Compare / Sandboxes
Modal vs Vercel Sandbox
Modal is cheaper: about $0.24 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, against $0.34 on Vercel Sandbox with the CPU busy all hour (Vercel Sandbox bills CPU only while it is busy, so idle time costs less there). Vercel Sandbox was faster on a real coding-agent build: 83.4 s against 105.5 s, though the two sandboxes had different CPU counts. Vercel Sandbox isolates more strongly by default, with a microVM with its own kernel. Modal uses gVisor, which intercepts system calls in user space.
At a glance
| Modal | Vercel Sandbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | gVisor by default, with an optional VM runtime | Firecracker microVM |
| Price | Sandboxes are billed at 3x list price per physical core: about $0.142 per core-hour, and one core is two vCPUs (calc). | CPU is billed only while busy ($0.128 per active CPU-hour); memory is billed for the whole time ($0.0212 per GB-hour). iad1 region rates; $0.60 per million creations. |
| 2 vCPU, 4 GiB for an hour | $0.24 | $0.34 if the CPU is busy all hour |
| Free tier | $30 a month of credits on the free Starter plan. Team is $250 a month. | Hobby includes 5 active CPU-hours, 420 GB-hours and 5,000 creations a month. Pro uses its $20 monthly credit first. |
| Longest session | Default 5 minutes, up to 24 hours. | 45 minutes on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro and Enterprise. Persistent sandboxes can resume. |
| Largest sandbox | Not published | 4 vCPU, 8 GB on Hobby; 8 vCPU, 16 GB on Pro; 32 vCPU, 64 GB on Enterprise |
| Pause and persistence | Filesystem snapshots kept 30 days; memory snapshots are in alpha and kept 7 days. | Persistent by default, saved on stop; snapshots expire after 30 days by default. |
| Start time (published) | Not published. | "Starts in milliseconds"; no number published. |
| GPUs | Yes | No |
| Self-hosting | No self-hosting or bring-your-own-cloud option found. | No. The SDK and CLI are open source; the runtime is Vercel-hosted. |
| SDKs | Python, JavaScript, Go | JavaScript/TypeScript, Python |
| Real build benchmark | 7 of 7 phases, 105.5 s | 7 of 7 phases, 83.4 s |
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:
- Modal completed all seven phases in 105.5 s on a sandbox reporting 4 CPUs: clone 2.8 s, install 21.9 s, typecheck 64.4 s.
- Vercel Sandbox completed all seven phases in 83.4 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 1.8 s, install 23.2 s, typecheck 40.1 s.
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 Modal if
- price per hour matters most
- you need GPUs inside the sandbox
Choose Vercel Sandbox if
- your agents run heavy builds and speed matters
- you want a separate kernel for each sandbox
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 Vercel Sandbox
- Modal vs Daytona
- Modal vs Blaxel
- Modal vs Northflank
- Daytona vs Vercel Sandbox
Sources
- Modal: Modal pricing
- Modal: Modal sandboxes docs
- Vercel Sandbox: Vercel Sandbox pricing
- Vercel Sandbox: Vercel Sandbox docs
- 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 Modal cheaper than Vercel Sandbox?
Modal is cheaper. A sandbox with 2 vCPU and 4 GiB running for an hour costs about $0.24 there, against $0.34 on Vercel Sandbox. Vercel Sandbox bills CPU only while it is busy, so idle sandboxes cost less there than this suggests.
Which is faster, Modal or Vercel Sandbox?
Modal completed all seven phases in 105.5 s on a sandbox reporting 4 CPUs: clone 2.8 s, install 21.9 s, typecheck 64.4 s. Vercel Sandbox completed all seven phases in 83.4 s on a sandbox reporting 8 CPUs and about 16 GiB: clone 1.8 s, install 23.2 s, typecheck 40.1 s. 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, Modal or Vercel Sandbox?
Vercel Sandbox. It uses a microVM with its own kernel, while Modal uses gVisor, which intercepts system calls in user space by default.
Can I self-host Modal or Vercel Sandbox?
Modal: No self-hosting or bring-your-own-cloud option found. Vercel Sandbox: No. The SDK and CLI are open source; the runtime is Vercel-hosted.
Is there an alternative to Modal and Vercel Sandbox 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.