Agent sandboxes / OpenComputer alternative

An OpenComputer alternative when your application owns the harness

OpenComputer’s current product deploys TypeScript agent functions into a managed harness with durable sessions and a Linux machine. This comparison uses that current product, rather than treating legacy sandbox endpoints and earlier reserved-capacity documentation as today’s contract.

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

When OpenComputer fits

OpenComputer fits teams that want the platform to operate model steps, tool execution, session events, schedules, and connected services. Its Linux machine and automatic resource bursting are provided alongside that managed agent layer.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when your application chooses and operates the harness and needs a durable per-user Linux RootFS that grows online. Model calls, session history, scheduling, and user-facing agent controls remain application responsibilities.

Capabilities

OpenComputer and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeOpenComputerThe current platform explicitly targets long-running tasks and durable managed sessions; no universal continuous-runtime cap is established here.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 filesOpenComputerThe current site describes a session Linux filesystem with idle hibernation and later continuation.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSOpenComputerDurable conversation, session data, and document memory do not establish whole-RootFS retention across independent sessions.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 stateOpenComputerManaged sessions hibernate when idle and resume; exact machine checkpoint semantics need verification.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateOpenComputerNot established in this reviewSandbox0Experimental 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.

OpenComputer currently advertises automatic CPU and memory bursting. Its reviewed agent-session and application-memory documentation does not establish automatic online growth of the full writable root filesystem.

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 →

Managed sessions and machine state are different contracts

OpenComputer records durable conversation and runtime events, and pins each session to the deployment it started with. Its current site also describes a Linux machine that hibernates when idle. Confirm the machine’s filesystem retention scope separately from durable event history before relying on cross-session system changes.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗Source 3 ↗

Session data and document memory are application state

Session data belongs to one conversation and is written by the application. Document memory belongs to a project and environment and can outlive a session. These are useful structured records, but neither definition by itself establishes a continuously expanding writable root disk.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Machine time and prepaid credits use the same published meter

The default session machine can burst to larger CPU and memory shapes at higher minute rates. Pro and Max prepay usage credit rather than replacing the resource meter, and model tokens use provider API prices. Compare the harness, resource shape, and token bill together; Sandbox0 compute alone does not supply the equivalent managed platform.

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.

OpenComputer

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Default managed session machine
$0.00315 per minute
1 vCPU and 2 GB; billed by the second while running.
Rate source ↗
Burst machine: 2 vCPU / 4 GB
$0.00630 per minute
Rate source ↗
Burst machine: 4 vCPU / 8 GB
$0.01260 per minute
Rate source ↗
Pro / Max prepaid plans
$20 / $200 per month
The current page advertises 10× prepaid usage credit; after credit exhaustion, the same PAYG rates apply.
Rate source ↗
Managed model tokens
Provider API rates, without markup
Bring-your-own model credentials or supported subscription changes who pays for inference; it does not make the model provider’s service universally free.
Rate source ↗

The current page offers PAYG without a monthly commitment and lists idle scale-to-zero. Machine sizes use its published GB labels. Recheck credit-multiplier and model-account eligibility before estimating an effective price; historical reserved-capacity rates are excluded.

Check current OpenComputer 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 OpenComputer

  1. Separate agent source and deployment bindings, session events, structured data, document memory, and files stored on each session machine.
  2. Select the harness and model integration to operate with Sandbox0, then port tools, schedules, connected services, and credential policies.
  3. Export necessary files and state through supported interfaces, and validate repeated tasks, installed packages, RootFS growth, paused files, and the complete application cost.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in OpenComputer 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.opencomputer.dev/agents/mental-model.md ↗docs.opencomputer.dev/agents/sessions.md ↗opencomputer.dev/pricing ↗docs.opencomputer.dev/agents/session-data.md ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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