Compare / Sandboxes
Blaxel vs CodeSandbox
CodeSandbox is cheaper: about $0.15 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, against $0.17 on Blaxel. Blaxel finished the latest build benchmark; CodeSandbox didn't.
At a glance
| Blaxel | CodeSandbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | MicroVM, no shared kernel | Firecracker microVM |
| Price | $0.0000115 per GB of memory per second, with CPU included and scaled to memory (calc). Standby is free; snapshots cost $0.20 per GB-month. | $0.0446 per vCPU-hour and $0.0149 per GiB-hour on Together's pricing page. CodeSandbox is now a Together company, and its SDK is moving to Together Code Sandbox. |
| 2 vCPU, 4 GiB for an hour | $0.17 | $0.15 |
| Free tier | Up to $200 of credits on pay-as-you-go. | A free Build plan with up to 10 concurrent VMs. The Scale plan has a $170 base price. |
| Longest session | No default expiry. 7 days on Tier 0, 30 days on Tier 1, no limit on higher tiers. | No maximum published. Sandboxes hibernate automatically some time after the session disconnects. |
| Largest sandbox | Not published on standard plans (examples: 8 GB gets 4 cores, 16 GB gets 6 cores) | Up to 64 cores and 128 GB (legacy SDK sizes) |
| Pause and persistence | Standby keeps memory and files and resumes in about 25 ms; archive keeps files only. | Hibernate and resume use memory snapshots, so running processes survive. Sandboxes can be cloned from a snapshot. |
| Start time (published) | Fresh microVM in under a second; resume in about 25 ms. | 2.7 s cold start and 500 ms snapshot resume (P95), as advertised. |
| GPUs | Not stated | Not stated |
| Self-hosting | No full self-hosting. Bring-your-own-metal is available, but Blaxel always runs the control plane. | No. The runtime is hosted by CodeSandbox and Together. |
| SDKs | TypeScript, Python, Go | TypeScript (legacy SDK); Python and TypeScript (Together Code Sandbox) |
| Real build benchmark | 7 of 7 phases, 53.0 s | 6 of 7 phases |
On a real coding-agent build
The open-source ComputeSDK sandbox-dax benchmark runs OpenCode's provider benchmark in each sandbox: install packages and Bun, clone OpenCode, bun install, then bun typecheck. Results from the run of 30 October 2026:
- Blaxel completed all seven phases in 53.0 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 6.1 s, install 12.4 s, typecheck 25.3 s.
- CodeSandbox completed 6 of 7 phases; it failed at the install step on network or package-download errors, which may not reflect the sandbox itself.
Each provider is one run, and sandboxes report different CPU counts, so treat small gaps as noise. For what this build needs from a sandbox, and what isolation costs, see our benchmark write-up.
Which should you choose?
Choose Blaxel if
- you want a sandbox that completed the latest real build benchmark
Choose CodeSandbox if
- price per hour matters most
If neither fits because your code and API keys must stay on your own hardware, Hotcell runs sandboxes on machines you control, and Directionally Local sets it up with the Autopilot coding agent harness in one command. More options: E2B alternatives.
More comparisons
Sources
- Blaxel: Blaxel pricing
- Blaxel: Blaxel sandbox docs
- CodeSandbox: Together pricing
- CodeSandbox: CodeSandbox SDK (legacy) docs
- CodeSandbox: Together Code Sandbox
- Benchmark: ComputeSDK sandbox-dax results
Prices change often. We check them by hand and the benchmark refreshes on every build; if something here is out of date, tell us.
FAQs
Is Blaxel cheaper than CodeSandbox?
CodeSandbox is cheaper. A sandbox with 2 vCPU and 4 GiB running for an hour costs about $0.15 there, against $0.17 on Blaxel.
Which is faster, Blaxel or CodeSandbox?
Blaxel completed all seven phases in 53.0 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 6.1 s, install 12.4 s, typecheck 25.3 s. CodeSandbox completed 6 of 7 phases; it failed at the install step on network or package-download errors, which may not reflect the sandbox itself. The workload is OpenCode's provider benchmark: clone, bun install and typecheck. Results are from ComputeSDK's run of 30 October 2026, one run each.
Which has stronger isolation, Blaxel or CodeSandbox?
Both use a microVM with its own kernel by default. Blaxel: MicroVM, no shared kernel. CodeSandbox: Firecracker microVM.
Can I self-host Blaxel or CodeSandbox?
Blaxel: No full self-hosting. Bring-your-own-metal is available, but Blaxel always runs the control plane. CodeSandbox: No. The runtime is hosted by CodeSandbox and Together.
Is there an alternative to Blaxel and CodeSandbox that runs on my own hardware?
Yes. Hotcell is an open-source sandbox runtime (Apache-2.0) that runs Docker containers, Firecracker microVMs or Apple Virtualization microVMs on your own machines. Real API keys stay on the host, and each sandbox gets a short-lived, spend-capped token. Directionally Local sets it up together with the Autopilot coding agent harness with one command.