Comparisons · checked
Alternatives for running AI agents safely
E2B fits an agent loop you already run that needs a VM to execute code in, with sessions you can pause and resume. Daytona fits long-lived sandboxes your own agent controls, including GPUs, Windows machines and five SDK languages. Modal Sandboxes fit teams already building on Modal in Python who want sandboxes beside their functions and GPUs. Your own servers fit when you need full control of the runtime, GPUs, long-lived processes or a network with no outside access. Ephemeral fits when you want to hand over a whole background task: your prompt, files and allowed connections go in, a fresh microVM does the work with a budget reserved up front, and the machine is destroyed when it finishes.
At a glance
Who runs the agent, how long a session can last and how each is priced, as each vendor states it on October 22, 2026. Each comparison has the full table and its sources.
| Option | Who runs the agent loop | Longest session or run | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ephemeral | Ephemeral. You send a prompt, input, files and the connections it may use; the agent runs inside the microVM with the model you choose and returns the output. | 1 hour: the timeout is 1 to 3,600 seconds, 300 by default. | Prepaid credits from $5, no subscription and no free credit: $0.005 per run plus $0.0002 per second of run time, model calls at the provider's price plus 15%, $0.001 per web fetch and $0.015 per web search. |
| E2B | You do, in your application or in an agent you install in the sandbox. E2B provides the sandboxes in which agents execute code, process data and run tools.[1] | 1 hour of continuous runtime on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro, custom on Enterprise. Pausing resets it.[2] | Plan fee plus per-second usage: Hobby $0 with a one-time $100 credit, Pro $150 a month, Enterprise custom with a $3,000 monthly minimum. $0.000014 per vCPU-second, $0.0000045 per GiB-second of memory.[3] |
| Daytona | You do, in your application or in an agent you install in the sandbox. Daytona runs the sandboxes, which your code drives through its SDKs, API and CLI.[4] | No fixed maximum: a sandbox stops after 15 minutes of inactivity by default, can be set never to stop, and can be given a wall-clock time-to-live.[5] | Pay as you go, billed per second: $0.0504 per vCPU-hour, $0.0162 per GiB-hour of memory, $0.000108 per GiB-hour of storage after the first 5 GiB, GPUs from $0.57 an hour. $200 of free compute included.[6] |
| Modal Sandboxes | You do, in your application or in an agent you install in the Sandbox. Your code creates the Sandbox and runs commands in it.[7] | 5 minutes by default, up to 24 hours. Longer work continues from a filesystem snapshot in a new Sandbox.[7] | Plan fee plus per-second usage: Starter $0 with $30 of credit a month, Team $250 a month with $100 of credit, Enterprise custom. Sandboxes: $0.00003942 per physical core-second (2 vCPU), $0.00000667 per GiB-second of memory.[8] |
All comparisons
- Ephemeral vs E2BE2B is a sandbox your own agent loop calls; Ephemeral runs the whole agent task in a fresh microVM with a reserved budget. Features, limits and prices checked October 22, 2026.
- Ephemeral vs DaytonaDaytona runs sandboxes your agent controls; Ephemeral runs the whole agent task in a fresh microVM with a reserved budget. Features, limits and prices checked October 22, 2026.
- Ephemeral vs Modal SandboxesModal Sandboxes are containers your code drives; Ephemeral runs the whole agent task in a fresh microVM with a reserved budget. Features, limits and prices checked October 22, 2026.
- Ephemeral vs your own serversWhat you build and run yourself when AI agents run on your own servers or containers, and what Ephemeral does for each run: isolation, credentials, budgets, records and patching.
How these comparisons are made
Every statement about another product was checked on that vendor's own pricing page or documentation on October 22, 2026, and each page lists those sources with the date. Ephemeral's prices come from its pricing page as they are today. The pages compare published features, limits and list prices; they do not measure speed or reliability, and they leave out negotiated pricing. The comparison with running agents on your own servers describes what each approach involves rather than a product, so it cites only Ephemeral's documentation. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us through the support page.
Sources
- https://docs.e2b.dev/, checked
- https://docs.e2b.dev/billing, checked
- https://e2b.dev/pricing, checked
- https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/, checked
- https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/sandboxes, checked
- https://www.daytona.io/pricing, checked
- https://modal.com/docs/guide/sandbox, checked
- https://modal.com/pricing, checked