What the same fleet costs, and what it can do.
A fleet of agents, each on 2 vCPU and 4 GiB for 8 hours a day, at each provider's list price. Then what each one gives you, pillar by pillar.
Less than the dearest, a month$2,536
ProviderA month, to scale
- agental$0.027 an hour$319
- Vercel Sandbox$0.110 an hour, at 10% busy$1,325
- E2B$0.166 an hour$1,987
- Daytona$0.166 an hour$1,987
- Modal$0.238 an hour$2,855
Execution
Every provider runs a command. Here each agent also gets a machine of its own, a Chrome you can drive from your own computer, and a desktop.
Execution, every feature in fullhas it not in its own pages on 15 October 2026words where it is so in part
| What you get | agental | E2B | Daytona | Modal | Vercel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A virtual machine of its ownIts own kernel, not a container sharing the host's. | Yes | Yes | Containers by default1 | gVisor, or a VM if chosen | Yes |
| Root and Docker insideInstall anything, and run containers in the sandbox. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Docker on the VM runtime | Yes |
| Commands over HTTP, output streamedRun a command and read its output as it comes. | Yes | Yes | Yes | SDK only | Yes |
| Chrome inside, ready for the agentA browser in the image, nothing to install. | Yes | On a desktop sandbox | Yes | Install it yourself | Not found |
| Its browser driven from your computerYour own Playwright or Puppeteer connects to the sandbox's Chrome. | Yes | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| A desktop for computer useA screen to watch, and clicks, keys and screenshots for a model. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Build it yourself | Not found |
| Longest a sandbox runs at onceBefore it has to be started again. | No limit2 | 24 hours on Pro | No limit | 24 hours | 24 hours on Pro |
Persistence
A stopped sandbox is kept here until you delete it, with every file and package on its disk, for 5% of its running price.
Persistence, every feature in fullhas it not in its own pages on 15 October 2026words where it is so in part
| What you get | agental | E2B | Daytona | Modal | Vercel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop, then start the same sandboxThe same machine back, with its disk as it was. | Yes, memory too if asked3 | Yes, memory too | Yes | Only as a new one, from a snapshot | Yes |
| What a stopped sandbox costsWhile nothing runs on it. | 5% of its running price, 10% with its memory | Nothing | Its disk, past 5 GiB | Not stated | $0.08 per GB a month |
| How long a stopped one is keptBefore its disk is deleted. | Until you delete it4 | Until you delete it | Until you delete it | 30 days, or as set | 30 days, or as set |
| Snapshots to roll back and start fromThe disk as it was, to go back to or to copy. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fork a sandboxA second sandbox with the same disk. | Yes | Yes, memory too | Virtual machines only1 | From a snapshot | From its last save |
Connectivity
Ways in for people and events out, as elsewhere. Only here does a sandbox have an address for mail.
Connectivity, every feature in fullhas it not in its own pages on 15 October 2026words where it is so in part
| What you get | agental | E2B | Daytona | Modal | Vercel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A public HTTPS address for a portShow someone what the agent built. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SSH from any clientYour terminal, your editor, scp. | Yes | Build it yourself | Yes | A CLI shell | A CLI shell |
| An email address of its ownMail in to the sandbox, as it arrives. | Receives, and writes to you5 | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| Webhooks as sandboxes changeTold when one stops, starts or fails. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found |
Observability
What each sandbox costs and uses, read over the API, or sent to a collector of your own.
Observability, every feature in fullhas it not in its own pages on 15 October 2026words where it is so in part
| What you get | agental | E2B | Daytona | Modal | Vercel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The cost of each sandbox, over the APIRead by sandbox, by key, by day and by hour. | Yes | In the console | Yes | By app, on Team | Time used, after it stops |
| CPU, memory and disk, over the APIRead what a sandbox is using, while it runs. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dashboard, or export | CLI, with Observability Plus |
| Sent to your own OpenTelemetry collectorMetrics and events, where you keep the rest. | Yes | Enterprise only | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| Tags kept on a template for all its sandboxesFind a run's sandboxes; a template's reach every sandbox on it. | Yes | Metadata, per sandbox | Labels, per sandbox | Tags, per sandbox | Five tags per sandbox, in beta |
Security
Rules for what a sandbox may reach, a key for each agent that can do only its job, and a create that never makes a second machine when it is retried.
