Red Hat build of Agent Sandbox 1.13 is Technology Preview only. Red Hat excludes it from production SLAs and does not recommend production use. Read the source ↗

Application platforms / Red Hat OpenShift / Agent Sandbox alternative

Red Hat OpenShift alternatives for stateful agent workloads

OpenShift is an enterprise Kubernetes platform, and Red Hat build of Agent Sandbox adds stateful agent lifecycle management. Its 1.13 documentation describes persistent storage and hibernation, but explicitly labels this agent component a Technology Preview. Evaluate that offering separately from ordinary application pods or a Harbor backend.

Start buildingCompare capabilities ↓

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

When Red Hat OpenShift / Agent Sandbox fits

Choose OpenShift when enterprise Kubernetes governance, existing cluster operations and Red Hat integrations are central. The Agent Sandbox preview is relevant for testing stateful agents with optional hardware isolation on a supported platform.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 for compatible Linux agents needing an integrated whole writable RootFS, automatic online growth and supported paused-file operations. Retain required OpenShift applications and assess regional, isolation and support requirements separately.

Capabilities

Red Hat OpenShift / Agent Sandbox and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeRed Hat OpenShift / Agent SandboxNot 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 filesRed Hat OpenShift / Agent SandboxAgent Sandbox documents persistent state/storage and stable identity across restarts.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSRed Hat OpenShift / Agent SandboxThe feature overview does not define complete RootFS coverage for every configured workload.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 stateRed Hat OpenShift / Agent SandboxAgent Sandbox lifecycle extensions support pause/resume under a Technology Preview support boundary.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateRed Hat OpenShift / Agent SandboxHibernation wording alone does not specify arbitrary process/RAM checkpoint semantics.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 stateful Agent Sandbox preview preserves configured persistent storage. Its feature overview does not establish automatic low-space expansion of an entire agent RootFS; verify the chosen storage class, volume expansion and filesystem workflow.

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.

Preview lifecycle controls and persistent volumes do not specify a native file API spanning all writable system paths while guest compute remains paused. Check the selected configuration before assuming parity with Sandbox0’s supported paused RootFS operations.

See paused file operations →

The agent component has a preview support boundary

Red Hat does not recommend the Agent Sandbox Technology Preview for production and excludes it from production SLAs. The preview offers reusable templates, claims and warm pools, plus lifecycle extensions. This qualification applies to the agent feature, not to all OpenShift products.

Source 1 ↗

Stateful agents are a documented use case

Agent Sandbox manages singleton workloads with stable identity, persistent storage and hibernation. Kata integration can add dedicated-kernel VM isolation; the default runtime is also supported. Persistent paths and hibernation are meaningful capabilities, but their description does not specify arbitrary RAM restoration or complete writable RootFS coverage for every pod configuration.

Source 1 ↗

OpenShift pricing depends on the deployment

Red Hat offers managed and self-managed editions rather than one public per-agent rate. Obtain the applicable subscription or managed-service quote and include infrastructure, worker capacity, persistent storage and networking. Preview availability does not supply a production service entitlement or a universal runtime price.

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.

Red Hat OpenShift / Agent Sandbox

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

OpenShift subscription / managed service
Edition and deployment quote required
Managed and self-managed products have different commercial terms.
Rate source ↗
Worker and supporting infrastructure
Add compute, storage and network costs
Rate source ↗
Agent Sandbox 1.13 production SLA
Technology Preview has no production SLA
Do not price the preview as a generally supported production agent service.
Rate source ↗

There is no verified universal per-agent numeric quote in the cited pricing overview. Compare the selected edition, node utilization, storage, cloud charges and support scope; an existing cluster can change incremental cost.

Check current Red Hat OpenShift / Agent 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 Red Hat OpenShift / Agent Sandbox

  1. Identify ordinary pods, Harbor integration or Agent Sandbox 1.13 preview, plus runtime class, storage paths, supported nodes and SLA requirements.
  2. Export required files and rebuild compatible Linux tools, credentials and network policy; retain cluster-native services that the application needs.
  3. Validate state coverage, process restoration requirements, online growth, paused files and complete subscription plus infrastructure costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Red Hat OpenShift / Agent 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.redhat.com/en/documentation/openshift_sandboxed_containers/1.13/html/deploying_red_hat_build_of_agent_sandbox/pr01 ↗docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/openshift_sandboxed_containers/1.13/html/deploying_red_hat_build_of_agent_sandbox/discover-agent-sandbox_agent-sandbox ↗www.redhat.com/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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