CreateOS Sandbox vs Sealos DevBox
Sealos DevBox makes sense when one platform should take your app from dev environment to production for a fixed monthly price. CreateOS Sandbox makes sense when you need short-lived environments created by API for agent or untrusted code and billed only while they run.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. Sealos DevBox 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
Sealos DevBox
Sealos plans are fixed monthly packages, from Starter at $34 per month for 2 vCPU / 2Gi ($7 new-user price) to Enterprise at $12,451 per month for 256 vCPU / 1024Gi, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where Sealos DevBox has the edge.
Per-second billing with no monthly package to size in advance.
Create and exec by API from six SDKs; Sealos publishes no DevBox API on the pages read.
Pause with memory state, fork from a paused sandbox, and an egress allowlist; none is documented for DevBox.
Where Sealos DevBox is strong
Sealos gives you one platform from dev environment to production: the same runtime is released as a versioned OCI image and deployed next to managed databases and object storage, at a fixed and predictable monthly price. Its source is available under the Sealos Sustainable Use License.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Agents need a fresh environment per task, created from code.
- Usage is bursty and you want to pay per second.
- You must restrict outbound network access.
Pick Sealos DevBox if
- You want to develop, release and host an app with its database on one Kubernetes platform.
- You prefer a fixed monthly bill with included traffic.
- You want source-available code you can read and run.
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 | Sealos DevBox |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Not published; Kubernetes-native with workspace-based multi-tenant isolation |
| What persists | Disk stays until you destroy the sandbox; pause also saves memory and CPU state | Storage is part of the runtime; releases are versioned OCI images for deploy or rollback |
| Create by API | Yes: REST API, six SDKs (TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C#, Java), CLI and MCP server | Not published; web console and IDE plugins over SSH |
| 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 | Plan packages up to 256 vCPU / 1024Gi; per-DevBox limit not published |
| Billing | Per second: $0.03616363 per vCPU-hour, $0.01159025 per GiB-hour, storage $0.0001584 per GB-hour | Fixed monthly resource package, $34 to $12,451 per month |
| Self-host | Enterprise only, onboarded by our team | Source available under the Sealos Sustainable Use License (not OSI open source) |
| Built for | Sandboxes created by API for agent and untrusted code | Developing in a remote runtime, then releasing and deploying on Sealos |
Common Questions
Is Sealos DevBox billed per second like CreateOS?
No. Sealos sells fixed monthly resource packages, such as Hobby at $70 per month for 4 vCPU and 4Gi RAM, with discounted first purchases. CreateOS bills each sandbox per second while it runs, at $0.03616363 per vCPU-hour and $0.01159025 per GiB-hour.
Can I self-host Sealos instead of using CreateOS?
Sealos source is available on GitHub under the Sealos Sustainable Use License, a fair-code license that is not OSI open source. CreateOS has no self-serve install; self-hosting is enterprise only and onboarded by our team.
Does Sealos DevBox deploy my app to production?
Yes, that is its main draw: a DevBox runtime is released as an OCI image and deployed on Sealos with public URLs, databases and storage. CreateOS Sandbox runs code in isolated micro-VMs and exposes an opt-in HTTPS URL, but it is not an app hosting platform with managed databases.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.