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Daytona alternatives for AI agent sandboxes

Updated

Six Daytona alternatives for AI agent sandboxes (Prized, E2B, Modal, Vercel Sandbox, Freestyle and Sprites) with when each fits better and where Daytona still wins, each fact from the vendor's own pages, checked October 31, 2026.

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Daytona runs each sandbox as a Linux container by default; its Linux VM and Windows sandboxes add pause with memory and fork. Under its default limits a sandbox gets up to 4 vCPU, 8 GB of memory and 10 GB of disk, and it stops after 15 minutes without toolbox calls, SSH or preview traffic (a process running on its own does not count) unless you turn auto-stop off. New accounts get $200 of compute with no card.

Daytona's open-source repository stopped getting updates in June 2026, when its core development moved to a private codebase. The alternatives differ in isolation, what a stop keeps, how big a sandbox can be, and whether CPU is billed while it waits on a model.

Pick one

  • A microVM per sandbox that pauses with its memory, forks into live copies, and goes up to 32 vCPU and 128 GB, for less per hour than Daytona: Prized. A sandbox runs 24 hours by default and up to 7 days, extendable, with no idle stop unless you set one, and a pause keeps its memory and files, on the machine it ran on, until you delete it. Fork it while it runs or while it is paused (Fork). Sandboxes have no GPUs. Not there yet: Windows or macOS, your own image, Docker, root, preview links to its ports, egress rules, and regions other than Oregon (Not yet).
  • Firecracker with templates from your Dockerfile, or a stack you can host yourself: E2B. Sandboxes pause with their memory and fork, at up to 8 vCPU and 8 GB each (more on Pro, on request); up to 24 hours a session on Pro, at $150 a month; the infrastructure is open source (Apache-2.0). $100 of credit once, no card.
  • GPUs, or code already on Modal: Modal. gVisor or a VM runtime; up to 24 hours a sandbox. $30 of free credit every month, with a payment method on file.
  • Sandboxes that mostly wait on a model: Vercel Sandbox. Firecracker microVMs that bill CPU while it is busy and not while it waits, from your own OCI image, in 19 regions; up to 8 vCPU and 16 GB on Pro, 32 vCPU and 64 GB on Enterprise.
  • A full Linux VM with root that pauses with its memory and forks while it runs: Freestyle. A paused VM bills for storage alone; up to 32 vCPU and 64 GB on Pro, a $500 monthly minimum. Its free plan gives 200 vCPU-hours and 400 GB-hours of memory a month, for VMs up to 4 vCPU and 8 GB.
  • An agent's own computer that bills for storage alone while it sleeps: Sprites, from Fly.io. A Linux VM whose disk survives sleep, with filesystem checkpoints and an HTTPS URL that wakes it.
  • Stay on Daytona for GPU, Windows or macOS sandboxes, any Docker image as a container with root and no run time limit once auto-stop is off, SDKs in TypeScript, Python, Ruby, Go and Java, or its sandboxes on your own compute under its control plane (BYOC, when enabled for your organization).

For one computer an agent keeps for weeks, with root, Docker and no run time limit, a Prized box fits better than a sandbox (Boxes or Sandboxes?).

