Agent sandboxes / PPIO Agent Sandbox alternative

A PPIO sandbox alternative for a growing agent environment

PPIO already preserves filesystem and memory through sandbox pause/resume. Its independent volume feature serves a different need: retaining selected data after the sandbox is destroyed. Compare those boundaries with root-disk capacity and the currency of the published bill.

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

When PPIO Agent Sandbox fits

PPIO fits teams using its China-market sandbox offering, SDKs, and region-specific services. Memory-preserving pause supports returning to an interpreter or background process; independent volumes are available as a v2-region private-beta feature.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when an agent’s installed tools and accumulated data should live on one durable RootFS that grows online. Supported paused Files API operations can inspect persistent state without waking compute, with edits available during filesystem-only pauses.

Capabilities

PPIO Agent Sandbox and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimePPIO 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 filesPPIO Agent SandboxFiles persist through pause; deletion and independent-volume retention differ.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSPPIO Agent SandboxPause restores the same filesystem and memory state.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 statePPIO Agent SandboxManual and automatic pause/resume are documented.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process statePPIO Agent SandboxRunning processes and variables are retained; connections can be interrupted.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 PPIO rate card includes 20 GB local runtime storage. Its independent volume quotas can change, but that is different from automatic expansion of the entire mounted writable RootFS.

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.

PPIO’s persistence guide includes automatic resume on renewed activity and file access. Test whether a read wakes compute for the configured lifecycle; Sandbox0’s supported paused Files API path explicitly leaves compute paused.

See paused file operations →

Pause preserves state; kill ends the sandbox filesystem

PPIO documents preserving files, processes, and variables on pause, with interrupted network connections. Killing the sandbox releases its filesystem. Independent volumes outlive that lifecycle and can mount into another sandbox; a prepared environment snapshot is another distinct artifact.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

A resizable volume quota is not root-disk autoscaling

PPIO volumes support capacity and inode quotas and can be mounted dynamically in supported v2 regions. The running sandbox has a documented 20 GB local storage allocation. Keep those separate when evaluating where system packages and growing outputs will live.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Keep the published currency and resource units

PPIO’s Chinese pricing is denominated in yuan, with CPU and RAM metered by the second. Its persistent-storage allowance and overage use GB, while RAM uses GiB. Sandbox0’s dollar-denominated price should be compared after choosing an explicit currency conversion date, not by relabeling the numbers.

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.

PPIO Agent Sandbox

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

CPU
CNY 0.00003 per vCPU-second
Rate source ↗
Allocated RAM
CNY 0.000015 per GiB-second
Rate source ↗
Persistent storage above allowance
CNY 0.0005 per GB-hour
The account allowance is 60 GB; running sandboxes include 20 GB of local storage.
Rate source ↗

Prices remain in the vendor’s published yuan currency; no implicit USD conversion is applied. CPU and RAM stop billing when the sandbox stops. Confirm independent-volume beta pricing, region availability, quotas, and retained snapshot/template usage separately.

Check current PPIO 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 PPIO Agent Sandbox

  1. Record region, snapshots, independent volumes, memory state, and automatic-resume policy before killing a PPIO sandbox.
  2. Export the required files and recreate templates, egress rules, credentials, and startup behavior.
  3. Validate file growth, pause/resume and connection recovery, and estimate the full bill with explicit currency, memory-unit, and storage-retention assumptions.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in PPIO Agent Sandbox 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 ↗ppio.com/docs/sandbox/sandbox-auto-persistence.md ↗ppio.com/docs/sandbox/volume-overview.md ↗ppio.com/docs/sandbox/pricing.md ↗/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

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