Skip to content
sandboxer
Start free trial
Compare · CI and build services

Sandboxer vs Depot

Depot provides remote Docker builders and GitHub Actions runners on single-tenant, ephemeral AWS instances, billed by plan minutes plus per-minute overage. It also lists sandbox and agent products sharing the same minutes. Pick Depot to speed up container builds and Actions; pick Sandboxer for persistent Ubuntu VMs you drive through an API.

Checked against Depot's public docs on October 27, 2026. Sources are linked in the table and listed below.

At a glance

Sandboxer and Depot compared
CapabilitySandboxerDepot
IsolationmicroVM
Cloud Hypervisor, its own kernel
ephemeral single-tenant EC2 instance per job
Instances are never reused.
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
Not offered: CI machines are ephemeral and exist only for the length of a job.
Fork a sandbox
Copy-on-write disk copy that boots fresh
Not offered: CI machines are ephemeral and exist only for the length of a job.
HTTPS URL per port
Private with a token, or public
The runner docs don't describe inbound public endpoints.
Longest sessionNo limit on paid plans
Auto-stop is up to 30 days or off
BillingPer second, flat rate per size
Stopped sandboxes are free
included plan minutes, then per minute
2 vCPU Linux $0.006/min overage; sandbox compute $0.00005 per vCPU-second.
GPUspartial
GPU container builds on Business plan only.
Self-host or open sourcepartial
Business plan can deploy in your own AWS account; not open source.
RegionsUS East (Virginia) and EU Central (Finland)US and EU
Custom regions on Business.

= not documented publicly.

Where Depot is strong

  • Remote BuildKit container builders with persistent cache disks of 50 GB to 1 TB.
  • Runners from 2 to 64 vCPU, Intel or Arm, on single-tenant ephemeral instances.
  • US and EU regions on all plans.
  • Business plan adds static outbound IPs, AWS PrivateLink, audit logging and deployment in your own AWS account.

Where Sandboxer differs

  • Depot runners are ephemeral per job; Sandboxer sandboxes persist and can resume with processes running.
  • Depot bills against plan minutes with overage; Sandboxer bills per second against plan dollars returned as machine time.
  • Depot has two regions (US and EU); Sandboxer has one.

Pick Depot if

  • You want faster Docker image builds with a shared persistent layer cache.
  • You run GitHub Actions and need ARM, macOS or larger runners with US/EU regions.

Pick Sandboxer if

  • Need a long-lived machine you can stop, resume and reach over SSH or an HTTPS URL, not a machine that exists for one job.
  • Want coding agents preinstalled and a prompt API, MCP server, SDKs and CLI for driving them.
  • Need Docker, nested KVM and full root in a VM that can stop with memory saved and resume with processes running.

Sources

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

Other comparisons

Sandboxer vs E2B

Firecracker microVMs with memory-preserving pause and fork, and an open-source stack.

Compare
Sandboxer vs Daytona

Many sandbox classes, from containers to VMs, Windows and GPUs.

Compare
Sandboxer vs Modal

Massive scale and GPUs for short-lived sandboxes, gVisor by default.

Compare
Sandboxer vs Vercel Sandbox

Firecracker microVMs billed on active CPU, inside the Vercel platform.

Compare
All 169 comparisons