Sandbox guide

Provider · checked 2026-10-28

Boat

Ubuntu VMs in the EU, billed per second, with seven coding agents preinstalled and no pause at all.

boat.dev12 providersSources linked

Boat sells whole Ubuntu virtual machines, one per sandbox, priced per second, aimed at running coding agents and agent-generated code. Each has its own kernel, a dedicated IPv6 (sometimes IPv4), Docker, SSH, SCP and a 60 fps virtual desktop.

It is built around three audiences: people running agents on their own work, platforms giving each end user a machine, and teams that want a cheap always-available dev box.

Seven coding-agent harnesses are preinstalled on every machine and can be prompted by name through one API call. Boat also runs an AI credentials proxy so sandboxes hold placeholder model keys.

At a glance

Who it is forPeople who want a normal Ubuntu server per agent, cheap always-on capacity in the EU, and preinstalled coding agents without building an image.
IsolationFull Ubuntu 24.04 KVM virtual machine with its own kernel, root, Docker and SSH. Shared vCPUs on a dedicated host. No GPU and no ARM: x86-64 only.
SizesFour fixed sizes, all with 51 GB of disk except the largest: small 2 vCPU / 4 GB, default 4 / 8, large 8 / 16 (111 GB), xlarge 16 / 32 (251 GB). No custom size, no extra disk, no volumes.

How it bills

ModelMonthly plan that is prepaid machine time plus limits, with a separate dollar wallet for overage.
MeterPer second while the machine exists, at a flat hourly rate per size: $0.018, $0.036, $0.072 or $0.200.
While stoppedZero machine time, and the disk is kept free for 14 days. After that the data is gone unless you saved a snapshot.
Plan feeThe plan is not a fee: $20 buys $20 of VM time, but unused plan time expires monthly. Overages, extra saved snapshots and paid starts draw from the wallet.
Minimum$20 a month, and there is no free tier. The 7-day trial needs a card and is capped at 25 hours of compute.

How Boat lets you try before paying is on Trials and free tiers.

Where it stands out

  • Exact-size fits for all three shared workloads, and the cheapest always-on 4 vCPU box with 50 GB of disk at $26.28.
  • Seven coding agents preinstalled and promptable over the API.
  • An AI credentials proxy so sandboxes hold placeholders, not model keys.
  • No egress bill and free automatic snapshots.
  • A 60 fps desktop, SSH and Docker on a normal Ubuntu VM.

Using it without writing code

DashboardYes: sandboxes with type, monthly cost and a desktop button, snapshots you can browse and download, environment settings, AI sign-ins, organisation, billing and account.
Without codePartly. You can watch and drive a machine, connect an AI subscription and edit what new sandboxes get, all by clicking. Creating and prompting a sandbox is boat new then boat prompt; there is no wizard and no gallery.
SignupA card, and a terminal for the installer. There is no free tier; the first plan starts with a 7-day trial through Stripe Checkout. Agents can sign themselves up through auth.md, but a human still claims the account and enters the card.
Docs and supportAbout 100 Mintlify pages, each also as Markdown, plus llms.txt and a docs MCP server. Support is email and Discord, with a public status page.

Caveats and contradictions

Shown as the research found them. A contradiction means the provider's own pages disagree; an open question means the answer is not published.

  1. 01

    There is no pause Open question

    Stop saves the disk, removes the machine, and loses memory and hand-started processes. Every resume is a reboot with a new IP, although Docker containers and enabled systemd units come back.

  2. 02

    Snapshots are disk-only and newest-only Open question

    Boat snapshots the disk every minute while a sandbox runs, but only the newest snapshot can be resumed or forked. There is no point-in-time restore.

  3. 03

    The disk expires 14 days after a stop Contradiction

    Docs and FAQ say 14 days; the Terms say up to about 30 days. A box untouched for two weeks returns 409 snapshot_data_expired.

  4. 04

    Its docs and marketing disagree on stop and on the number of sizes Contradiction

    The homepage still says three sizes and pause billing; the docs list four sizes and state there is no pause.

  5. 05

    battleships.dev's Boat record has drifted Open question

    battleships.dev is built by the Boat team, but its Boat entry is dated 2026-09-30 and disagrees with today's docs on disk sizes, egress caps, snapshot retention and whether xlarge needs an operator.

Sources

The three shared workloads

List-price illustrations, not quotes

A · 1,000 short tasks

$20 a month (the plan floor)

small (2 vCPU / 4 GB / 51 GB), deleted after each task

  • Compute1,000 × 600 s × $0.018/h ÷ 3,600$3.00
  • Bill$20 plan; included time absorbs it$20.00
  • The size exists exactly, so no substitution is needed.
  • The binding constraint is starts, not money: 33 creates a day is inside the 200-a-day limit.

All 1,000 tasks in one day would hit the start limit: starts 201–600 cost $22 from the wallet, and 601 fails.

B · One always-on box

$26.28 a month

default (4 vCPU / 8 GB / 51 GB), 730 h

  • Compute730 × $0.036$26.28
  • Plan plus wallet$20 plan + $6.28 overage$26.28
  • The first month costs $35 cash because the minimum wallet top-up is $15, leaving $8.72 in the wallet.
  • Auto-stop must be turned off, or the box stops after one hour.

C · Three hours a day

$1.62 of usage, billed at $20

small (2 vCPU / 4 GB / 51 GB), 90 running hours

  • Compute90 × $0.018$1.62
  • Stopped time630 h at $0$0.00
  • The 51 GB disk covers the 20 GB ask, so this is an exact fit.
  • The disk is kept free for 14 days after a stop; a longer gap needs a saved snapshot.