Buddy Sandboxes vs InstaVM

Buddy Sandboxes costs $0.0144 per vCPU-hour and InstaVM costs $0.0504 per vCPU-hour. Buddy Sandboxes runs full VMs and has no session limit. InstaVM runs Firecracker microVMs.

Updated Oct 23, 2026

Buddy Sandboxes

Persistent Linux VMs that AI agents create and control through an API, SDK, CLI or MCP.

Isolation: Full VM
Free tier: $1 of usage credit every month
Max session: No limit

Visit site Buddy Sandboxes profile

InstaVM

Hardware-isolated microVMs for AI agent code.

Isolation: Firecracker microVM
Free tier: $50 credit
Max session: Not listed

Visit site InstaVM profile

What is different

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

Field

Buddy Sandboxes

InstaVM

vCPU, per hour: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.0144; InstaVM: $0.0504
RAM, per GiB-hour: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.0144; InstaVM: $0.0162
Storage: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.00011 per GiB-hour; InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB
Free tier: Buddy Sandboxes: $1 of usage credit every month; InstaVM: $50 credit
Paid plan from: Buddy Sandboxes: $29 / month; InstaVM: $100 / month
Isolation: Buddy Sandboxes: Full VM; InstaVM: Firecracker microVM
SDKs: Buddy Sandboxes: TypeScript; InstaVM: Python, TypeScript
Integrations: Buddy Sandboxes: MCP, Claude Code; InstaVM: Claude Code, OpenAI Agents SDK

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

Buddy Sandboxesbuddy.works/docs/basics/billing-and-usage/gbminbuddy.works

InstaVMinstavm.io/pricing

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.0144; InstaVM: $0.0504
RAM, per GiB-hour: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.0144; InstaVM: $0.0162
Storage: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.00011 per GiB-hour; InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB
Free tier: Buddy Sandboxes: $1 of usage credit every month; InstaVM: $50 credit
Paid plan from: Buddy Sandboxes: $29 / month; InstaVM: $100 / month
Billing: Buddy Sandboxes: Per second; InstaVM: Per second

Limits

Max session: Buddy Sandboxes: No limit; InstaVM: Not listed
Idle stop: Buddy Sandboxes: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
Largest sandbox: Buddy Sandboxes: 12 vCPU · 24 GiB; InstaVM: Not listed
Concurrent sandboxes: Buddy Sandboxes: Not listed; InstaVM: Up to 100

Platform

Isolation: Buddy Sandboxes: Full VM; InstaVM: Firecracker microVM
GPU: Buddy Sandboxes: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
Snapshots: Buddy Sandboxes:; InstaVM:
Pause and resume: Buddy Sandboxes:; InstaVM:

Developer

SDKs: Buddy Sandboxes: TypeScript; InstaVM: Python, TypeScript
Integrations: Buddy Sandboxes: MCP, Claude Code; InstaVM: Claude Code, OpenAI Agents SDK

Trust

License: Buddy Sandboxes: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
BYOC: Buddy Sandboxes: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

Buddy Sandboxes

InstaVM

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.043; InstaVM: $0.083
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.086; InstaVM: $0.166
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: Buddy Sandboxes: $0.173; InstaVM: $0.331

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

Buddy Sandboxes fits when

You want each sandbox to be a full VM.
You use MCP.
You want the lower list price: $0.086 against $0.166 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You need GDPR.

InstaVM fits when

You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You use the OpenAI Agents SDK.
You want the larger free credit: $50 against $1.
You need a desktop in the sandbox.

More comparisons

See all comparisons

Buddy Sandboxes

InstaVM

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

Buddy Sandboxes fits when

InstaVM fits when

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