Perplexity Sandbox vs Shellbox

Shellbox costs $0.01 per vCPU-hour. Perplexity Sandbox runs containers. Shellbox runs Firecracker microVMs and has no session limit.

Updated Oct 23, 2026

Perplexity Sandbox

Isolated Linux containers that run Python and bash code inside a Perplexity Agent API request.

Isolation: Container
Free tier: Not listed
Max session: Not listed

Visit site Perplexity Sandbox profile

Shellbox

Linux microVMs for developers and AI agents, made and controlled over SSH.

Isolation: Firecracker microVM
Free tier: Not listed
Max session: No limit

Visit site Shellbox profile

What is different

1 field differs. The rest are the same or not listed.

Field

Perplexity Sandbox

Shellbox

Isolation: Perplexity Sandbox: Container; Shellbox: Firecracker microVM

Full comparison

18 fields, at each provider's list price

Perplexity Sandboxdocs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/pricingdocs.perplexity.ai

Shellboxshellbox.dev/#pricingshellbox.dev

Pricing

vCPU, per hour: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: $0.01
RAM, per GiB-hour: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Included
Storage: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: A stopped box costs $0.50 per x1 slot per month
Free tier: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Not listed
Paid plan from: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Pay as you go
Billing: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Bundled machine time

Limits

Max session: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: No limit
Idle stop: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: After 2 minutes
Largest sandbox: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: 16 vCPU · 32 GiB
Concurrent sandboxes: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Up to 16

Platform

Isolation: Perplexity Sandbox: Container; Shellbox: Firecracker microVM
GPU: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Not listed
Snapshots: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox:
Pause and resume: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox:

Developer

SDKs: Perplexity Sandbox: Python, TypeScript; Shellbox: Not listed
Integrations: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Claude Code

Trust

License: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Not listed
BYOC: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: Not listed

Hourly cost

One sandbox running for one hour

Size

Perplexity Sandbox

Shellbox

1 vCPU · 2 GiB: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: $0.010
2 vCPU · 4 GiB: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: $0.020
4 vCPU · 8 GiB: Perplexity Sandbox: Not listed; Shellbox: $0.040

Compute only, at list rates.

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Which one fits

Based on the fields above

Perplexity Sandbox fits when

You need SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and GDPR.

Shellbox fits when

You want each sandbox in its own microVM.
You use Claude Code.
You need snapshots.
You need pause and resume.

More comparisons

See all comparisons

Perplexity Sandbox

Shellbox

What is different

Full comparison

Pricing

Limits

Platform

Developer

Trust

Hourly cost

Which one fits

Perplexity Sandbox fits when

Shellbox fits when

More comparisons

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