AI sandbox pricing per hour
At 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, Lizard Sandboxes cost $0.0162 an hour. E2B costs $0.1656, Daytona $0.1656 and Modal $0.238. Set your workload to compare 12 providers at list prices.
Prices checked October 21, 2026 on each provider's own pricing page.
Configuration
Card required. The trial includes $5 of usage. Then Lizard Pro is $19/month with $19 of usage included.
Estimated monthly cost
$25.92/ month
10 sandboxes × 160 hours × $0.0162/hour
Compare different providers
Lizard$25.92
Small $0.0162/h × 10 × 160 h = $25.92
Pro costs $19/month with $19 usage, then pay as you go, and runs up to 100 at once; Enterprise has no cap. Lizard Sandboxes bill per second, even idle; pausing stops compute fees; Persistent Volumes storage costs extra.
View pricingUpstash$80.003.1×
Small $0.2/h × 25% = $0.05/h × 10 × 160 h = $80.00
Small bills per active CPU hour per core, with storage at $0.10 per GB-month; a fixed keep-alive Small box costs $8/month. Medium and Large prices are unclear, so they are not shown.
View pricingNorthflank$106.664.1×
2 vCPU × $0.0167 + 4 GiB × $0.0083 = $0.0667/h × 10 × 160 h = $106.66
Runs sandboxes as services or jobs; 2 vCPU / 4 GB costs $0.0667/hour. The default limit is 8 vCPU / 16 GiB per instance; you can request larger sizes than Lizard offers.
View pricingCloudflare$144.005.6×
2 vCPU × $0.072 × 25% + 6 GiB × $0.009 = $0.09/h × 10 × 160 h = $144.00
Billed as 2 vCPU / 6 GiB
Needs Workers Paid at $5/month with some usage included; disk costs extra. The 2 vCPU / 4 GiB choice bills as 2 vCPU / 6 GiB; the largest default size is 4 vCPU / 12 GiB.
View pricingFly.io$170.806.6×
2 vCPU × $0.0385 × 25% + 4 GiB × $0.0219 = $0.1067/h × 10 × 160 h = $170.80
Bills CPU time and memory actually used; each Sprite has 8 vCPUs. Offers a one-time $30 credit on pay as you go.
View pricingVercel$238.089.2×
2 vCPU × $0.128 × 25% + 4 GiB × $0.0212 = $0.1488/h × 10 × 160 h = $238.08
Active CPU and allocated memory rates use iad1; other regions cost up to about 1.73 times more. Hobby limits sessions to 45 minutes and 10 at once; Pro costs $20/month with $20 usage and 24-hour sessions.
View pricingCodeSandbox$238.089.2×
2 vCPU × $0.0446 + 4 GiB × $0.0149 = $0.1488/h × 10 × 160 h = $238.08
Together Code Sandbox bills CPU and memory per minute. The newer together-sandbox SDK needs access enabled for each organization and publishes no plan fees.
View pricingE2B$264.9610×
2 vCPU × $0.0504 + 4 GiB × $0.0162 = $0.1656/h × 10 × 160 h = $264.96
Hobby has a one-time $100 credit, 1-hour sessions and 20 sandboxes at once. Pro costs $150/month plus usage, with 24-hour sessions and 100 at once; 8 vCPU / 16 GiB is not self-serve.
View pricingDaytona$264.9610×
2 vCPU × $0.0504 + 4 GiB × $0.0162 = $0.1656/h × 10 × 160 h = $264.96
Bills while starting, running, stopping and pausing; storage beyond 5 GiB costs extra. Sizes stop at 4 vCPU / 8 GiB; tier 1 has a 10 vCPU pool; $200 one-time free compute is available.
View pricingBlaxel$264.9610×
4 GiB × $0.0414 = $0.1656/h × 10 × 160 h = $264.96
Bills allocated memory while active; CPU comes with memory. Standby costs $0.20 per GB-month for snapshot storage; tier 0 allows 10 sandboxes at once.
View pricingBeam$363.4614×
1 core × $0.135 + 4 GiB × $0.023 = $0.2272/h × 10 × 160 h = $363.46
One physical core equals 2 vCPU. Developer costs $20/month with $20 usage and 30 CPU containers; Team costs $89/month with 1,000 containers.
View pricingModal$380.7415×
1 core × $0.1419 + 4 GiB × $0.024 = $0.238/h × 10 × 160 h = $380.74
One physical core equals 2 vCPU; bills the larger of requested and actual use. Starter includes $30/month of usage, 100 containers and 24-hour sessions; Team costs $250/month with $100 included.
