Sandbox benchFull results

E2B alternatives, measured

Looking for an alternative to E2B? We timed E2B and 8 other cloud sandbox products through one SDK, on two tracks: the same 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine for every provider, and each provider's default machine. Below, each alternative is set against E2B test by test: how many tests it is ahead on, behind on or tied, its cold start and tool replay next to E2B's, its cost per task and whether it can pause. Two medians inside each other's 95% intervals count as a tie, not a win.

Sandbox bench runs on Sandbox SDK, which the same team (opencoredev) builds. We may work with some of these providers. No provider paid for these results or decided how they were tested.

E2B alternatives on the same 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine

Every provider asked for Boat's machine, 4 vCPU and 8 GB, or its nearest size. Runs from 2026-10-22 to 2026-10-23, 9 providers. Of the 8 alternatives, 3 start faster than E2B and 5 slower, none tied within the 95% intervals. Ranks are out of every provider on this track; see them all on the full results.

E2B on this track, for reference

Cold start, median
0.79 s 4th of 9
Tool replay, median
15 s 3rd of 9
Cost per 1,000 tasks
$1.56 (metered)
Pause and resume
pause 1.29 s, resume 0.51 s (median of 100)

A task is: create a sandbox, run the 100-call tool replay, delete it. Cost per task comes from a separate cost run, billed per sandbox. Cost kinds differ between providers (billed, metered, estimate) and aren't directly comparable.

Freestyle

Ahead of E2B on 9 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 13, tied on 2.

Cold start, median
0.69 s 3rd of 9ahead of E2B
Tool replay, median
24 s 6th of 9behind E2B
Cost per 1,000 tasks
$1.97 (estimate)
Pause and resume
pause 0.32 s, resume 0.35 s (median of 100)

Tenki

Ahead of E2B on 7 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 16, tied on 1.

Cold start, median
1.1 s 5th of 9behind E2B
Tool replay, median
21 s 4th of 9behind E2B
Cost per 1,000 tasks
$1.79 (estimate)
Pause and resume
pause 60.53 s, resume 2.45 s (median of 77)

boxd

Ahead of E2B on 8 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 16, tied on 0. Machine differs: it measured something other than the requested size inside.

Cold start, median
1.2 s 7th of 9behind E2B
Tool replay, median
34 s 8th of 9behind E2B
Cost per 1,000 tasks
$2.00 (metered)
Pause and resume
pause 0.12 s, resume 0.40 s (median of 99)

    Superserve

    Ahead of E2B on 19 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 5, tied on 0.

    Cold start, median
    0.52 s 1st of 9ahead of E2B
    Tool replay, median
    13 s 2nd of 9ahead of E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $1.32 (billed)
    Pause and resume
    pause 0.39 s, resume 0.53 s (median of 100)

    Upstash Box

    Ahead of E2B on 9 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 14, tied on 1.

    Cold start, median
    2.7 s 9th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    27 s 7th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $0.34 (billed)
    Pause and resume
    pause 0.84 s, resume 0.57 s (median of 99)

    Daytona

    Ahead of E2B on 13 of the 23 tests both finished, behind on 9, tied on 1.

    Cold start, median
    1.3 s 8th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    12 s 1st of 9ahead of E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $1.36 (billed)
    Pause and resume
    Daytona's container sandboxes have no pause: stop and start restarts the sandbox and ends every running process.

    Upstash Ephemeral Box

    Ahead of E2B on 10 of the 23 tests both finished, behind on 11, tied on 2.

    Cold start, median
    0.68 s 2nd of 9ahead of E2B
    Tool replay, median
    22 s 5th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $0.26 (billed)
    Pause and resume
    not supported

    Boat

    Ahead of E2B on 7 of the 21 tests both finished, behind on 14, tied on 0.

    Cold start, median
    1.1 s 6th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    43 s 9th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $0.52 (estimate)
    Pause and resume
    Boat has no pause: stop and start restarts the machine and ends every running process.

    E2B alternatives on each one's default machine

    Each provider's default sandbox, so machine sizes differ. Runs from 2026-10-22 to 2026-10-23, 9 providers. Of the 8 alternatives, 0 start faster than E2B and 8 slower, none tied within the 95% intervals. Ranks are out of every provider on this track; see them all on the full results.

    E2B on this track, for reference

    Cold start, median
    0.50 s 1st of 9
    Tool replay, median
    16 s 3rd of 9
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $0.49 (metered)
    Pause and resume
    pause 0.26 s, resume 0.45 s (median of 100)

    A task is: create a sandbox, run the 100-call tool replay, delete it. Cost per task comes from a separate cost run, billed per sandbox. Cost kinds differ between providers (billed, metered, estimate) and aren't directly comparable.

    Freestyle

    Ahead of E2B on 7 of the 25 tests both finished, behind on 16, tied on 2.

