Locus product guide · Updated November 10, 2026

E2B alternatives: Daytona, Modal and Vercel sandboxes

The main E2B alternatives are Daytona ($200 of free compute, plus GPUs and Windows machines), Modal Sandboxes ($30 of free credit a month on Starter), Vercel Sandbox (a free Hobby quota, billed on active CPU), Cloudflare’s Sandbox SDK on the $5 Workers Paid plan, and Runloop ($50 trial credit, with suspend and resume). E2B gives $100 of one-time credit on Hobby and 24-hour sessions on Pro. Through Locus Pro, an agent can start an E2B sandbox with no E2B account and prepay only the runtime window it needs, up to an hour at a time. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

How do E2B alternatives compare?

All of these run untrusted, agent-written code in isolated machines billed by the second or less. They differ in free credit, session length and what counts as billable time. Figures come from each vendor’s pricing page. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

How do E2B alternatives compare?
Provider	Pricing model	Entry price	Free credit	Max session	Best at
E2B	Per second of a running sandbox, plus a plan fee on Pro	Hobby: free plus usage	$100 once	1 hour on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro	Agent code execution, with 100 concurrent sandboxes on Pro, expandable to 1,100
Daytona	Per second: vCPU, memory and storage	Pay as you go	$200 of compute	Not listed on its pricing page	Fast sandbox creation, plus GPUs and Windows machines
Modal Sandboxes	Per second at 3 times Modal’s base CPU and memory rates	Starter: $0 plus compute	$30 a month on Starter	Not listed on its pricing page	Teams that already run Python jobs or GPUs on Modal
Vercel Sandbox	Active CPU time, provisioned memory and creations	Hobby: included quota. Pro: usage from the $20 monthly credit.	5 active CPU hours and 420 GB-hours a month on Hobby	45 minutes on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro	Agents that wait on model calls, since I/O wait is not billed as CPU
Cloudflare Sandbox SDK	Containers billed per 10 ms of active running	Workers Paid: $5 a month	375 vCPU-minutes and 25 GiB-hours a month included	Not listed on its pricing page	Apps already on Workers that want sandboxes to scale to zero
Runloop	Usage billing, with a Pro plan for teams	Basic: free plus usage	$50 trial credit	Not listed on its pricing page	Suspend and resume on Pro, with no compute charge while suspended
Hyperbrowser	Credits shared with browsers and web data	Startup: $30 a month in usage	5,000 credits ($5)	Not listed on its pricing page	One balance for sandboxes and cloud browsers

How does E2B bill, and when do people switch?

E2B bills every second a sandbox runs, for its vCPUs and memory. Hobby is free with $100 of one-time credit, 1-hour sessions and 10 concurrent sandboxes. Pro adds a monthly plan fee for 24-hour sessions, custom CPU and memory sizes, and 100 concurrent sandboxes, expandable to 1,100. Enterprise is sold on committed usage, with multi-day sessions.

Reasons to compare include a lower plan fee, more free credit, GPUs, or billing that skips idle time. Vercel bills CPU only while code runs, and Runloop stops compute billing while a devbox is suspended.

Can an agent use E2B through Locus Pro?

Yes. An agent can create an E2B sandbox, run commands, start background jobs and move files from one prepaid balance, with no E2B account. Searching the catalog and reading a price are free.

Runtime is prepaid. The agent picks a window from 30 seconds to 1 hour and pays for it when the sandbox is created. It can buy more time before the window ends. Ending early does not refund unused time. Each workspace can run up to 5 sandboxes at once, and outbound internet is off unless the agent turns it on.

Modal sandboxes are also listed, by their seller on an open marketplace. Locus has not reviewed that listing.

Can an agent use E2B through Locus Pro?
Locus endpoint	How it is charged	Use it for
E2B create sandbox	Prepaid for the window the agent picks, up to 1 hour	A stateful Linux workspace
E2B extend sandbox	Prepaid for the added time	More runtime before the deadline, keeping files and processes
E2B run command	A fixed charge per command	A shell command inside the sandbox
E2B read file or list files	A fixed charge per call	Reading results back out
Judge0 execute code	A fixed charge per run	One-shot runs of a script, with stdout and stderr returned
Modal sandbox create (unreviewed)	Priced by sandbox lifetime, with a cap	A disposable Modal sandbox

AI code execution

How do I choose an E2B alternative?

Match the sandbox to how long it lives and how often it sits idle.

Short code-interpreter runs with a well-known SDK: stay on E2B.
Lots of free credit to start, or GPUs: Daytona.
Your stack already runs on Modal: Modal Sandboxes.
Agents that mostly wait on model calls: Vercel Sandbox, which bills active CPU.
Long-lived devboxes that pause between tasks: Runloop.
An agent that needs a sandbox now and then, next to other paid tools: E2B through Locus Pro.
Thousands of sandbox hours a month: an E2B plan. At that volume, sandboxes can cost less with your own E2B account and API key.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Daytona sandbox?

An isolated machine from Daytona for running AI-generated code. Daytona bills per second for vCPU, memory and storage, gives $200 of free compute, and offers GPU and Windows options.

What is a Modal sandbox?

A container on Modal that runs code you pass it at runtime. Modal bills sandboxes per second at 3 times its base CPU and memory rates. The Starter plan includes $30 of compute a month.

Which E2B alternative is cheapest for idle agents?

Vercel Sandbox bills CPU only while code runs, so waiting on a model costs memory but not CPU. Runloop stops compute billing while a devbox is suspended. Cloudflare charges only while a container is running.

Can my agent run code without a sandbox account?

Yes, through Locus Pro. It can create an E2B sandbox or run a one-shot Judge0 execution from prepaid credits. Tell it: Install Locus Pro by following https://paywithlocus.com/SKILL.md.

Implementation references

Use these first-party references for current request contracts and account requirements. Tool availability, prices, and negotiated terms can change.

Sources

Third-party details were checked on November 10, 2026. Vendors change pricing and features often, so confirm on their site before you decide.