Best E2B alternatives in 2026, ranked

Short answer: If you're leaving E2B for longer sessions or a fuller machine, we rank Sandboxer first, then Freestyle: both give each sandbox a full Linux VM that keeps memory across pauses, with Docker and no short session cap. Pick Daytona for Windows or GPUs, Northflank for bring-your-own-cloud, and stay on E2B if you need open source.

Published by Sandboxer, and we're on this list. We ranked by the criteria below and say where others, including E2B, are the better choice. Every fact about another platform comes from its own docs or pricing page, checked on the date shown; follow each name for the full comparison and sources.

What E2B is, and why teams compare alternatives#

E2B runs each sandbox in a Firecracker microVM. Its pause keeps memory and running processes, fork makes running copies in one call, and the runtime, SDKs and control plane are Apache-2.0, with Terraform to run it in your own AWS or GCP account. Our full side-by-side is at Sandboxer vs E2B.

Common reasons to look elsewhere:

• session caps: E2B limits how long a sandbox can run per plan;
• a fuller machine: Docker preinstalled and systemd, rather than built into a template;
• nested virtualization: E2B's docs list nested-virtualization runtimes (Kata, KubeVirt) as unsupported;
• price or billing model for your workload.

When to stay on E2B: for open source and self-hosting, E2B is the strongest fit here; Northflank also runs in your own cloud.

How to compare the alternatives#

1. Isolation: a microVM or VM with its own kernel.
2. Pause with memory: running processes survive a pause.
3. A full machine: root, systemd and Docker.
4. Session length: no short platform cap.
5. Price: the list price for a 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine-hour.
6. Hosted: managed services rank above tools you run yourself, which are listed last.

We apply the criteria in this order; later ones break ties.

Comparison table#

"Not documented" means the platform's public docs don't say. Prices are list prices for one 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine-hour; a dash means the platform doesn't sell that size by the hour or doesn't publish a price for it.

The alternatives, ranked#

1. Sandboxer#

At a glance (source: our docs and pricing): isolation: microVM (Cloud Hypervisor, its own kernel) · resume keeps processes: Yes · longest session: No limit on paid plans · price: $0.036/hour.

Best for: long-running agents and jobs that need a whole machine. Each sandbox is a Cloud Hypervisor microVM with Ubuntu 24.04, root, systemd, Docker preinstalled and /dev/kvm, coding agents preinstalled, and an HTTPS URL for any port. Stopping saves memory, a stopped sandbox costs nothing, and paid plans have no session time limit.

Where E2B or others win: E2B is open source and self-hostable; Sandboxer is hosted only, with no GPUs and no SLA during early access.

2. Freestyle#

At a glance (source: Freestyle docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: full Linux VM (hypervisor not named) · resume keeps processes: Yes · longest session: no maximum stated · price: $0.26/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: live forking with SSH and domain routing. Full Linux VMs with pause and resume that preserves memory, HTTPS domains per port, an Enterprise SLA and SAML/SCIM.

Where it's weaker for this use: persistent VMs need a paid plan, and the hypervisor isn't named in its docs.

3. Blaxel#

At a glance (source: Blaxel docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: microVM (hypervisor not named) · resume keeps processes: Yes · longest session: no fixed limit stated · price: $0.33/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: sandboxes that wake almost instantly from standby, on microVMs, with regions in the US and Europe.

Where it's weaker for this use: the hypervisor isn't named in its docs.

4. Northflank Sandboxes#

At a glance (source: Northflank Sandboxes docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: microVM on Cloud Hypervisor (gVisor for GPU sandboxes) · resume keeps processes: Not documented · longest session: no limit · price: $0.13/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: bring-your-own-cloud with GPUs. Cloud Hypervisor microVMs (gVisor for GPU workloads), sandboxes that run until you delete them, and deployment into your own cloud.

Where it's weaker for this use: whether a pause keeps memory isn't documented.

5. Daytona#

At a glance (source: Daytona docs, checked 2026-10-15): isolation: container or VM · resume keeps processes: Partly · longest session: see comparison · price: $0.33/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: Windows sandboxes, GPUs, and SDKs in Ruby and Java. VM sandboxes can pause with memory preserved.

Where it's weaker for this use: VM isolation and memory-saving stop depend on the sandbox class you pick.

6. Fly.io Sprites#

At a glance (source: Fly.io Sprites docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: microVM (hardware-isolated) · resume keeps processes: Partly · longest session: no maximum stated · price: $0.33/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: persistent microVMs that cost almost nothing while idle, with checkpoints and an always-on HTTPS URL.

Where it's weaker for this use: after a longer idle period the in-memory state is dropped.

7. Vercel Sandbox#

At a glance (source: Vercel Sandbox docs, checked 2026-10-15): isolation: microVM · resume keeps processes: No · longest session: see comparison · price: $0.68/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: apps on Vercel: Firecracker microVMs, active-CPU billing, many regions and VPC peering.

Where it's weaker for this use: resume doesn't keep running processes.

8. Cloudflare Sandbox#

At a glance (source: Cloudflare Sandbox docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: microVM per container instance (docs: each instance has its own kernel) · resume keeps processes: No · longest session: no fixed limit stated · price: $0.36/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: apps on Cloudflare Workers that want short, event-driven sandboxes, with each container instance in its own microVM.

Where it's weaker for this use: sandboxes don't resume with memory.

9. Modal#

At a glance (source: Modal docs, checked 2026-10-15): isolation: gVisor or VM · resume keeps processes: Partly · longest session: see comparison · price: $0.48/hour · full comparison and sources.

Best for: massive numbers of short jobs and GPUs.

Where it's weaker for this use: the default isolation is gVisor rather than a VM with its own kernel.

10. microsandbox#

At a glance (source: microsandbox docs, checked 2026-10-24): isolation: microVM (libkrun) · resume keeps processes: Yes · longest session: Not documented · price: No 4 vCPU / 8 GB list price · full comparison and sources.

Best for: the closest match to E2B's self-hosting appeal: open source, libkrun microVMs on your own machines, with memory-preserving snapshots under your control.

Where it's weaker for this use: it's beta software, its hosted cloud isn't priced yet, and locally you run and operate it yourself.