Agent sandboxes / Morph Cloud alternative

A Morph Cloud alternative for a growing agent environment

Morph Cloud pauses a VM by retaining an execution snapshot, allowing processes and memory to resume later. Its MCU pricing combines CPU, RAM, and disk requirements, making storage sizing part of the running-compute estimate.

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

When Morph Cloud fits

Morph fits applications using its VM execution snapshots and pause/resume primitives. Preserve that model when a live process or loaded application state is central to the agent workflow.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when persistent Linux filesystem growth and independently paused compute are the main requirements. Its memory-based compute meter and incremental retained-storage meter expose different cost drivers from a maximum-of-resources unit.

Capabilities

Morph Cloud and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeMorph 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 filesMorph CloudPause retains an execution snapshot for later restoration.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSMorph CloudNot 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 stateMorph CloudPausing stops compute; resume restores the captured execution state.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateMorph CloudPause retains processes and memory through a snapshot.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.

Morph’s MCU formula includes provisioned disk. Check the selected product’s resizing workflow and capacity before modeling a growing agent; the reviewed pause documentation does not establish automatic online root-disk growth.

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 →

Pause keeps execution state on Morph

Morph documents pause as creating a snapshot and suspending execution. Resume restores processes and memory, while snapshot storage remains billed. Sandbox0 defaults to a filesystem checkpoint with fresh processes; use explicit compatible experimental memory checkpoints when live execution state is required.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Disk sizing can determine the MCU count

The public Morph rate card defines a devbox MCU count as the maximum of vCPUs, RAM divided by 4 GiB rounded up, and disk divided by 16 GiB rounded up. Increasing disk can therefore change running MCU usage even when CPU and RAM stay unchanged.

Source 1 ↗

Estimate running and retained state separately

Morph’s base MCU rate and snapshot conversion describe different resources. Calculate active MCU-hours and retained snapshot size separately, then apply the selected tier’s credits or discount. Sandbox0 separately meters running configured memory and retained incremental RootFS data.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗Source 3 ↗

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.

Morph Cloud

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Standard MCU rate
$0.05 per MCU
Running MCU count is max(vCPU, ceil(RAM/4 GiB), ceil(disk/16 GiB)) per hour.
Rate source ↗
Snapshot conversion
1 MCU per 5 TB snapshot-hours
Use the published snapshot conversion rather than a CPU-hour rate for retained state.
Rate source ↗

Tier subscriptions, discounts, credits, VM versus devbox limits, and runner sizes change the effective bill. The page preserves the rate card’s units rather than treating an MCU as a vCPU-only unit.

Check current Morph 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 Morph Cloud

  1. Separate Morph VM snapshots, devbox data, and external mounts; retain image identifiers and restore requirements.
  2. Translate MCU sizing into actual CPU, RAM, disk use, active hours, and retained bytes before comparing costs.
  3. Recreate the environment on Sandbox0 and test tool compatibility, filesystem growth, and the required level of process restoration.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Morph Cloud 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 ↗cloud.morph.so/docs/documentation/instances/pause-resume ↗/docs/sandbox/pause-resume ↗cloud.morph.so/web/subscribe ↗/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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