InstaVM vs SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes

InstaVM costs $0.0504 per vCPU-hour. SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes bills memory only, at $0.04572 per GiB-hour. InstaVM runs Firecracker microVMs. SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes runs microVMs.

Updated Oct 23, 2026

InstaVM

Hardware-isolated microVMs for AI agent code.

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

Visit site InstaVM profile

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes

Isolated microVMs for AI agents that fork from a saved snapshot, part of SF Compute Autoresearch.

Isolation: MicroVM
Free tier: None
Max session: Not listed

Visit site SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes profile

What is different

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

Field

InstaVM

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Included
RAM, per GiB-hour: InstaVM: $0.0162; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: $0.04572
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Sandbox snapshots $0.10 per GiB-month of deduplicated bytes, $0.05 per GiB-month in cold storage
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: None
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Memory only
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Up to 4,096
Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: MicroVM
Integrations: InstaVM: Claude Code, OpenAI Agents SDK; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: MCP, Claude Code

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

InstaVMinstavm.io/pricing

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxesautoresearch.sfcompute.com

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Included
RAM, per GiB-hour: InstaVM: $0.0162; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: $0.04572
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Sandbox snapshots $0.10 per GiB-month of deduplicated bytes, $0.05 per GiB-month in cold storage
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: None
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Memory only

Limits

Max session: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed
Idle stop: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed
Largest sandbox: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: 4 vCPU · 8 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Up to 4,096

Platform

Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: MicroVM
GPU: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed
Snapshots: InstaVM:; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes:
Pause and resume: InstaVM:; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes:

Developer

SDKs: InstaVM: Python, TypeScript; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed
Integrations: InstaVM: Claude Code, OpenAI Agents SDK; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: MCP, Claude Code

Trust

License: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed
BYOC: InstaVM: Not listed; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

InstaVM

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: InstaVM: $0.083; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: $0.091
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: InstaVM: $0.166; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: $0.183
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: InstaVM: $0.331; SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes: $0.366

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

InstaVM fits when

You use the OpenAI Agents SDK.
You want the lower list price: $0.166 against $0.183 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You want to start without paying.
You need a desktop in the sandbox.

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes fits when

You want to pay only for usage, with no plan fee.
You use MCP.
You want one rate for memory, with CPU included.

More comparisons

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InstaVM

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

InstaVM fits when

SF Compute Autoresearch Sandboxes fits when

More comparisons

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