microsandbox Cloud is in private beta and requires access approval from the vendor. The hosted feature set differs from the local runtime. Read the source ↗

Agent sandboxes / microsandbox alternative

Compare microsandbox Cloud and Sandbox0 for persistent agents

microsandbox offers a shared local and hosted SDK surface, but its Cloud backend is in private beta and has a narrower feature set. Local full checkpoints, forks, and reconfiguration should not be assumed to work in the hosted product.

Start buildingCompare capabilities ↓

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

When microsandbox fits

microsandbox fits teams that value a local hardware-isolated runtime and want to reuse familiar SDK and CLI calls on hosted infrastructure. Confirm Cloud beta access and the documented backend limitations before building around local-only features.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for a hosted, durable Linux agent identity with automatic online RootFS growth and a consistent paused Files API. Evaluate tool compatibility with its gVisor model when moving a workload designed for a full microVM.

Capabilities

microsandbox and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimemicrosandboxCloud supports maximum-duration and idle-timeout policy; verify effective beta and account limits.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 filesmicrosandboxManaged directory volumes and stopped persistent-sandbox disk snapshots are supported on Cloud.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSmicrosandboxNot established in this reviewSandbox0Persistence extends beyond /workspace to paths such as /usr/local, /etc, and /home. Runtime tmpfs and virtual filesystems are excluded.Read documentation →
Release compute, keep statemicrosandboxCloud supports start/stop; local full-checkpoint semantics are not a hosted memory-pause guarantee.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process statemicrosandboxFull checkpoints and live capture remain local-only in the reviewed Cloud feature table.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 Cloud table requires recreating a sandbox to change CPU, memory, mounts, or other settings; modify is local-only. It does not establish automatic live root-disk expansion for hosted sandboxes.

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.

microsandbox Cloud can access managed-volume files without launching a sandbox. Verify whether needed files live on those volumes; this should not be described as offline access to every guest RootFS path.

See paused file operations →

Cloud snapshots are currently stopped disk captures

The Cloud compatibility table supports disk snapshots of stopped persistent sandboxes, restored into new sandboxes. Live capture, full checkpoints, forking, and local artifact archives remain local-only. Compare that hosted path with Sandbox0’s filesystem lifecycle and explicit experimental memory checkpoints.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Managed-volume files can be accessed without a VM

microsandbox Cloud documents managed-volume filesystem access without starting a sandbox. That is useful independently of the guest root filesystem. Sandbox0’s paused file interface covers the persistent RootFS itself, with memory-checkpoint and runtime-mount restrictions.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Included computer-hours are a resource pool

microsandbox plans bundle vCPU-hours, memory GiB-hours, and writable-disk GiB-hours. Overage uses separate resource meters, while durable volume storage has its own charge. A computer-hour is the published reference shape, not unlimited capacity for any VM size.

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.

Same size. Lower compute cost.

2 vCPU · 4 GiB RAM · 730 running hours / month

Save $68.10 / month

The same CPU and memory allocation, with runtime aggregated across sessions. Monthly allowances and credits below are applied to this workload.

microsandbox

Builder · $49/month plus overage

$111.90

$0.1648/hour before monthly allowances

Sandbox0

Pay as you go · no monthly plan fee

$43.80

$0.06/hour · 60% lower in this example

Includes the $49 Builder fee and applies its 500 vCPU-hours and 2,000 memory GiB-hours before calculating overage. Private-beta terms apply; writable disk and durable volumes remain separate meters.

Compute and stated plan fees only. Storage, network, taxes and one-time credits are excluded; hardware and throughput can differ.

Calculation and billing assumptions

microsandbox: $62.904 compute after 500 included vCPU-hours and 2000 included GiB-hours, plus $49.00 plan fee, minus $0.00 applied monthly credit.

Sandbox0: 4 GiB × 730 hours × its published compute rate. CPU uses the Cloud allocation shown on the pricing page.

Includes compute and the selected plan. Excludes storage, network, taxes, one-time grants and negotiated discounts. Assumes this workload can use the full listed monthly allowances. CPU and memory counts do not guarantee equal hardware or throughput.

Checked microsandbox rate source ↗Sandbox0 rates ↗

microsandbox

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

CPU over included pool
$0.05 per vCPU-hour
Rate source ↗
Memory over included pool
$0.0162 per GiB-hour
Rate source ↗
Writable disk over included pool
$0.0001 per GiB-hour
Rate source ↗
Durable volume storage
$0.15 per GiB-month
Rate source ↗
Builder plan
$49/month
Includes a 500-computer-hour reference pool: 500 vCPU-hours, 2,000 memory GiB-hours, and 2,000 disk GiB-hours.
Rate source ↗

Private-beta prices and quotas apply. Free has a hard-capped pool without overage; Teams is $299/month with a larger pool. Running writable disk and persistent durable volume storage are separate meters; plan limits still apply to included storage.

Check current microsandbox 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
Understand storage billing →

Before migrating from microsandbox

  1. Separate local-only checkpoints, disk-kind volumes, host paths, and networking features from the Cloud-supported configuration.
  2. Export stopped persistent disks and managed directory volumes, then recreate the image, policies, and credential destinations on Sandbox0.
  3. Test Linux-tool compatibility, automatic RootFS growth, paused file access, and whether filesystem-only or experimental memory restoration meets the application’s needs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in microsandbox 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 ↗docs.microsandbox.dev/cloud/overview ↗/docs/sandbox/pause-resume ↗/docs/sandbox/files ↗microsandbox.dev/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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