CreateOS Sandbox vs Shellbox
For a personal dev box or a hobby agent runner, shellbox is cheaper and simpler: one SSH command makes a microVM that pauses with processes intact when you disconnect, for $0.02 per hour of a 2 vCPU / 4 GB slot. Pick CreateOS Sandbox when your code, not a person at a terminal, creates sandboxes, because it has a REST API and SDKs, egress allowlists and a US region.
Pricing at a Glance
CreateOS rates verified 17 October 2026. shellbox 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
shellbox
shellbox charges $0.02 per hour per x1 slot (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD) while running, billed per minute, and $0.50 per month per slot when parked, from a prepaid balance with a $10 minimum top-up, as of 17 October 2026.
Where CreateOS Sandbox Fits Better
What CreateOS Sandbox brings to this matchup, with a plain note on where shellbox has the edge.
A REST API and SDKs in six languages for programmatic agent platforms; shellbox offers an SSH command API only, with no REST API or SDK.
Outbound allowlists by host, IP, CIDR or wildcard, enforced on the host so code inside the VM cannot change them.
Managed regions in the US and the EU; shellbox runs in Helsinki, with a US region planned.
Where shellbox is strong
shellbox needs almost no setup: one SSH command creates a Firecracker microVM with HTTPS, IPv6 and an email address, it pauses with processes and TCP state intact when you disconnect, and a parked box costs $0.50 a month.
Which to Pick
Pick CreateOS Sandbox if
- Your service creates and destroys sandboxes from code.
- You need to limit where sandbox code can connect.
- You want a US region today.
Pick shellbox if
- You live in the terminal and want a persistent box without an account.
- You want the lowest running price here: $0.02 per hour for 2 vCPU / 4 GB.
- You want a box that wakes on an HTTPS request or runs on cron.
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 | shellbox |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker micro-VM with its own guest kernel | Firecracker microVM by default, or Cloud Hypervisor for nested virtualization |
| Pause and resume | Saves disk, memory and CPU state; vCPU billing stops while paused, memory and storage still bill | Pauses into a memory snapshot 120 s after the last SSH session; resumes on connect |
| Fork | Fork a paused sandbox into many independent copies | duplicate copies a box with its filesystem and memory snapshot |
| 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 | Not published; bandwidth shared and may be throttled |
| Inbound access | Closed by default; opt-in HTTPS URL | Public HTTPS URL to port 80, custom domains, inbound email, public IPv6, SSH port forwarding |
| Largest size | 8 vCPU / 16 GB on Enterprise; 8 / 8 on Pro, 4 / 4 on Beginner, 1 / 1 on Free | x8: 16 vCPU, 32 GB RAM, 400 GB SSD; fixed at creation |
| Concurrency | 1 / 5 / 20 / 30 by plan (Free to Enterprise); paused sandboxes count | 16 running slots, 64 total per account |
| Session length | No cap; optional idle auto-pause from 60 s to 24 h, off by default | No maximum; keepalive runs indefinitely |
| 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) | $0.02/hour per 2 vCPU / 4 GB slot, per minute; parked $0.50/month |
| SDKs and interfaces | TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C#, Java (all but TypeScript pre-1.0), CLI, MCP, REST | SSH command API only (--json); no REST API or SDK |
Common Questions
Can I create shellbox boxes from my application code?
Only by running SSH commands, which can return JSON; shellbox has no REST API, tokens or SDK. CreateOS has a REST API, a CLI, an MCP server and SDKs in TypeScript, Go, Python, Rust, C# and Java, with all but TypeScript pre-1.0.
Does shellbox keep my processes when I disconnect?
Yes. 120 seconds after the last SSH session closes, the box pauses into a memory snapshot with processes, shell history and TCP state, and resumes when you reconnect. CreateOS pause also keeps memory and CPU state, but you trigger it by API or by optional idle auto-pause.
Where do shellbox boxes run?
On bare metal at Hetzner in Helsinki, Finland, with a US region planned. shellbox also states that it keeps no backups, so store important data elsewhere. CreateOS runs in two managed regions, eu and us.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
See CreateOS Sandbox for yourself
Book a demo, or explore the Sandbox and its pricing.