Compare / Sandboxes
E2B vs Northflank
Northflank is cheaper: about $0.067 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, against $0.17 on E2B. E2B finished the latest build benchmark; Northflank didn't.
At a glance
| E2B | Northflank | |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker microVM | MicroVM for CPU sandboxes, gVisor for GPU sandboxes |
| Price | $0.000014 per vCPU-second and $0.0000045 per GiB-second. | $0.01667 per vCPU-hour and $0.00833 per GB-hour. In your own cloud (BYOC), $0.02083 per node vCPU-hour and memory isn't billed. |
| 2 vCPU, 4 GiB for an hour | $0.17 | $0.067 |
| Free tier | One-time $100 credit on the free Hobby plan. Pro is $150 a month plus usage. | A free Sandbox tier with up to $20 a month of resources, no card needed. |
| Longest session | 1 hour on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro. Pausing resets the clock. | No time limits; sandboxes run until deleted. |
| Largest sandbox | 8 vCPU and 8 GiB (default 2 vCPU, 4 GiB) | Plans listed up to 8 vCPU and 16 GB, with custom plans available |
| Pause and persistence | Pause keeps memory and files, about 4 s per GiB to pause and 1 s to resume. Paused sandboxes are kept indefinitely. | Ephemeral by default, with volumes up to 64 TB and pause and resume. |
| Start time (published) | Not published in milliseconds; boots from a snapshot. | Under 1 s; 0.8 s with a cached image. |
| GPUs | No | Yes |
| Self-hosting | Yes. The infrastructure is open source under Apache-2.0, with Terraform for Google Cloud, AWS and Azure, and a single-host option. | Bring your own cloud on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle or bare metal; enterprise customers can self-host the control plane. |
| SDKs | Python, JavaScript/TypeScript | JavaScript, Python, plus REST and CLI |
| Real build benchmark | 7 of 7 phases, 75.9 s | 0 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:
- E2B completed all seven phases in 75.9 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 3.0 s, install 17.2 s, typecheck 40.8 s.
- Northflank completed 0 of 7 phases; the benchmark's account was disabled, so this says nothing about speed.
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 E2B if
- you want a sandbox that completed the latest real build benchmark
- you need pause and resume that keeps memory, not just files
Choose Northflank if
- price per hour matters most
- you need GPUs inside the sandbox
- your agents run for longer than 24 hours
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
- E2B vs Modal
- E2B vs Daytona
- E2B vs Vercel Sandbox
- E2B vs Blaxel
- Modal vs Northflank
- Daytona vs Northflank
Sources
- E2B: E2B pricing
- E2B: E2B persistence docs
- E2B: e2b-dev/infra
- Northflank: Northflank pricing
- Northflank: Northflank sandboxes
- 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 E2B cheaper than Northflank?
Northflank is cheaper. A sandbox with 2 vCPU and 4 GiB running for an hour costs about $0.067 there, against $0.17 on E2B.
Which is faster, E2B or Northflank?
E2B completed all seven phases in 75.9 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 3.0 s, install 17.2 s, typecheck 40.8 s. Northflank completed 0 of 7 phases; the benchmark's account was disabled, so this says nothing about speed. 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, E2B or Northflank?
Both use a microVM with its own kernel by default. E2B: Firecracker microVM. Northflank: MicroVM for CPU sandboxes, gVisor for GPU sandboxes.
Can I self-host E2B or Northflank?
E2B: Yes. The infrastructure is open source under Apache-2.0, with Terraform for Google Cloud, AWS and Azure, and a single-host option. Northflank: Bring your own cloud on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Oracle or bare metal; enterprise customers can self-host the control plane.
Is there an alternative to E2B and Northflank 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.