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Sandboxer vs Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun)

Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (part of the AgentRun / Function Compute family) runs code, browser, desktop and mobile sandboxes in per-sandbox VMs (VM-level isolation) and is compatible with the E2B SDK. It is a hyperscaler service with hibernation, checkpoints and a Kubernetes-based Container Edition, while Sandboxer is a single product that gives a full Ubuntu VM with Docker, root, SSH and per-port HTTPS URLs. Pick Alibaba if you are already on Alibaba Cloud or need Chinese-mainland or Hong Kong regions and E2B-style SDKs; pick Sandboxer for full-VM dev environments with built-in coding agents.

Checked against Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun)'s public docs on October 24, 2026. Sources are linked in the table and listed below.

At a glance

Sandboxer and Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun) compared
CapabilitySandboxerAlibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun)
IsolationmicroVM
Cloud Hypervisor, its own kernel
VM per sandbox
Overview: each sandbox runs in an independent VM with VM-level isolation.
Full Linux with root
Ubuntu 24.04, sudo, systemd
Docker inside
Preinstalled
Nested virtualization (/dev/kvm)
Pause and resume with memory
Running processes come back
partial
Hibernation and resume exist; billing page says snapshot storage is memory plus disk size, implying memory is saved, but pause on Flash Edition is documented as available only to allowlisted accounts.
Fork a sandbox
Copy-on-write disk copy that boots fresh
Checkpoints and batch cloning of many sandboxes from a single checkpoint.
HTTPS URL per port
Private with a token, or public
Longest sessionNo limit on paid plans
Auto-stop is up to 30 days or off
24 h per continuous active period (Flash Edition)
Timeout cannot exceed 86400 seconds.
BillingPer second, flat rate per size
Stopped sandboxes are free
per second, per vCPU and GiB
Hourly bill generation; hibernated instances cost less or only storage.
GPUs
GPU for sandboxes not stated; GPU mentioned only for model runtime in AgentRun.
Self-host or open source
Hosted service; Container Edition runs on Alibaba Cloud ACS Kubernetes, not self-hostable elsewhere. E2B SDK is open source but the service is not.
RegionsUS East (Virginia) and EU Central (Finland)Chinese mainland and China (Hong Kong) plus other regions outside China
Pricing groups only; exact region list not on the pages read.

= not documented publicly.

Price for one 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine

Sandboxer
$0.036/hour
Flat per-second rate for the default size
Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun)
$0.14/hour
Default QoS, outside Chinese mainland: 4 vCPU × $0.017856/h + 8 GiB × $0.008928/h (first 15 GiB rootfs free). Chinese mainland Default would be $0.0971/h.

List prices from each provider's pricing page, before free credits, plans and storage. This compares price only.

Where Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun) is strong

  • Each sandbox is VM-isolated and supports code, browser, desktop and mobile sandbox types.
  • Compatible with the E2B SDK, so E2B users can switch with little change.
  • Hibernation and checkpoint-based cloning, with hibernated instances billed at reduced or storage-only rates.
  • Backed by Alibaba Cloud infrastructure, with a Kubernetes-based Container Edition for platform teams.

Where Sandboxer differs

  • Sandboxer gives a full Ubuntu 24.04 VM with root, systemd, Docker and SSH; Alibaba's pages do not state root, Docker or SSH access.
  • Sandboxer exposes any port as an HTTPS URL; Alibaba's pages do not document per-port public URLs.
  • Flash Edition sandboxes are capped at 24 hours per continuous active period; Sandboxer paid plans can run with no limit.
  • Sandboxer has coding agents preinstalled and an MCP server; Alibaba is a general runtime accessed via E2B-style SDKs and OpenAPI.

Pick Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun) if

  • You already run on Alibaba Cloud or need Chinese-mainland or Hong Kong regions.
  • You want to reuse E2B SDK code against a hyperscaler-hosted service.
  • You want the Kubernetes-based Container Edition aimed at platform engineering teams.

Pick Sandboxer if

  • You want a full Ubuntu VM with root, Docker, nested KVM and SSH per sandbox.
  • You need long-running sandboxes beyond 24 hours on a paid plan.
  • You want public or token-private HTTPS URLs on any port and coding agents preinstalled.

Sources

Products change. If something here is out of date, email hello@sandboxer.com and we'll fix it. Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun) is a trademark of its owner. Sandboxer is an independent product and is not affiliated with Alibaba Cloud Agent Sandbox (AgentRun).

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