Security, every feature in fullhas it not in its own pages on 15 October 2026words where it is so in part
| What you get | agental | E2B | Daytona | Modal | Vercel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbound rules: nothing, everything, or a listHeld outside the machine, where root inside cannot change them. | Yes | Yes | From a $500 top-up | Yes | Yes |
| A key for each agentCut one agent off without the others. | Yes, with scopes and address limits | Per project | Yes, with scopes | Yes, by role | Yes, by project |
| A create that is safe to retryThe same request sent twice makes one sandbox. | Yes | Not found | Not found | By a unique name | By a unique name |
Every rate, as each provider lists it.
Read on 15 October 2026 from each provider's own pricing page, linked under its name.
| Provider | 1 vCPU · 2 GiB, an hour | 2 · 4 | 4 · 8 | 8 · 16 | How it is metered | What you buy first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| agental | $0.0135 | $0.0276 | $0.054 | $0.108 | By the second, while running. 5% of that while stopped. | Free: no monthly fee, pay as it runs, +$10 credit to start. Plans from $100 a month, all of it spent on what you use. |
| E2Be2b.dev/pricing | $0.083 | $0.1667 | $0.331 | Not sold | By the second, while running. | Hobby, free, 20 running; Pro, $150 a month and usage, 100 running. |
| Daytonadaytona.io/pricing | $0.083 | $0.1668 | $0.331 | Not sold | By the second, while started. A stopped disk past 5 GiB. | None. $200 of compute to start. |
| Modalmodal.com/pricing | $0.119 | $0.2389 | $0.476 | $0.952 | By the second, on what was asked for or used, whichever is more. | Starter, free with $30 a month; Team, $250 a month. |
| Vercel Sandboxvercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing | $0.055 | $0.11010 | $0.221 | $0.442 | CPU only while busy; memory for the whole run. | Hobby, free within quotas; Pro, $20 a month with $20 of use. |
How a bill is worked out: a month is 30 days, and every agent runs 8 hours a day on 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, at list price. Free credits and free tiers are left out.
- 1Daytona's sandboxes are containers unless made from a virtual-machine snapshot. Forks, pausing and memory snapshots are for those virtual machines only.
- 2A sandbox runs until it is stopped. A time limit, if you give it one, stops it by itself, and you or an agent in it can move that stop.
- 3A stop that keeps its memory brings back every process as it was, for 10% of its running price.
- 4After 6 hours stopped, a sandbox's disk moves to storage, unless it has snapshots, which keep it where it is. Starting it again then takes longer the more its disk holds: 34 to 38 seconds for a nearly empty one, about a minute and a half for one holding 2.8 GB.
- 5A sandbox receives mail from anyone, and writes to one address only: the one you sign in with.
- 6agental has no monthly fee to start: the free plan pays for what runs from top-ups. Plans from $100 a month include their price in usage and larger sizes.
- 7E2B lists custom CPU and memory under Pro, at $150 a month, which the bills leave out. It sells up to 8 GiB of memory.
- 8Daytona sells up to 4 vCPU and 8 GiB without a sales contract. A disk past 5 GiB is billed too, which adds under a tenth of a cent an hour here.
- 9Modal prices a physical core, which is 2 vCPU. Its sandbox rates are about three times its function rates, and choosing a region costs 1.15 to 1.75 times as much.
- 10Vercel bills a vCPU only while it is busy, and memory for the whole run. It is shown at 10% busy, in Washington DC; Frankfurt costs more. Pro sells up to 8 vCPU.
Work out your own bill.
Pick a size, a fleet and the hours it runs each day.