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Sandboxer vs RunsOn

RunsOn runs GitHub Actions jobs on ephemeral EC2 instances in your AWS account, with a flat annual license and AWS compute billed at cost. It is CI infrastructure, not an interactive sandbox. Pick it to cut GitHub Actions costs; pick Sandboxer for long-lived workspaces and agents.

Checked against RunsOn's public docs on October 24, 2026. Sources are linked in the table and listed below.

At a glance

Sandboxer and RunsOn compared
CapabilitySandboxerRunsOn
IsolationmicroVM
Cloud Hypervisor, its own kernel
full VM (one ephemeral EC2 instance per job)
One ephemeral EC2 instance per job; Flex is described as the most isolated mode.
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
Fork a sandbox
Copy-on-write disk copy that boots fresh
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
BillingPer second, flat rate per size
Stopped sandboxes are free
annual license + AWS compute at cost
Free for open-source and non-profit use; Starter EUR 300/yr, Growth EUR 900/yr, Scale EUR 1,800/yr (by job volume); AWS compute at spot prices with no per-minute markup; control plane about $7/month paid to AWS.
GPUs
T4 (g4dn) and A10 (g5) runners listed.
Self-host or open source
Runs inside your own AWS account via CloudFormation or Terraform.
RegionsUS East (Virginia) and EU Central (Finland)your AWS regions
Multiple stacks across regions are allowed under one license.

= not documented publicly.

Where RunsOn is strong

  • Runs in your own AWS account with no per-minute markup on compute.
  • Spot pricing examples far below GitHub-hosted runner rates.
  • GPU runners and fleet mode for platform teams.

Where Sandboxer differs

  • RunsOn is CI-only; Sandboxer sandboxes are persistent and interactive.
  • RunsOn needs your own AWS account; Sandboxer is hosted.
  • Sandboxer has no GitHub Actions runner role.

Pick RunsOn if

  • You run GitHub Actions and want cheaper or larger runners.
  • You need GPU CI runners in AWS.
  • You must keep CI in your own cloud account.

Pick Sandboxer if

  • You need a full Ubuntu 24.04 VM with root, systemd, Docker and nested KVM rather than a container or job runner.
  • You want stop to save memory and disk and resume to bring running processes back, with stopped sandboxes costing nothing.
  • You want coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and others) preinstalled and driven through a prompt API, with per-second billing.

Sources

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

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