InstaVM vs Upstash Box

InstaVM costs $0.0504 per vCPU-hour and Upstash Box costs $0.10 per vCPU-hour. InstaVM runs Firecracker microVMs. Upstash Box runs containers.

Updated Oct 14, 2026

InstaVM

Hardware-isolated microVMs for AI agent code.

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

Visit site InstaVM profile

Upstash Box

Isolated cloud containers that give AI agents a computer.

Isolation: Container
Free tier: Free plan, 5 CPU hours per month
Max session: Not listed

Visit site Upstash Box profile

What is different

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

Field

InstaVM

Upstash Box

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; Upstash Box: $0.10
RAM, per GiB-hour: InstaVM: $0.0162; Upstash Box: Included
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; Upstash Box: $0.10 per GB per month, including snapshots. Included on Fixed.
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; Upstash Box: Free plan, 5 CPU hours per month
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; Upstash Box: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; Upstash Box: Active CPU time only
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; Upstash Box: Up to 1,000
Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; Upstash Box: Container

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

InstaVMinstavm.io/pricing

Upstash Boxupstash.com/pricing/boxupstash.com

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: InstaVM: $0.0504; Upstash Box: $0.10
RAM, per GiB-hour: InstaVM: $0.0162; Upstash Box: Included
Storage: InstaVM: $0.0002 per GiB-hour after 10 free GiB; Upstash Box: $0.10 per GB per month, including snapshots. Included on Fixed.
Free tier: InstaVM: $50 credit; Upstash Box: Free plan, 5 CPU hours per month
Paid plan from: InstaVM: $100 / month; Upstash Box: Pay as you go
Billing: InstaVM: Per second; Upstash Box: Active CPU time only

Limits

Max session: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: Not listed
Idle stop: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: After 360 minutes
Largest sandbox: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: 8 vCPU · 16 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: InstaVM: Up to 100; Upstash Box: Up to 1,000

Platform

Isolation: InstaVM: Firecracker microVM; Upstash Box: Container
GPU: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: Not listed
Snapshots: InstaVM:; Upstash Box:
Pause and resume: InstaVM:; Upstash Box:

Developer

SDKs: InstaVM: Python, TypeScript; Upstash Box: Python, TypeScript
Integrations: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: LangChain, Vercel AI SDK

Trust

License: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: Not listed
BYOC: InstaVM: Not listed; Upstash Box: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

InstaVM

Upstash Box

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: InstaVM: $0.083; Upstash Box: $0.100
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: InstaVM: $0.166; Upstash Box: $0.200
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: InstaVM: $0.331; Upstash Box: $0.400

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

InstaVM fits when

You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You want the lower list price: $0.166 against $0.200 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You need a desktop in the sandbox.
You need SOC 2 Type II.

Upstash Box fits when

You want to pay only for usage, with no plan fee.
You use LangChain or the Vercel AI SDK.
Your code waits a lot: CPU is billed only while it is in use.

More comparisons

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InstaVM

Upstash Box

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

InstaVM fits when

Upstash Box fits when

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