CreateOS Sandbox vs OpenAI Containers
OpenAI Containers are the easy choice for apps on OpenAI models that need Code Interpreter or a shell as a tool call, with outbound access off until an admin allowlists domains. CreateOS Sandbox is the choice for sandboxes that outlive a 20-minute idle window, serve an app on an HTTPS URL, or run agents on any model.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. OpenAI Containers 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
OpenAI Containers
OpenAI charges $0.03 (1 GB), $0.12 (4 GB), $0.48 (16 GB) or $1.92 (64 GB) per 20-minute container session, with eligible sessions billed by the minute after a 5-minute minimum; tokens bill separately, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where OpenAI Containers has the edge.
A sandbox lives until you destroy it and can pause and resume; an OpenAI container expires after 20 idle minutes and cannot be reactivated.
Opt-in public HTTPS URL for services; inbound access is not published for OpenAI containers.
vCPU and disk are part of every published shape, billed per second; OpenAI does not publish container CPU or disk.
Model-neutral: call it from any agent or model, not only through the Responses or Agents API.
Where OpenAI Containers is strong
There is no setup for OpenAI-model users: the model gets a Debian container with Python, Node, Java, Go and more, and outbound access stays off until an admin allowlists domains.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Your agent keeps a workspace for hours or days.
- You want to pause a sandbox and fork it.
- You run models from more than one provider.
Pick OpenAI Containers if
- Your app already uses the Responses API and needs code execution as a tool.
- You want outbound network off by default with admin-set domain allowlists.
- You need up to 64 GB of memory for a short session.
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 | OpenAI Containers |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Fully sandboxed VM (vendor-stated); technology not published |
| Pause and resume | Pause saves disk, memory and CPU state; vCPU stops billing, memory and storage still bill | Ephemeral; data deleted at expiry; expired containers cannot be reactivated |
| 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 | Off by default; org admin domain allowlist plus request-level network_policy; secrets injected at egress |
| Inbound access | Closed by default; opt-in public HTTPS URL | Not published |
| Largest size | 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise; 8 vCPU / 8 GB on Pro | Memory 1g, 4g, 16g or 64g; CPU and disk not published |
| Concurrency | 1 / 5 / 20 / 30 by plan; paused sandboxes count toward the cap | Code Interpreter 100 RPM per org; container concurrency not published |
| Session length | No cap; idle auto-pause 60 s to 24 h, off by default | Expires 20 minutes after last use; no maximum lifetime published |
| 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 | Per 20-minute session per container, $0.03 to $1.92 by memory |
| SDKs and interfaces | TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C#, Java SDKs (all but TypeScript pre-1.0), CLI, MCP, REST | Responses API tools, Containers API, Agents API; OpenAI SDKs |
Common Questions
How long does an OpenAI container last?
It expires after 20 minutes without use, measured from last_active_at, and an expired container cannot be reactivated. CreateOS sandboxes have no lifetime cap and can be paused with memory saved, then resumed later.
Can OpenAI containers reach the internet?
Not by default. An org admin sets a domain allowlist, and a request-level network_policy can only narrow it; domain-scoped secrets are injected at egress. CreateOS Sandbox is open with no rules and deny-by-default once any rule exists.
How are OpenAI containers billed?
Per 20-minute session per container, from $0.03 for 1 GB to $1.92 for 64 GB, with eligible sessions billed by the minute after a 5-minute minimum. CreateOS Sandbox bills per second on vCPU, memory and storage.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.