Browser platforms / Tilion alternative

Tilion Fortress alternative

Tilion’s current product is Fortress, a browser engine you run on infrastructure you supply. Its public pricing page separates developer use from a monthly enterprise production key. That software/license purchase is different from a managed Linux computer or hosted browser-hour allocation.

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

When Tilion fits

Fortress fits teams that need to operate a Chromium-based engine with CDP, browser tooling or MCP integration. You own the host, proxies and fleet operations, and must check the current release’s production-use eligibility.

When to consider Sandbox0

Consider Sandbox0 when that browser or another agent tool needs a compatible persistent Linux environment, retained system packages and growing RootFS. Verify the engine’s display, media and runtime requirements on gVisor; Sandbox0 does not replace its browser implementation, license or proxy arrangements.

Capabilities

Tilion and Sandbox0: what persists?

Feature comparison with documentation and verification status
Environment and runtime lifetimeTilionNot 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 filesTilionThe browser runs on infrastructure you supply; no hosted general-purpose durable disk is established.View evidence ↗Sandbox0The writable RootFS survives successful checkpoints, including software, system configuration, dependencies, and user data.Read documentation →
Whole RootFSTilionA Chromium engine and profile tooling do not provide a whole Linux RootFS lifecycle.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 stateTilionBrowser activation/profile reuse does not establish arbitrary-machine checkpoint/restore.View evidence ↗Sandbox0Pause compute between tasks; resume on available capacity. Default resume starts fresh processes from the saved filesystem.Read documentation →
Memory and process stateTilionArbitrary Linux process-memory capture and restore are not established.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.

Fortress is an engine operated on your chosen host. Its license tier, activation and per-launch browser identity do not establish automatic disk growth or whole-RootFS persistence. Sandbox0 can retain a compatible browser installation and the agent’s growing system/files under its separate runtime policy.

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.

Fortress browser/profile tools do not themselves expose a paused Linux Files API. That capability depends on the execution/storage platform; Sandbox0’s supported paused-file operations address its own persistent RootFS.

See paused file operations →

Current licensing differs from earlier BSD releases

The README now names Fortress Source Available License 1.1, while the older site index still describes a BSD-3 engine. Development, testing and evaluation remain free at any organization size; production eligibility depends on the current license’s organization criteria. Earlier BSD releases retain their own permissions. Check the release and license you actually deploy.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

A browser engine still needs infrastructure

The enterprise price card says self-hosted on your infrastructure and includes a signed production key and support. It is not a managed browser fleet or a Linux CPU/RAM allocation. The repository documents activation and a first-generation fallback without it; evaluate the actual activated engine rather than assuming every downloaded build has identical behavior.

Source 1 ↗Source 2 ↗

Browser identity and machine persistence are different state

The repository describes a fresh browser identity on each launch and exposes browser/profile tooling. That does not establish automatic RootFS growth, a hosted durable disk or arbitrary process-memory restore. If the surrounding agent installs tools or grows datasets, the execution host must preserve them separately.

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.

Tilion

Pricing reviewed 2026-10-18

Developer software offer
Free, subject to current license eligibility
No hosted compute is included; production eligibility is defined in the current repository license.
Rate source ↗
Enterprise production key
$2,000/month, billed monthly
Self-operated infrastructure; signed production key and 24-hour Slack support listed.
Rate source ↗
Custom setup
Quote-based
White-glove setup/custom pricing is advertised; hardware, proxies and operations remain separate.
Rate source ↗

The current README describes free production for individuals and qualifying smaller organizations; larger organizations require the subscription under the license criteria. The public source-available license is not the same as the earlier BSD permission. This is a software/support price, not a browser-hour or durable Linux-compute quote, and vendor site-access benchmarks do not guarantee results on your workload.

Check current Tilion 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 Tilion

  1. Record engine version, current production-license eligibility, activation, proxy/display/media requirements and browser-state exports.
  2. Build a compatible Sandbox0 template or keep the engine on suitable separate infrastructure, preserving required agent code and configuration explicitly.
  3. Validate actual site/tool behavior, fresh browser identity effects, retained system packages, RootFS growth, paused files and total license plus infrastructure cost.

Common questions

Is Sandbox0 a drop-in Tilion 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 ↗github.com/tiliondev/fortress ↗github.com/tiliondev/fortress/blob/main/LICENSE ↗fortress.tilion.com/pricing ↗Sandbox0 RootFS capacity →

Related comparisons

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