Side by side

IsolationLargest sandboxLongest runWhen it stops2 vCPU and 4 GB, an hourFree use
DaytonaContainer; Linux VM and Windows sandboxes optional4 vCPU, 8 GB, 10 GB disk, under the default limitsNo limit; stops after 15 idle minutes by default, even with a process runningFiles kept; memory too on VM sandboxes, which pause$0.166$200 of compute, no card
PrizedFirecracker microVM32 vCPU, 128 GB, 128 GB disk (2 vCPU and 4 GB on the free tier)7 days at a time, 24 hours by default, extendable (60 minutes of running in all on the free tier)A pause keeps memory and files, on the machine it ran on, until you delete it (30 days after last use on the free tier)$0.131, 10 GB disk included$30 of credit once, no card
E2BFirecracker microVM8 vCPU, 8 GB; more on Pro, on request1 hour on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro; a pause resets itA pause keeps memory and files until you delete it$0.166$100 of credit once, no card
ModalgVisor; VM runtime optionalNo number listed24 hours; 5 minutes by defaultFilesystem snapshots; memory snapshots in alpha$0.238 (a core is 2 vCPU)$30 a month on Starter, with a payment method on file
Vercel SandboxFirecracker microVM8 vCPU, 16 GB on Pro; 32 vCPU, 64 GB on Enterprise45 minutes a session on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro; a stop and resume resets itFiles saved and restored on resume, by default; kept 30 days after last use unless you change it$0.341 with the CPU busy, $0.085 idle5 CPU-hours and 420 GB-hours of memory a month on Hobby
FreestyleFull Linux VM32 vCPU, 64 GB on ProNo limit listedA pause keeps memory, processes and files$0.132, plus disk200 vCPU-hours and 400 GB-hours of memory a month
SpritesHardware-isolated VM8 vCPU, memory managed for you, 100 GB diskNo run time limit listed; sleeps when nothing is activeSleeps warm with its memory, later cold with its disk; checkpoints save the filesystemAbout $0.165 using both CPUs and 4 GB all hour, plus storage$30 of trial credit once

Prices are pay-as-you-go list prices for a running sandbox, before plans or region surcharges. Daytona, Prized, E2B and Freestyle bill the vCPU and memory you ask for, busy or idle; Modal bills the higher of what you ask for and what you use; Vercel bills CPU while it works; Sprites bill the CPU and memory used, and no compute while asleep. Prized, E2B, Daytona and Modal in more depth: Prized vs E2B, Daytona and Modal.

Moving to Prized

  1. Make a key: on the API keys page, with Sandboxes: Write; sign-up comes with $30 of free credit and no card.
  2. Swap the calls: create, run a command, move files, pause, resume, fork and delete are one HTTP call each (Agent quickstart), or one prized sandbox command each (CLI).
  3. Replace the snapshot: in place of a Daytona snapshot built from a Docker image, set up one sandbox and fork it for each run (Use a sandbox as your own template). For root, apt or Docker, use a box.

Common questions

What is the best Daytona alternative?

For microVM isolation on every sandbox, with pause, fork and up to 32 vCPU and 128 GB, at a lower hourly rate: Prized. To build from your Dockerfile or host the stack yourself: E2B. For GPUs: Modal. For sandboxes that mostly wait on a model: Vercel Sandbox.

Can I still self-host Daytona?

Its public repository (AGPL-3.0) stays free to use and fork, but Daytona says it gets no more updates, fixes or releases since core development moved to a private codebase in June 2026. Its current product runs your sandboxes on your own compute (BYOC) under Daytona's control plane, when enabled for your organization. E2B's infrastructure is open source (Apache-2.0) and still maintained.

Which alternative runs past 15 minutes without anyone calling it?

A Prized sandbox has no idle stop unless you set autoPauseMin, so it runs its full run time: 24 hours by default, 60 minutes on the free tier. Freestyle VMs have no default run limit or idle pause either. On Daytona, set auto-stop to 0, since a running process does not count as activity there; E2B, Modal and Vercel stop at the timeout you set.

Is there a Daytona alternative with full internet access on the free tier?

Prized, E2B and Vercel Sandbox give sandboxes on their free use outbound internet by default. Daytona limits outbound traffic on Tier 1 and Tier 2 to package registries, git hosts, model providers and similar services, and opens it from Tier 3, after a $500 top-up.

Can I keep my Daytona code?

Prized has no Daytona adapter, but each call has a Prized one, in HTTP or the CLI (Sandbox API). A paused Prized sandbox lives on one machine: if that machine fails, the sandbox goes to error and what it held is lost, so keep anything you need outside the sandbox (Pause and resume).

Sources

Checked October 31, 2026:

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