View pricing
Hourly sandbox rates by provider
CPU and memory list rates for 12 providers at the sizes shown, before plan fees, free tiers and storage; active CPU rates assume 100% CPU use. Prices checked October 21, 2026.
| Provider | CPU billing | 2 vCPU / 4 GiB | 4 vCPU / 8 GiB | 8 vCPU / 16 GiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LizardLizard Sandboxes | Fixed size, all running time | $0.0162/h | $0.0324/h | $0.0648/h |
| NorthflankNorthflank compute | Allocated CPU and memory | $0.0667/h | $0.1333/h | $0.2666/h |
| CodeSandboxTogether Code Sandbox | Allocated CPU and memory | $0.1488/h | $0.2976/h | $0.5952/h |
| Fly.ioFly.io Sprites | CPU and memory actually used | $0.1645/h | $0.329/h | $0.658/h |
| E2BE2B Sandbox | Allocated CPU and memory | $0.1656/h | $0.3312/h | Size not offered |
| DaytonaDaytona Sandboxes | Allocated CPU and memory | $0.1656/h | $0.3312/h | Size not offered |
| BlaxelBlaxel Sandboxes | Allocated memory; CPU included | $0.1656/h | $0.3312/h | $0.6624/h |
| CloudflareCloudflare Sandbox SDK and Containers | Active CPU, allocated memory | $0.198/h | $0.396/h | Size not offered |
| UpstashUpstash Box | Fixed size, active CPU hours | $0.2/h | — | — |
| BeamBeam Sandboxes | Physical cores and memory | $0.2272/h | $0.4543/h | $0.9086/h |
| ModalModal Sandboxes | Physical cores and memory | $0.238/h | $0.4759/h | $0.9518/h |
| VercelVercel Sandbox | Active CPU, allocated memory | $0.3408/h | $0.6816/h | $1.3632/h |
How we calculate
Same size on every provider
Each estimate uses 2, 4 or 8 vCPU with 2 GiB of memory per vCPU. When a provider rounds a size up, such as Cloudflare's 2 vCPU / 6 GiB minimum, we price the size it bills.
Each provider's billing model
Allocated CPU and memory bill for idle time too. The CPU busy setting applies only where active CPU is billed. One physical core counts as 2 vCPU on Modal and Beam.
Plan fees are optional
With plan fees on, we pick the cheapest published plan that allows the workload, add its fee and subtract the usage it includes.
Not in the estimate
Storage, network, creation fees, GPUs and prices that providers do not publish. Lizard includes disk and 2 TB of egress per account per rolling 30 days.
Sandbox pricing questions
Which sandbox is cheapest for AI agents?
Lizard has the lowest CPU and memory list rate here at 2 vCPU / 4 GiB and 100% CPU: $0.0162/hour, checked October 21, 2026. The next cheapest is Northflank at $0.0667/hour; plan fees and very low CPU use can change the result.
How does Lizard's price compare with E2B?
E2B costs 10 times as much as Lizard for CPU and memory at 2 vCPU / 4 GiB: $0.1656/hour versus $0.0162/hour, checked October 21, 2026. These list rates exclude plan fees and included usage; both bill idle running time.
Why can active CPU pricing look cheaper?
Active CPU billing cuts CPU charges while an agent waits; Vercel still bills allocated memory. At 2 vCPU / 4 GiB and 10% CPU, Vercel costs $0.1104/hour before plan fees, checked October 21, 2026. At very low CPU use, Upstash Box can cost less than Lizard for compute.
Can plan fees change which provider costs least?
Yes; plan fees, free tiers and included usage can change the result. Lizard Pro costs $19/month with $19 of usage included, then pay as you go; E2B Pro costs $150/month plus usage. Turn on plans to compare the cheapest published plans that allow your workload.
Which providers offer GPU sandboxes?
Daytona, Modal, Northflank and Beam offer GPUs; Lizard does not. This calculator compares CPU and memory costs and leaves out GPU charges.
How often do you check sandbox prices?
The latest price check was October 21, 2026, using each provider's own pricing page and docs. No fixed check schedule is stated; use the source links to check current rates.
Is there a trial for Lizard Sandboxes?
Yes. Lizard Pro starts with a 7-day trial. A card is required, the trial includes $5 of usage, and nothing is charged until it ends. Then Lizard Pro is $19/month with $19 of usage included, and usage above that is pay as you go.
More on sandbox costs
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