CreateOS Sandbox vs Amp Orbs
If Amp is already your coding agent, Orbs are the natural way to keep its threads running in the cloud. If you are building your own agent product and need sandboxes you create from code, CreateOS Sandbox gives you a REST API, SDKs, region choice and outbound rules that Orbs do not publish.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. Amp Orbs pricing as published on 17 October 2026. Rates billed per GB rather than per GiB, or as bundled sizes, are quoted as published rather than converted.
CreateOS Sandbox
- Compute
- $0.0362 /vCPU-hr
- Memory
- $0.0116 /GiB-hr
Amp Orbs
Amp bills orbs per minute by size, from $0.08 per hour for a1.tiny (1 vCPU / 2 GB) to $2.13 per hour for a1.3xlarge (16 vCPU / 44 GB), and the Hobby plan is free with pay-as-you-go orbs, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where Amp Orbs has the edge.
A general-purpose sandbox API: REST plus TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C# and Java SDKs, callable from any product, not tied to one agent's threads.
Outbound rules you set per sandbox and the host enforces; Amp publishes no egress policy for orbs.
You choose where code runs: eu or us at create time; Amp does not publish orb regions.
The devbox:1 image already carries Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor CLI and Pi, so you can run the agent of your choice.
Where Amp Orbs is strong
Orbs are built into Amp itself. Each thread gets a machine with the repo and tools ready, it keeps working when you close the laptop, a paused orb costs nothing even for weeks, and portal URLs let you review a running app from the web or an iPhone.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- You are embedding code execution in your own app or agent and need an API and SDKs.
- You need to restrict what the code can reach on the network.
- You need data to stay in an eu or us region you pick.
Pick Amp Orbs if
- Your team already uses Amp and wants its threads to run in the cloud with no setup.
- You want idle machines that cost nothing while paused.
- You review agent work from a phone and want authenticated preview URLs per thread.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Every dimension side by side, checked on 17 October 2026 against each vendor's own docs and pricing pages. "Not published" means we could not find it on the vendor's pages, not that the feature is missing.
| Dimension | CreateOS Sandbox | Amp Orbs |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Not published; docs say each thread gets 'a fresh, isolated environment' |
| What persists | Disk stays until you destroy the sandbox; pause also saves memory and CPU state | Conversation, files and services are in place on wake; a paused orb costs nothing (vendor-stated) |
| Create by API | Yes: REST API, six SDKs (TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C#, Java), CLI and MCP server | Created per Amp thread from the CLI, web, Mac or iPhone app; no general sandbox API published |
| Outbound network | Open with no rules; deny-by-default once any host, IP, CIDR or wildcard rule exists, enforced on the host outside the VM | Not published |
| Largest size | 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise; 8 / 8 on Pro, 4 / 4 on Beginner, 1 / 1 on Free | 16 vCPU / 32 GB for paid users; 16 vCPU / 44 GB on Gigawatt and Enterprise; 60 GB disk |
| Billing | Per second: $0.03616363 per vCPU-hour, $0.01159025 per GiB-hour, storage $0.0001584 per GB-hour | Per minute by size, $0.08/hour (1 vCPU / 2 GB) to $2.13/hour (16 vCPU / 44 GB) |
| Self-host | Enterprise only, onboarded by our team | Not open source; pricing page says you can use your own runners for free |
| Built for | Sandboxes created by API for agent and untrusted code | Running Amp coding-agent threads in the cloud |
Common Questions
Can I call Amp Orbs from my own application?
Amp does not publish a general sandbox SDK or REST API for orbs; they are created per Amp thread from the Amp CLI, web, desktop or iPhone apps. CreateOS Sandbox is called directly from REST or from TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C# or Java SDKs.
What does an idle Amp orb cost compared with a paused CreateOS sandbox?
Amp says a paused orb costs nothing, even for weeks. A paused CreateOS sandbox stops vCPU billing but still bills memory and storage, because the full memory image is kept so processes resume where they left off. Orbs pause after 5 minutes of agent inactivity and 20 minutes without you.
How many orbs can run at once compared with CreateOS sandboxes?
Amp lets each user start a burst of 20 metered orbs, with higher limits through support. CreateOS allows 1, 5, 20 or 30 concurrent sandboxes on Free, Beginner, Pro and Enterprise, and paused sandboxes count toward that cap until destroyed.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.