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.

Configuration

Sandboxes at once

Runtime

Hours per month

160 h

CPU busy

Pricing

ResourcesPer sandbox

Start 7-day trial

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

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 40 vCPU at once (20 Small); Pro 5x and Pro 20x ($99 and $499) run up to 220 and 1,200 vCPU; Enterprise has no cap. Lizard Sandboxes bill per second, even idle; pausing stops compute fees; Persistent Volumes storage costs extra.
View pricing
Upstash$32.001.2×
Small $0.2/h × 10% = $0.02/h × 10 × 160 h = $32.00
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 pricing
Northflank$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 pricing
Cloudflare$109.444.2×
2 vCPU × $0.072 × 10% + 6 GiB × $0.009 = $0.0684/h × 10 × 160 h = $109.44
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 pricing
Fly.io$152.325.9×
2 vCPU × $0.0385 × 10% + 4 GiB × $0.0219 = $0.0952/h × 10 × 160 h = $152.32
Bills CPU time and memory actually used; each Sprite has 8 vCPUs. Offers a one-time $30 credit on pay as you go.
View pricing
Vercel$176.646.8×
2 vCPU × $0.128 × 10% + 4 GiB × $0.0212 = $0.1104/h × 10 × 160 h = $176.64
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 pricing
Beam$224.008.6×
2 vCPU × $0.05 + 4 GiB × $0.01 = $0.14/h × 10 × 160 h = $224.00
Bills vCPU and memory by the millisecond on the default Performance tier. Developer costs $20/month with $20 usage and 30 vCPU at once; Team costs $89/month plus usage, with 1,000 vCPU.
View pricing
CodeSandbox$240.009.3×
Nano $0.15/h × 10 × 160 h = $240.00
Sells VM credits at $0.015 each; 2 vCPU / 4 GiB uses 10 an hour. The free plan includes no credits, so the cheapest plan that runs VMs is Pro: $12/month with $15 of credits and 10 VMs at once. Scale costs $170/month with $24 of credits and 250 VMs.
View pricing
E2B$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 pricing
Daytona$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 pricing
Blaxel$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 pricing
Modal$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

Prices checked November 6, 2026 on each provider's own pricing page.

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 November 6, 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
BeamBeam Sandboxes	Allocated CPU and memory	$0.14/h	$0.28/h	$0.56/h
CodeSandboxCodeSandbox SDK	Fixed size, all running time	$0.15/h	$0.3/h	$0.6/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	—	—
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.

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 November 6, 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 November 6, 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 November 6, 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 November 6, 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.

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