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.

Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Code-only browser session
2 credits per browser-minute
One-minute minimum; scrape-bound Interact documents per-second proration.
Rate source ↗
Session that uses prompting
7 credits per browser-minute
A session-level mode distinction; not a fixed price per prompt.
Rate source ↗
Zero Data Retention surcharge
2 additional credits per browser-minute
Requires ZDR enablement for the team; cannot be combined with a saved profile.
Rate source ↗
Hobby, monthly payment
$19/month for 5,000 credits
Annual payment is a different offer; credits also fund other Firecrawl usage.
Rate source ↗
Standard, monthly payment
$99/month for 100,000 credits
Rate source ↗

Browser, scrape/search and other features share credits; included page/search counts are alternative uses of that balance. Do not convert all credits into guaranteed browser time without accounting for prompts, minimums, ZDR and other usage. Plan limits and endpoint-specific browser limits must both be checked.

Check current Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox 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 Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox

  1. Export needed browser downloads before session expiry and record which profiles, scrapeIds and standalone sessions belong to each workflow.
  2. Recreate compatible tools and model/browser handlers on Sandbox0, retaining Firecrawl extraction/interactions where useful and implementing artifact storage explicitly.
  3. Test long tasks, installed packages and RootFS growth, paused file access and total session-minute plus extraction/model costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Firecrawl Interact / Browser Sandbox 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.firecrawl.dev/features/browser ↗docs.firecrawl.dev/features/interact ↗docs.firecrawl.dev/api-reference/endpoint/browser-create ↗docs.firecrawl.dev/billing ↗www.firecrawl.dev/pricing.md ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

Related comparisons

Airtop vs Sandbox0 →Anchor Browser vs Sandbox0 →Bright Data Browser API vs Sandbox0 →Browser Use Cloud vs Sandbox0 →BrowserAct vs Sandbox0 →Browserbase vs Sandbox0 →