Sandbox guide

Provider · checked 2026-10-28

Morph

Full VMs with memory-and-disk snapshots, branched into parallel copies, billed in MCUs.

cloud.morph.so12 providersSources linked

Morph Cloud sells devboxes and lower-level instances: full virtual machines that can run Docker-in-Docker, a local Kubernetes cluster or a self-hosted database.

Its distinctive primitive is the snapshot: an immutable copy of memory and disk that can boot a new instance with running processes, or branch into many copies for fan-out.

At a glance

Who it is forTeams running parallel agent environments, RL rollouts or test fan-out, and developers who want a cloud devbox with a dashboard.
IsolationFull virtual machine, with Docker-in-Docker, systemd and root documented. FUSE is available; nested virtualisation and other guest operating systems are experimental.
SizesResources are chosen at creation: vCPU, memory and disk size. No complete size catalogue, GPU statement, region list or data-residency commitment is published.

How it bills

ModelPrepaid MCUs with optional monthly plans that include an allocation.
MeterOne MCU covers 1 vCPU-hour, 4 GB RAM-hours, 16 GB disk-hours or 5 TB snapshot-hours. The rate is the maximum of those dimensions, at $0.05 per MCU-hour.
While stoppedA paused instance bills only for the snapshot taken. A stopped instance is deleted, so its own disk is not a cheap parked state.
Plan feeDeveloper $0, Team $40 and Scale $250 a month, including 0, 1,000 and 7,500 MCUs.
MinimumNo published minimum duration. The signup docs promise 300 free compute hours a month; the pricing page shows 0 MCUs and asks you to buy.

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

Where it stands out

  • Snapshots capture memory, processes and disk, and are immutable.
  • Branch one snapshot into many running instances.
  • Pause bills only the snapshot.
  • