DigitalOcean MicroVMs vs InstaVM

DigitalOcean MicroVMs costs $0.022 per vCPU-hour and InstaVM costs $0.0504 per vCPU-hour. DigitalOcean MicroVMs runs Firecracker microVMs. InstaVM runs Firecracker microVMs.

Updated Oct 15, 2026

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

Lightweight virtual machines that run a container image in their own kernel and pause when idle.

Isolation: Firecracker microVM
Free tier: Not listed
Max session: Not listed

Visit site DigitalOcean MicroVMs 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

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

Field

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

InstaVM

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; InstaVM: $0.0504
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; InstaVM: $0.0162
Storage: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.05 per GiB per month, charged when running or paused. Checkpoints are charged until deleted.; InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

DigitalOcean MicroVMsdocs.digitalocean.com/products/microvms/details/pricingdocs.digitalocean.com

InstaVMinstavm.io/pricing

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.022; InstaVM: $0.0504
RAM, per GiB-hour: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.0085; InstaVM: $0.0162
Storage: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.05 per GiB per month, charged when running or paused. Checkpoints are charged until deleted.; InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB
Free tier: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: $50 credit
Paid plan from: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: $100 / month
Billing: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Per second; InstaVM: Per second

Limits

Max session: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
Idle stop: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: After 5 minutes; InstaVM: Not listed
Largest sandbox: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB; InstaVM: Not listed
Concurrent sandboxes: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Up to 100

Platform

Isolation: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Firecracker microVM; InstaVM: Firecracker microVM
GPU: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
Snapshots: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; InstaVM:
Pause and resume: DigitalOcean MicroVMs:; InstaVM:

Developer

SDKs: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Python, TypeScript
Integrations: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Claude Code

Trust

License: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed
BYOC: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: Not listed; InstaVM: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

DigitalOcean MicroVMs

InstaVM

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.039; InstaVM: $0.083
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.078; InstaVM: $0.166
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: DigitalOcean MicroVMs: $0.156; InstaVM: $0.331

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

DigitalOcean MicroVMs fits when

You want the lower list price: $0.078 against $0.166 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.

InstaVM fits when

You use Claude Code.
You need a desktop in the sandbox.
You need SOC 2 Type II.

More comparisons

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DigitalOcean MicroVMs

InstaVM

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

DigitalOcean MicroVMs fits when

InstaVM fits when

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