CreateOS Sandbox vs Deno Sandbox
Deno Sandbox suits JavaScript and TypeScript teams on Deno Deploy who run short untrusted-code sessions and want secrets that never enter the VM. CreateOS Sandbox suits agents that run longer than 30 minutes, need more than 2 vCPU and 4 GB, or must pause with memory and fork. Both run Firecracker micro-VMs.
Deno describes Sandbox as pre-release, with a default of 5 concurrent sandboxes per organization.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. Deno Sandbox 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
Deno Sandbox
- Compute
- See below
- Memory
- $0.0250 /GiB-hr
Deno Sandbox bills CPU time at $0.10 per CPU-hour, memory at $0.025 per GiB-hour, volumes at $0.20 per GiB-month and egress at $0.20 per GiB beyond plan allowances, on Pro ($20/month) or Builder ($200/month), as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where Deno Sandbox has the edge.
No session cap, against Deno's 30-minute limit per sandbox session.
Shapes up to 8 vCPU and 8 GB on Pro and 8 vCPU and 16 GB on Enterprise; Deno tops out at 2 vCPU and 4 GB.
Sandboxes are on the Free plan, with one concurrent sandbox; Deno's free Deploy plan has no sandboxes.
No per-GB egress fee; each sandbox has a 50 GiB bandwidth budget by default.
Where Deno Sandbox is strong
Its proxy injects secrets only for approved hosts, so agent code can call APIs without ever seeing the real key, and a sandbox can be promoted straight to a Deno Deploy app.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Agent sessions run for hours or days.
- You need Go, Rust, C# or Java SDKs alongside TypeScript and Python.
- You want pause with memory, and fork.
Pick Deno Sandbox if
- You deploy on Deno Deploy and want to promote a sandbox straight to an app.
- Agent code must call APIs without ever seeing the real key.
- Sessions are short and fit in 2 vCPU and 4 GB.
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 | Deno Sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Firecracker micro-VM |
| Pause and resume | Pause saves disk, memory and CPU state; vCPU stops billing, memory and storage still bill | Ephemeral by default; can persist past the connection; volumes for durable storage |
| Fork | Yes, fork a paused sandbox into many independent copies | Not published |
| Outbound network default | Open with no rules; deny-by-default once any host, IP, CIDR or wildcard rule exists, enforced on the host outside the VM | Open unless restricted; allowNet limits a sandbox to approved hosts; secrets substituted only for approved hosts |
| Inbound access | Closed by default; opt-in public HTTPS URL | exposeHttp(port) preview URL; deploy() publishes to Deno Deploy |
| Largest size | 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise; 8 vCPU / 8 GB on Pro | 2 vCPU; up to 4096 MB memory; 10 GB ephemeral disk |
| Concurrency | 1 / 5 / 20 / 30 by plan; paused sandboxes count toward the cap | Pro 3, Builder 20 per region; pre-release default 5 per organization |
| Session length | No cap; idle auto-pause 60 s to 24 h, off by default | Up to 30 minutes |
| Billing | Per second: $0.03616363 per vCPU-hour, $0.01159025 per GiB-hour, storage $0.0001584 per GB-hour; no egress fees, 50 GiB bandwidth budget per sandbox | CPU time $0.10 per CPU-hour, memory $0.025 per GiB-hour, egress $0.20 per GiB over allowance |
| SDKs and interfaces | TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C#, Java SDKs (all but TypeScript pre-1.0), CLI, MCP, REST | JavaScript/TypeScript (@deno/sandbox on JSR and npm), Python (PyPI) |
Common Questions
How long can a Deno Sandbox session run?
Up to 30 minutes, configurable per sandbox and bound to a session. CreateOS Sandbox has no lifetime cap; a sandbox keeps running until you destroy or pause it, or until optional idle auto-pause kicks in.
How does Deno keep secrets out of the sandbox?
Its proxy substitutes secrets only on outbound requests to approved hosts, so the real values never enter the VM. CreateOS Sandbox enforces egress allowlists on the host outside the VM, but does not document secret substitution.
Is Deno Sandbox on the free Deno Deploy plan?
No. Sandboxes need Deno Deploy Pro at $20/month or Builder at $200/month. The CreateOS Free plan includes one concurrent sandbox at up to 1 vCPU and 1 GB, with 500 credits and no card required.
Is Deno Sandbox certified for compliance?
Deno states that Deno Deploy is SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certified, with a HIPAA BAA on enterprise contracts. CreateOS is SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified, with reports available under NDA.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.