Cloud infrastructure / IONOS Cloud alternative

IONOS Cloud alternative for persistent Linux agents

IONOS Cloud has several VM products rather than one uniform server contract. Cubes pair a fixed template with direct-attached NVMe, while Compute Engine offers vCPU and Dedicated Core servers. All can serve full-machine workloads; distinguish their growth and suspension rules for a returning agent.

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

When IONOS Cloud fits

Choose IONOS for VM administration, regional infrastructure and its Data Center Designer/API integrations. Dedicated Core resources, vCPU servers and compact Cubes serve different performance and sizing needs.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for a compatible Linux agent with automatic online whole-RootFS growth and supported paused-file operations. Check gVisor/kernel compatibility and retain any IONOS-specific network or enterprise services.

Capabilities

IONOS Cloud and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeIONOS CloudNot established in this reviewSandbox0ttl 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 filesIONOS CloudCube NVMe storage and the saved VM remain through supported suspension; storage remains billed.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSIONOS CloudA complete installed VM uses the attached NVMe disk, beyond a workspace directory.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 stateIONOS CloudCube suspend/resume saves the resource while releasing CPU/RAM; retained-memory recovery is unestablished.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateIONOS CloudReleasing CPU/RAM and resuming a Cube does not establish arbitrary RAM checkpointing.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.

IONOS already provides full installed VM disks. Cube CPU/RAM/NVMe are template-fixed; Compute Engine/storage configuration has separate controls. Sandbox0 integrates low-space-triggered online growth of the complete durable agent 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.

Saved disks and snapshots differ from native file-level access to every path on the original paused RootFS. Guest console/SSH and mounting or restoring through another VM use running compute; no equivalent native whole-RootFS interface is established here.

See paused file operations →

Cube resources are fixed at provisioning

Cube templates define CPU, RAM and attached NVMe capacity and cannot subsequently be changed. The disk holds a complete installed VM environment, so this is not workspace-only retention. Compute Engine’s independently configurable resources are a separate product workflow.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Cube suspend releases compute resources but leaves storage costs

The suspend guide releases associated CPU/RAM while saving the Cube for later resume and continuing connected-storage billing. Reserved IPs are not removed. The overview explicitly warns that suspended Cubes still incur charges. Do not interpret suspend as a zero invoice or assume it captures running RAM.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Use the cloud control plane to release an allocation

For Dedicated Core servers, an OS-level shutdown alone does not deallocate resources or suspend billing. Select the actual service operation and storage lifecycle, rather than assigning Cube suspend behavior to every IONOS VM.

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.

IONOS Cloud

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

Basic Cube XS EUR reference
€0.007 per instance-hour
Current table: 1 vCPU/2 GB RAM/60 GB NVMe; differs from pre-October-2024 legacy Cubes.
Rate source ↗
Compute Engine vCPU reference
€0.012 per vCPU-hour
Separate CPU component, not a complete VM quote.
Rate source ↗
Compute Engine vCPU-server RAM
€0.002 per GB-hour
Add storage, networking, licenses and other applicable resources.
Rate source ↗

Use the effective EUR cloud tariff and account tax/region terms. Dedicated Core and savings-plan rates differ from vCPU-server meters; retained Cube storage still costs money. A historical Cube table and a committed rate are not current unrestricted on-demand offers.

Check current IONOS Cloud 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 IONOS Cloud

  1. Identify Cube versus vCPU/Dedicated Core, fixed template, disk ownership and exact suspend/deallocation operation.
  2. Export consistent full-system files and port compatible agent tools to Sandbox0 while retaining needed IONOS integrations.
  3. Test installed tools, online growth, paused files and total compute components, retained disk, IP, license and network costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in IONOS Cloud 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.ionos.com/cloud/compute-services/cubes/overview.md ↗docs.ionos.com/cloud/compute-services/compute-engine/vcpu-server ↗docs.ionos.com/cloud/compute-services/cubes/dcd-how-tos/suspend-cube.md ↗docs.ionos.com/cloud/compute-services/compute-engine/how-tos/set-up-dedicated-core ↗docs.ionos.com/cloud/support/general-information/price-list/ionos-cloud-eur-en ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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