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AWS Lambda MicroVMs vs Docker Sandboxes

AWS Lambda MicroVMs costs $0.0997 per vCPU-hour and Docker Sandboxes costs $0.07 per vCPU-hour. AWS Lambda MicroVMs runs Firecracker microVMs and limits a session to 8 hours. Docker Sandboxes runs microVMs.

Updated

AWS Lambda MicroVMs

Isolation
Firecracker microVM
Free tier
Not listed
Max session
8 hours
Visit siteAWS Lambda MicroVMs profile

Docker Sandboxes

Isolation
MicroVM
Free tier
One-time promotional credit for cloud compute
Max session
Not listed
Visit siteDocker Sandboxes profile

What is different

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

AWS Lambda MicroVMs
Docker Sandboxes
vCPU, per hour
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.0997
Docker Sandboxes: $0.07
RAM, per GiB-hour
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.0132
Docker Sandboxes: Included
Billing
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Per second
Docker Sandboxes: Bundled machine time
Largest sandbox
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: 4 vCPU · 8 GiB
Docker Sandboxes: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB
Isolation
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM
Docker Sandboxes: MicroVM
SDKs
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Python, JavaScript
Docker Sandboxes: JavaScript / TypeScript

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

AWS Lambda MicroVMsaws.amazon.com
Docker Sandboxesdocker.com

Pricing

vCPU, per hour
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.0997
Docker Sandboxes: $0.07
RAM, per GiB-hour
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.0132
Docker Sandboxes: Included
Storage
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Snapshot storage $0.08 per GB-month (US East). Snapshot reads and writes are billed per GB.
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed
Free tier
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: One-time promotional credit for cloud compute
Paid plan from
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Pay as you go
Billing
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Per second
Docker Sandboxes: Bundled machine time

Limits

Max session
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: 8 hours
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed
Idle stop
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed
Largest sandbox
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: 4 vCPU · 8 GiB
Docker Sandboxes: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Up to 10

Platform

Isolation
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM
Docker Sandboxes: MicroVM
GPU
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed
Snapshots
AWS Lambda MicroVMs:
Docker Sandboxes:
Pause and resume
AWS Lambda MicroVMs:
Docker Sandboxes:

Developer

SDKs
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Python, JavaScript
Docker Sandboxes: JavaScript / TypeScript
Integrations
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: MCP

Trust

License
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed
BYOC
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: Not listed
Docker Sandboxes: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

AWS Lambda MicroVMs
Docker Sandboxes
1 vCPU · 2 GiB
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.126
Docker Sandboxes: $0.070
2 vCPU · 4 GiB
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.252
Docker Sandboxes: $0.140
4 vCPU · 8 GiB
AWS Lambda MicroVMs: $0.504
Docker Sandboxes: $0.280

Compute only, at list rates.

Open the calculator

Which one fits

Based on the fields above

Docker Sandboxes fits when

  • You use MCP.
  • You want the lower list price: $0.140 against $0.252 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
  • You need a sandbox larger than 4 vCPU · 8 GiB.

More comparisons

See all comparisons

Related

Compare

AWS Lambda MicroVMs alternatives
Docker Sandboxes alternatives
All AWS Lambda MicroVMs comparisons
All Docker Sandboxes comparisons
All comparisons

Pricing

AWS Lambda MicroVMs pricing
Docker Sandboxes pricing
Sandbox pricing
Cost calculator

Browse

Firecracker sandboxes
MicroVM sandboxes
Sandboxes with GPUs
Open-source sandboxes
What is Firecracker?
What is a microVM?