CreateOS Sandbox vs Microsoft Foundry
Foundry is the fit for enterprises on Azure building agents with Foundry models that want governed code execution inside Azure identity, VNet and data-residency controls. CreateOS Sandbox is the fit for agents that need a general Linux machine with any language, controlled network access and sizes past 2 vCPU / 4 GiB. Foundry's Code Interpreter is Python only, has no network and stops after an hour.
Microsoft now calls the product Microsoft Foundry Agent Service, formerly Azure AI Foundry; Agents (classic) is deprecated and retires on 31 March 2027.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. Microsoft Foundry 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
Lower compute rate- Compute
- $0.0362 /vCPU-hr
- Memory
- $0.0116 /GiB-hr
Microsoft Foundry
- Compute
- $0.0994 /vCPU-hr
- Memory
- $0.0118 /GiB-hr
Microsoft's East US retail prices list Code Interpreter at $0.03 per session (global) and hosted agents at $0.0994 per vCPU-hour and $0.0118 per GiB-hour, with model tokens billed separately, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where Microsoft Foundry has the edge.
Lower compute rates than Foundry hosted agents: $0.03616363 per vCPU-hour and $0.01159025 per GiB-hour, against $0.0994 and $0.0118.
Larger sandboxes, up to 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise, where hosted agents top out at 2 vCPU / 4 GiB.
Any language and package in the sandbox, with images like devbox:1, while Code Interpreter is Python with a fixed package set.
Pause and fork with memory state; Foundry publishes no fork, and Code Interpreter sessions end after 1 hour active.
Where Microsoft Foundry is strong
Agent sandboxing tied into Azure identity, with a Microsoft Entra ID per agent, VNet isolation, regional data residency and the Foundry model catalog, plus a no-network, Hyper-V-isolated Python sandbox enabled with a single tool flag.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Your agent needs Node.js, Go, Rust or shell tools, not only Python.
- Your agent needs more than 2 vCPU / 4 GiB.
- You want sandboxes that can be paused and forked rather than timed out.
Pick Microsoft Foundry if
- You build agents on Azure with Foundry models and want code execution inside Azure boundaries.
- You want Python analysis and charts with no network access at all.
- You want hosted agents authenticated with Microsoft Entra ID in one of 31 Azure regions.
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 | Microsoft Foundry |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Code Interpreter: Hyper-V per session on Container Apps dynamic sessions. Hosted agents: per-session VM-isolated sandbox |
| Create and destroy by API | Yes: REST API, CLI, MCP server and SDKs for TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C# and Java (all but TypeScript pre-1.0) | Yes: Python, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript and Java SDKs, REST, Azure CLI, azd |
| Memory snapshot (pause and resume) | Yes: disk, memory and CPU state saved; vCPU stops billing, memory and storage still bill | Hosted agents restore $HOME and /files on resume, compute deprovisioned when idle; memory snapshot not published |
| Fork | Yes: fork a paused sandbox into many independent sandboxes | Not published |
| Outbound network controls | Open with no rules; deny-by-default once any host, IP, CIDR or wildcard rule exists, enforced on the host outside the VM | Code Interpreter: no outbound network. Hosted agents: default not stated; customer VNet for outbound |
| Billing granularity | Per second while running: $0.03616363/vCPU-hr, $0.01159025/GiB-hr, storage $0.0001584/GB-hr | Code Interpreter per session; hosted agents per vCPU-hour and GiB-hour |
| Largest size | 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise; 8 vCPU / 8 GB on Pro | Hosted agents 2 vCPU / 4 GiB per session; Code Interpreter not published |
| GPU | None; no GPU shapes | Not published |
Common Questions
Can Microsoft Foundry's Code Interpreter install packages or reach the internet?
No on both counts, per Microsoft's docs: Code Interpreter is Python with a fixed package set, and its dynamic sessions cannot make outbound requests. A CreateOS sandbox lets you install what you need and keeps outbound open until you add allow rules.
Do Foundry hosted agents keep files between turns?
Yes. Hosted agents keep $HOME and /files across turns and idle periods and restore them on resume, with compute deprovisioned when idle, and session data is deleted after 30 days of inactivity. CreateOS pause keeps disk, memory and CPU state, and the sandbox has no lifetime cap.
Is user data shared between sessions in Foundry Code Interpreter?
It can be. Microsoft warns that Code Interpreter used through a toolbox in a hosted agent has no user isolation, so all users in a project share the container context. On CreateOS each sandbox is its own Firecracker micro-VM, and sandboxes cannot reach each other unless placed on the same private network.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
- Microsoft Foundry: Code Interpreter sandbox, Hyper-V, timeouts, no egress
- Microsoft Foundry: hosted agents isolation, sizes, sessions, regions
- Microsoft Foundry: custom code interpreter (preview)
- Microsoft Foundry: billing model, data handling
- Microsoft Foundry: pricing structure
- Microsoft Foundry: exact rates (Microsoft Azure Retail Prices API, East US)
- CreateOS Sandbox pricing
- CreateOS Sandbox limits
- CreateOS sandbox security
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.