ix vs Zipbox

ix costs $0.0288 per vCPU-hour and Zipbox costs $0.00685 per vCPU-hour. ix runs full VMs. Zipbox runs Firecracker microVMs and has no session limit.

Updated Oct 23, 2026

ix

Cloud VMs with up to 100 vCPUs, billed by usage.

Isolation: Full VM
Free tier: None
Max session: Not listed

Visit site ix profile

Zipbox

Long-lived Firecracker microVMs for AI agents, each with its own desktop.

Isolation: Firecracker microVM
Free tier: $25 credit after a one-time $5 top-up
Max session: No limit

Visit site Zipbox profile

What is different

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

Field

Zipbox

vCPU, per hour: ix: $0.0288; Zipbox: $0.00685
RAM, per GiB-hour: ix: $0.0108; Zipbox: Included
Storage: ix: $0.101 per GiB-month stored; Zipbox: Free
Free tier: ix: None; Zipbox: $25 credit after a one-time $5 top-up
Billing: ix: Active CPU time only; Zipbox: Bundled machine time
Largest sandbox: ix: 100 vCPU · 256 GiB; Zipbox: 6 vCPU · 16 GiB
Isolation: ix: Full VM; Zipbox: Firecracker microVM
Snapshots: ix:; Zipbox: No
SDKs: ix: Python, TypeScript, Rust; Zipbox: TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust
Integrations: ix: MCP; Zipbox: MCP, Claude Code, Claude Agent SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Vercel AI SDK, LangChain

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

ixix.dev/docs/pricingix.dev

Zipboxzipbox.ai/pricing

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: ix: $0.0288; Zipbox: $0.00685
RAM, per GiB-hour: ix: $0.0108; Zipbox: Included
Storage: ix: $0.101 per GiB-month stored; Zipbox: Free
Free tier: ix: None; Zipbox: $25 credit after a one-time $5 top-up
Paid plan from: ix: Pay as you go; Zipbox: Pay as you go
Billing: ix: Active CPU time only; Zipbox: Bundled machine time

Limits

Max session: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: No limit
Idle stop: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: Not listed
Largest sandbox: ix: 100 vCPU · 256 GiB; Zipbox: 6 vCPU · 16 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: ix: Up to 100; Zipbox: Not listed

Platform

Isolation: ix: Full VM; Zipbox: Firecracker microVM
GPU: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: Not listed
Snapshots: ix:; Zipbox: No
Pause and resume: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: No

Developer

SDKs: ix: Python, TypeScript, Rust; Zipbox: TypeScript, Python, Go, Rust
Integrations: ix: MCP; Zipbox: MCP, Claude Code, Claude Agent SDK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Vercel AI SDK, LangChain

Trust

License: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: Not listed
BYOC: ix: Not listed; Zipbox: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

Zipbox

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: ix: $0.050; Zipbox: $0.007
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: ix: $0.101; Zipbox: $0.014
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: ix: $0.202; Zipbox: $0.027

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

ix fits when

You want each sandbox to be a full VM.
You need snapshots.
Your code waits a lot: CPU is billed only while it is in use.
You need a sandbox larger than 6 vCPU · 16 GiB.

Zipbox fits when

You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You use Claude Code, the Claude Agent SDK, the OpenAI Agents SDK, the Vercel AI SDK or LangChain.
You want the lower list price: $0.014 against $0.101 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB.
You want to start without paying.

More comparisons

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ix

Zipbox

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

ix fits when

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