Agent sandboxes / PandaStack alternative

A PandaStack alternative for a durable, growing agent computer

PandaStack already offers Firecracker sandbox hibernation with memory and disk, snapshots and independent volumes. Its billing follows CPU actually used and resident memory rather than a fixed VM-hour. Compare those capabilities with Sandbox0’s regional object-backed writable RootFS and automatic online growth, rather than assuming PandaStack only retains a workspace directory.

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

When PandaStack fits

PandaStack fits teams that want a combined sandbox, template, agent and application platform, with usage-based CPU metering and memory-preserving hibernation. Its free tier and paid credit allowances can suit experiments; shared CPU burst capacity is not a guaranteed eight-core performance entitlement.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when the whole writable RootFS should remain durably recoverable on compatible compute nodes and expand online as installed tools and data accumulate. Check any Firecracker-specific kernel assumptions against gVisor before moving a workload.

Capabilities

PandaStack and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimePandaStackPaid plans advertise seven-day and 30-day maximum TTLs; persistent-mode TTL semantics differ in the lifecycle guide.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 filesPandaStackHibernation and snapshots retain sandbox disk; independent volumes have their own host-local lifecycle.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSPandaStackMemory/disk checkpoints retain the VM root filesystem, beyond just a selected workspace mount.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 statePandaStackSame-host pause and disk-backed hibernation are distinct supported paths.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process statePandaStackHibernation and named snapshots capture execution memory and disk; verify the particular fork mode separately.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.

PandaStack separates rootfs checkpoints from named ext4 volumes and publishes plan storage quotas. The reviewed guides do not establish automatic online expansion of the whole mounted RootFS. Independent volume capacity and lifecycle are separate from Sandbox0’s growth-enabled sparse RootFS device.

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.

PandaStack’s lifecycle guide counts filesystem requests as activity and wakes a hibernated persistent sandbox on the next API request. The reviewed filesystem guide does not establish a no-wake paused-file interface. Sandbox0 supports persistent file operations while guest compute remains paused, with mutations limited to filesystem-only pauses.

See paused file operations →

Pause and hibernate have different placement guarantees

PandaStack pause halts vCPUs while retaining RAM on the same host. Hibernate checkpoints memory and disk and releases host RAM; a persistent sandbox can hibernate after five idle minutes and wake on the next API request. Named snapshots also capture memory and disk.

Source 1 ↗

A persistent volume is not automatically regional object storage

The volume guide describes independent ext4 image files on an agent host. It warns that list/get/delete can reach a different host and miss an existing volume, and writable multi-attach is not enforced against corruption. The platform attaches a block device; the guest mounts it. Track ownership, mounting and recoverability explicitly rather than assuming a global shared-filesystem contract.

Source 1 ↗

Plan tables and lifecycle guides require reconciliation

The price page lists maximum TTLs of one hour, seven days and 30 days for Free, Pro and Team; the lifecycle guide says persistent:true ignores TTL. The price page includes hibernated state without an extra charge, while the lifecycle guide says its snapshot still costs storage. Confirm effective tenant policy and billing instead of silently choosing the more generous interpretation.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

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.

PandaStack

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Active CPU
$0.054 per vCPU-hour actually used
Per-second usage metering; advertised eight-vCPU burst is shared capacity.
Rate source ↗
Resident working-set RAM
$0.0162 per GiB-hour
Metered working-set memory up to committed memory.
Rate source ↗
Free
$0/month with $5.40 monthly credits
Up to five concurrent sandboxes and the advertised one-hour TTL.
Rate source ↗
Pro
$20/month including $20 usage credits
Up to 50 concurrent sandboxes; advertised seven-day TTL.
Rate source ↗
Team
$99/month including $99 usage credits
Up to 500 concurrent sandboxes; advertised 30-day TTL.
Rate source ↗
Volume storage beyond plan quota
$0.15 per provisioned GiB-month
Provisioned capacity, rather than only bytes an agent has filled.
Rate source ↗

The price page and lifecycle guide disagree about hibernated-state charges and persistent-mode TTL limits; obtain the effective policy before forecasting retained-user cost. Volume documentation also gives a 64 GiB technical limit while the plan page has smaller plan-specific quotas; confirm which constraint applies. Free and paid CPU sustain/burst policies differ.

Check current PandaStack 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 PandaStack

  1. Inventory pause versus hibernate state, snapshots, volume host placement and mounts, TTL policy, fork mode and credits; export and hash important data before deleting anything.
  2. Port system setup and compatible Linux tools, remount or copy independent volume data, and recreate secrets, networking and agent/application services as needed.
  3. Test actual working-set versus allocated-resource costs, memory requirements, online RootFS growth, cross-node recovery boundaries and paused file operations.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in PandaStack 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.pandastack.ai/docs/sandboxes/lifecycle/ ↗docs.pandastack.ai/docs/volumes/overview/ ↗www.pandastack.ai/pricing/ ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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