Development environments / Replicas alternative

A Replicas.dev alternative for the agent machine layer

Replicas runs coding agents in cloud workspaces with repository integrations, a desktop, terminals, and collaboration. Its default sleep mode can retain desktop processes. Compare that managed coding workflow and its retention policy with the persistent Linux machine layer your own agent application needs.

Start buildingCompare capabilities ↓

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

When Replicas fits

Replicas fits teams wanting a hosted coding-agent product with queued and steerable work, repository changes, integrations, automations, desktop access, and mobile clients. Those product functions can matter more than a sandbox unit rate alone.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when you are building the surrounding agent experience and need a complete durable writable RootFS that expands online across tasks, plus supported file access during compute pauses. Supply collaboration, coding-agent orchestration, and repository workflows separately.

Capabilities

Replicas and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeReplicasSleep, archive and deletion have separate inactivity rules. Automatic archival after a week asleep can lead to deletion about 30 minutes later; viewing an archive does not reset its activity window.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 filesReplicasSleeping/archiving preserves workspace branch and repository changes; chat/Canvas retention is separately configured.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSReplicasVM and desktop continuity are documented, but complete writable RootFS coverage is not explicitly established in this review.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 stateReplicasDefault sleep pauses the environment and retains desktop processes; retention and wake admission still apply.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateReplicasDesktop processes explicitly survive sleep on the default pause mode; this is not a promise for every recovery path.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 workspace guides do not establish automatic online expansion of a durable complete RootFS. Compare the agent machine’s accumulated system tools and outputs separately from saved chats, repository files and managed workspace recovery.

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 →

Sleep retention is distinct from archive deletion

Workspaces sleep after 30 minutes without activity and archive after seven inactive days. Archived workspaces are deleted three days after archival, or sooner after seven days without activity; the guide says automatic archival after a week asleep leads to deletion about 30 minutes later. Waking, restoring or messaging resets activity, while viewing an archived workspace does not. Background integration events and API reads leave archives paused.

Source 1 ↗

Saved chat, repository files, and live desktop state are different

The retention switch governs chat and Canvas history, while repository changes are stored separately. The workspace guide explicitly says desktop processes survive sleep in the default pause mode. This is more than merely replaying a conversation, but the reviewed sources do not establish an unconditional complete-RootFS or automatic disk-growth contract.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Included usage and overage buy different minutes

Monthly plans include credit equal to their fee at the included rate. Beyond it, the workspace rate is 1.5 times higher. Each wake starts a session with a one-minute minimum. A spending limit can sleep running workspaces without deleting their state, while the separate inactivity/deletion policy still needs attention.

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.

Replicas

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-19

Developer
$50 per month with $50 included usage
Rate source ↗
Team
$200+ per month, in $100 steps, with equal included usage
Seats do not change the bill per current billing docs.
Rate source ↗
Small: 2 vCPU / 8 GB
$0.004/minute included; $0.006/minute overage
Rate source ↗
Large: 4 vCPU / 16 GB
$0.008/minute included; $0.012/minute overage
Rate source ↗
Ultra: 8 vCPU / 32 GB
$0.016/minute included; $0.024/minute overage
Rate source ↗
Session minimum
One minute, including each wake
Rate source ↗
Sleeping / archived workspace usage
No workspace usage charge
Rate source ↗

Monthly included usage is credit, not an additional free allowance on top of the fee. Preserve GB and minute units. Mobile devices and GPU sandboxes have separate at-cost billing, and model credentials/charges need their own accounting. Free trial credit is one-time; do not assume every retained workspace survives its inactivity-deletion policy indefinitely.

Check current Replicas 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 Replicas

  1. Export required repository changes, artifacts, chat/context, environment setup and any desktop state; record sleep, archive and deletion policies.
  2. Build compatible tools in a Sandbox0 template and implement required agents, repository integrations, collaboration, automations and user interfaces.
  3. Validate system-path retention, online growth, paused file access, required process restoration and the actual plan, workspace-size and model costs.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Replicas 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.replicas.dev/features/workspaces/overview ↗docs.replicas.dev/admin/data-retention ↗docs.replicas.dev/admin/billing ↗replicas.dev/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

Related comparisons

Agency Tool Company vs Sandbox0 →Amp Orbs vs Sandbox0 →Bitrise RDE vs Sandbox0 →boxes.dev vs Sandbox0 →Capy vs Sandbox0 →Claw 2 Agent vs Sandbox0 →