    Cold start, median
    0.72 s 4th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    26 s 6th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $1.78 (estimate)
    Pause and resume
    pause 0.27 s, resume 0.32 s (median of 100)

    Tenki

    Ahead of E2B on 8 of the 25 tests both finished, behind on 15, tied on 2.

    Cold start, median
    0.86 s 5th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    18 s 4th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $0.86 (estimate)
    Pause and resume
    pause 55.56 s, resume 2.29 s (median of 100)

    boxd

    Ahead of E2B on 8 of the 25 tests both finished, behind on 17, tied on 0.

    Cold start, median
    1.1 s 6th of 9behind E2B
    Tool replay, median
    33 s 8th of 9behind E2B
    Cost per 1,000 tasks
    $1.03 (metered)
    Pause and resume
    pause 0.13 s, resume 0.41 s (median of 100)

      Superserve

      Ahead of E2B on 15 of the 25 tests both finished, behind on 9, tied on 1.

      Cold start, median
      0.53 s 2nd of 9behind E2B
      Tool replay, median
      13 s 1st of 9ahead of E2B
      Cost per 1,000 tasks
      $0.27 (billed)
      Pause and resume
      pause 0.36 s, resume 0.54 s (median of 100)

      Upstash Box

      Ahead of E2B on 9 of the 25 tests both finished, behind on 16, tied on 0.

      Cold start, median
      2.6 s 9th of 9behind E2B
      Tool replay, median
      27 s 7th of 9behind E2B
      Cost per 1,000 tasks
      $0.17 (billed)
      Pause and resume
      pause 0.73 s, resume 0.59 s (median of 100)

      Daytona

      Ahead of E2B on 11 of the 23 tests both finished, behind on 10, tied on 2.

      Cold start, median
      1.5 s 8th of 9behind E2B
      Tool replay, median
      15 s 2nd of 9ahead of E2B
      Cost per 1,000 tasks
      $0.64 (billed)
      Pause and resume
      Daytona's container sandboxes have no pause: stop and start restarts the sandbox and ends every running process.

      Upstash Ephemeral Box

      Ahead of E2B on 10 of the 24 tests both finished, behind on 13, tied on 1.

      Cold start, median
      0.68 s 3rd of 9behind E2B
      Tool replay, median
      23 s 5th of 9behind E2B
      Cost per 1,000 tasks
      $0.13 (billed)
      Pause and resume
      not supported

      Boat

      Ahead of E2B on 7 of the 22 tests both finished, behind on 15, tied on 0.

      Cold start, median
      1.2 s 7th of 9behind E2B
      Tool replay, median
      43 s 9th of 9behind E2B
      Cost per 1,000 tasks
      $0.49 (estimate)
      Pause and resume
      Boat has no pause: stop and start restarts the machine and ends every running process.

      Quick picks, E2B included

      The results page's own picks on the same 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine, by need. They follow the medians, so a close runner-up can be a tie.

      NeedPickRunner-up
      Fastest cold startSuperserve 0.52 sUpstash Ephemeral Box 0.68 s
      Fastest agent work (tool replay)Daytona 12 sSuperserve 13 s
      Fastest 25-sandbox fan-outSuperserve 0.79 sE2B 1.1 s
      Fastest reconnectDaytona 0.30 sSuperserve 0.33 s
      Cheapest taskUpstash Ephemeral Box $0.00026 per task, $0.26 per 1,000 (billed)Upstash Box $0.00034 per task, $0.34 per 1,000 (billed)
      Most reliableE2B, Tenki, Superserve, Upstash Box, Daytona, Upstash Ephemeral Box, Boat 100.00% (tied)Freestyle 99.91%

      Providers we haven't tested

      Sandbox providers we haven't run through the bench yet include Modal, Vercel Sandbox, Cloudflare Sandbox, Runloop, Northflank, Blaxel, Fly Sprites, CodeSandbox and Morph, so this page has no numbers for them.

      How to read these numbers

      • Every call starts from one server in Florida, US. Providers hosted farther away pay that round trip on every call; Boat (France) and boxd (Germany) pay a transatlantic one.
      • There are two tracks. Same machine: 4 vCPU, 8 GB: Every provider asked for Boat's machine, 4 vCPU and 8 GB, or its nearest size. A provider marked “machine differs” measured something else inside. Default machines: Each provider's default sandbox, so machine sizes differ.
      • Cost per task has a kind. Billed comes from the provider's bill, metered from its usage records at published rates, and estimate from our measured time at list price. Kinds are not directly comparable. Prices cover compute only at list rates: disk, transfer, subscriptions and credits are excluded.
      • Pause and resume times come from the previous SDK run, because the newest runs skipped them. A burst size is published only when all three bursts finished.
      • Failures caused by our own code are set aside, not counted. Every provider-side failure is kept.
      • Ranks compare medians. Medians inside each other's 95% intervals count as tied, so a close rank can be noise.

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