CreateOS Sandbox vs GitLab.Com Hosted Runners
GitLab.com hosted runners are the obvious choice for GitLab CI: one ephemeral VM per job, inbound blocked, no VM-to-VM traffic, and GPU runners in the same system. CreateOS Sandbox is the choice when an agent needs a machine outside a pipeline that lasts longer than 3 hours, accepts an inbound URL when asked and can be paused. The isolation is similar in spirit; the lifecycles are opposite.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. GitLab.com hosted runners 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
GitLab.com hosted runners
GitLab includes 400 compute minutes/month on Free, 10,000 on Premium ($29/user/month billed annually) and 50,000 on Ultimate; minutes count job duration times a cost factor (Linux small 1 to 2xlarge 12, GPU 7), and the price of extra minutes was not found, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where GitLab.com hosted runners has the edge.
No hard time limit, against GitLab's 3-hour cap on hosted runner jobs.
Outbound allowlists per sandbox; GitLab hosted runners allow outbound internet with no per-job rules published.
Optional inbound HTTPS, where GitLab blocks all inbound traffic to runner VMs.
Reuse a machine: pause, resume or fork it. GitLab runner VMs serve a single job.
Where GitLab.com hosted runners is strong
A clear security model for hosted jobs: one ephemeral VM per job, inbound blocked, no VM-to-VM traffic, plus GPU runners in the same CI system.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Agent sessions run past 3 hours
- The agent's app needs a public URL while it runs
- You want to limit which hosts code can reach
Pick GitLab.com hosted runners if
- Your code and pipelines are on GitLab.com
- You want single-use VMs per CI job with inbound blocked
- You need a T4 GPU runner inside CI
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 | GitLab.com hosted runners |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | API-created sandboxes for agent-written and untrusted code | Running GitLab CI/CD pipelines without operating your own runners |
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Full VM per job (Container-Optimized OS with Docker); each VM serves a single job |
| Trigger model | API, SDK, CLI or MCP call, on demand | .gitlab-ci.yml pipelines; GitLab API |
| Session length | No cap; optional idle auto-pause from 60 s to 24 h, off by default | 3 hours, regardless of project setting |
| Pause and resume | Yes. Saves disk, memory and CPU state; vCPU stops billing while paused, memory and storage still bill | Not published; VMs are single-use, caches and artifacts carry over |
| Outbound network | Open with no rules; deny-by-default once any rule exists (host, IP, CIDR, wildcard), enforced on the host outside the VM | Public internet allowed; inbound blocked; no VM-to-VM traffic |
| Billing | Per second: $0.03616363/vCPU-hr, $0.01159025/GiB-hr, storage $0.0001584/GB-hr; no egress fees (50 GiB bandwidth budget per sandbox by default) | Compute minutes (duration times cost factor), included per tier |
Common Questions
What is the job time limit on GitLab.com hosted runners?
Three hours. Jobs on GitLab.com hosted runners time out after 3 hours whatever the project setting says. A CreateOS sandbox has no lifetime limit and runs until you destroy it, pause it or it reaches an idle auto-pause you have set.
Can two GitLab runner VMs talk to each other?
No. GitLab's hosted runner firewall blocks VM-to-VM traffic and all inbound traffic from the internet. CreateOS sandboxes also cannot reach each other unless you place them on the same private network.
Which GPU does GitLab offer on hosted runners?
GitLab's saas-linux-medium-amd64-gpu-standard runner has 4 vCPU, 15 GB and one NVIDIA Tesla T4 or similar, on Premium and Ultimate, at a cost factor of 7. CreateOS offers no GPU shapes.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.