InstaVM vs Smol Machines

InstaVM costs $0.0504 per vCPU-hour and Smol Machines costs $0.05 per vCPU-hour. InstaVM runs Firecracker microVMs. Smol Machines runs microVMs.

Updated Oct 15, 2026

InstaVM

Hardware-isolated microVMs for AI agent code.

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

Visit site InstaVM 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

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

Field

InstaVM

Smol Machines

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; Smol Machines: $0.05
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; Smol Machines: $0.0001 per GiB-hour
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; Smol Machines: $100 credit, one time
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; Smol Machines: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; Smol Machines: Active CPU time only
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; Smol Machines: Up to 1,000
Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; Smol Machines: MicroVM
Snapshots: InstaVM:; Smol Machines: No
SDKs: InstaVM: Python, TypeScript; Smol Machines: TypeScript, Python, Rust

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

InstaVMinstavm.io/pricing

Smol Machinessmolmachines.com/pricingsmolmachines.com

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; Smol Machines: $0.05
RAM, per GiB-hour: InstaVM: $0.0162; Smol Machines: $0.0162
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; Smol Machines: $0.0001 per GiB-hour
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; Smol Machines: $100 credit, one time
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; Smol Machines: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; Smol Machines: Active CPU time only

Limits

Max session: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: Not listed
Idle stop: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: Not listed
Largest sandbox: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: 32 vCPU · 32 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; Smol Machines: Up to 1,000

Platform

Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; Smol Machines: MicroVM
GPU: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: No
Snapshots: InstaVM:; Smol Machines: No
Pause and resume: InstaVM:; Smol Machines:

Developer

SDKs: InstaVM: Python, TypeScript; Smol Machines: TypeScript, Python, Rust
Integrations: InstaVM: Claude Code; Smol Machines: Not listed

Trust

License: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: Apache-2.0
BYOC: InstaVM: Not listed; Smol Machines: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

InstaVM

Smol Machines

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: InstaVM: $0.083; Smol Machines: $0.082
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: InstaVM: $0.166; Smol Machines: $0.165
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: InstaVM: $0.331; Smol Machines: $0.330

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

InstaVM fits when

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

Smol Machines fits when

You want to pay only for usage, with no plan fee.
You want an open-source platform (Apache-2.0) that you can self-host.
You want the lower list price: $0.165 against $0.166 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You want the larger free credit: $100 against $50.

More comparisons

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InstaVM

Smol Machines

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

InstaVM fits when

Smol Machines fits when

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