Compare · agental and E2B
agental or E2B? Here is when to pick each.
Both give an agent a virtual machine of its own. They differ in what a stop keeps, how long a run may last, and what it costs.
Pick E2B for short runs, a pause that costs nothing, or code you must host yourself. Pick agental for long runs and a much smaller bill, and for an agent that needs SSH, mail or a browser you drive.
Pick E2B if…
- ✓You can run it yourselfE2B's core is open source (Apache-2.0) and installs on your own servers. agental is hosted only.
- ✓Three regions to choose fromE2B runs in the US, the EU and Asia-Pacific, and in your own cloud account on Enterprise. We run in one region today.
- ✓A stopped sandbox costs nothingE2B does not charge for storage, memory kept or not. We charge 5% of the running price while one is stopped, and 10% while it keeps its memory.
- ✓Free to startHobby is free, with a one-time $100 credit. Ours is free to start too, with $10 of credit once you save a card.
Pick agental if…
- ✓About a sixth of the priceThe same 2 vCPU and 4 GiB costs $0.027 an hour here and $0.1656 at E2B.
- ✓No limit on how long it runsE2B stops a run after 1 hour on Hobby and 24 hours on Pro. Here it runs until you stop it.
- ✓Long runs without a $150 planRuns over an hour need E2B Pro, at $150 a month before usage. Here the free plan runs as long as you like, paid as it runs.
- ✓SSH, from any terminal or editorConnect the way you connect to any server. E2B leaves SSH to you to build.
- ✓Its own email addressEach sandbox receives mail. E2B, Daytona, Modal and Vercel don't offer it.
- ✓Your Playwright drives its ChromeConnect your own browser automation to the Chrome inside the sandbox, from your computer.
By what you are building.
Kinds of agent, and which of the two we would choose for each, E2B included.
The same month at each.
Five coding agents on 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, 8 hours a working day, their disks kept in between.
agental: Free, no fee; $27.50 of top-ups that add $27.50; 880 h at $0.027, 2,770 h stopped at $0.00135. E2B: Pro, $150 a month, needed for runs over an hour; $0.1656 an hour.
Side by side.
Every difference we know of, including the ones we lose.
| What | agental | E2B | Better at it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price of 2 vCPU · 4 GiB, an hourEach one's list price. | $0.027 | $0.1656 | agental |
| A month of five coding agents8 hours a working day, plan fees in. | $27.50 | $295.73 | agental |
| Longest a sandbox runsBefore it has to start again. | No limit | 1 h on Hobby · 24 h on Pro | agental |
| A virtual machine of its ownIts own kernel, not a shared one. | ✓ | ✓ Firecracker | Even |
| Stopped and started againWhat comes back. | Its disk, and its memory if asked | Its disk and memory | Even |
| What a stopped sandbox costsWhile nothing runs. | 5% of its price, 10% with its memory | Nothing | E2B |
| Fork a sandboxA copy with the same disk. | ✓ | ✓ up to 100, memory too | E2B |
| SSH from any clientYour terminal, your editor, scp. | ✓ | Build it yourself | agental |
| An email address of its ownMail in to the sandbox. | ✓ | — | agental |
| Its Chrome driven from your computerYour own Playwright connects. | ✓ | — | agental |
| A desktop for computer useA screen, clicks and keys. | ✓ | ✓ | Even |
| Metrics to your own collectorOpenTelemetry, where you keep the rest. | Every plan | Enterprise only | agental |
| A create that is safe to retrySent twice, makes one sandbox. | ✓ | — | agental |
| Run it on your own serversSelf-hosted. | Enterprise, on request | Open source | E2B |
| RegionsWhere sandboxes run. | One | US, EU, Asia-Pacific | E2B |
| SDKsOfficial libraries. | Python, TypeScript, CLI | Python, JavaScript, CLI | Even |
E2B read from e2b.dev, e2b.dev/pricing and docs.e2b.dev on 27 October 2026. Tell us if something changed: [email protected].
The same calls, by their names here.
What you use at E2B today, and what it is called in agental's TypeScript SDK. The Python SDK has the same names.
| At E2B | becomes | At agental |
|---|---|---|
Sandbox.create() | agental.sandboxes.create()Answers when the machine is running. | |
sandbox.commands.run(cmd) | sandbox.exec(cmd)A command that fails is an answer: read its exit code. | |
sandbox.files.read() / write() | sandbox.files.read() / write()The same names. Or copy files with scp over SSH. | |
sandbox.pause() / connect() | sandbox.stop({ keepMemory: true }) / start()The disk and the memory are kept: programs carry on. | |
sandbox.getHost(port) | sandbox.expose(port)An HTTPS address for a port, to show someone what the agent built. | |
Template.build(template, name) | agental.templates.create(name)The files, secrets and outbound rule a sandbox starts with. | |
a desktop template | sandbox.desktop.on()In every sandbox, with clicks, keys and screenshots. |
What we don't do yet.
If one of these decides it for you, E2B is the better choice today.
- —A fork with its memoryA fork copies the disk: programs start again in it.
- —Running it on your own serversEnterprise, on request; not yet a package you install.
- —A second regionNot yet. We will say so here when there is one.
- —GPUsNot offered. Neither does E2B.
Questions people ask.
Is agental a drop-in replacement for E2B?
No. The idea is the same (make a sandbox, run commands, read and write files), but the SDK is different, so the calls are rewritten. Most of them map one to one: the table above shows how.
Why is agental so much cheaper?
We run on dedicated servers we rent by the month, not on a cloud's machines rented by the hour.
Does a stopped agental sandbox keep its memory?
When you ask: `sandbox.stop({ keepMemory: true })` keeps its memory as well as its disk, and start puts back every process as it was, in seconds. Writing the memory takes up to about 2 minutes for a large sandbox that is full. Stopped so, it costs 10% of its running price. E2B's pause costs nothing. The memory is not kept across an upgrade of the server it is on: the sandbox then starts from its disk.
How long can an agental sandbox run?
Until you stop it. You can give it a time limit, and you or the agent in it can move that limit as often as the work needs.
Can I run agental on my own servers?
Not as a package you install. Enterprise customers can talk to us about running it on theirs. E2B's core is open source and installs on your servers today.
Where do E2B's numbers come from?
From e2b.dev, its pricing page and its docs, read on 27 October 2026. If something there has changed, tell us at [email protected] and we will fix this page.