Apify AI Code Sandbox vs Smol Machines

Apify AI Code Sandbox bills memory only, at $0.20 per GiB-hour. Smol Machines costs $0.05 per vCPU-hour. Apify AI Code Sandbox runs containers and has no session limit. Smol Machines runs microVMs.

Updated Oct 23, 2026

Apify AI Code Sandbox

Apify Actor that runs AI-generated code in an isolated container, with MCP, REST API and shell access.

Isolation: Container
Free tier: $5 of usage every month
Max session: No limit

Visit site Apify AI Code Sandbox profile

Smol Machines

Hosted Linux microVMs with their own kernel, for agents and untrusted code.

Isolation: MicroVM
Free tier: $100 credit, one time
Max session: Not listed

Visit site Smol Machines profile

What is different

10 fields differ. The rest are the same or not listed.

Field

Apify AI Code Sandbox

Smol Machines

vCPU, per hour: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Included; Smol Machines: $0.05
RAM, per GiB-hour: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $0.20; Smol Machines: $0.0162
Storage: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Disk in the run is part of the compute price. The workspace backup goes to a key-value store at $1 per 1,000 GB-hours, plus reads and writes. Data transfer out $0.20 per GB; Smol Machines: $0.0001 per GiB-hour
Free tier: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $5 of usage every month; Smol Machines: $100 credit, one time
Paid plan from: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $19 / month; Smol Machines: Pay as you go
Billing: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Memory only; Smol Machines: Active CPU time only
Concurrent sandboxes: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Up to 256; Smol Machines: Up to 1,000
Isolation: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Container; Smol Machines: MicroVM
SDKs: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Python, JavaScript / TypeScript; Smol Machines: TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go
Integrations: Apify AI Code Sandbox: MCP, Claude Code; Smol Machines: MCP

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

Apify AI Code Sandboxapify.com/pricing

Smol Machinessmolmachines.com/pricingsmolmachines.com

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Included; Smol Machines: $0.05
RAM, per GiB-hour: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $0.20; Smol Machines: $0.0162
Storage: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Disk in the run is part of the compute price. The workspace backup goes to a key-value store at $1 per 1,000 GB-hours, plus reads and writes. Data transfer out $0.20 per GB; Smol Machines: $0.0001 per GiB-hour
Free tier: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $5 of usage every month; Smol Machines: $100 credit, one time
Paid plan from: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $19 / month; Smol Machines: Pay as you go
Billing: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Memory only; Smol Machines: Active CPU time only

Limits

Max session: Apify AI Code Sandbox: No limit; Smol Machines: Not listed
Idle stop: Apify AI Code Sandbox: After 15 minutes; Smol Machines: Not listed
Largest sandbox: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines: 32 vCPU · 32 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Up to 256; Smol Machines: Up to 1,000

Platform

Isolation: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Container; Smol Machines: MicroVM
GPU: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines: No
Snapshots: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines:
Pause and resume: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines:

Developer

SDKs: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Python, JavaScript / TypeScript; Smol Machines: TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go
Integrations: Apify AI Code Sandbox: MCP, Claude Code; Smol Machines: MCP

Trust

License: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines: Apache-2.0
BYOC: Apify AI Code Sandbox: Not listed; Smol Machines: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

Apify AI Code Sandbox

Smol Machines

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $0.400; Smol Machines: $0.082
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $0.800; Smol Machines: $0.165
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: Apify AI Code Sandbox: $1.600; Smol Machines: $0.330

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

Apify AI Code Sandbox fits when

You use Claude Code.
You want one rate for memory, with CPU included.
You need SOC 2 Type II and GDPR.

Smol Machines fits when

You want to pay only for usage, with no plan fee.
You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You want an open-source platform (Apache-2.0) that you can self-host.
You want the lower list price: $0.165 against $0.800 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.

More comparisons

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Apify AI Code Sandbox

Smol Machines

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

Apify AI Code Sandbox fits when

Smol Machines fits when

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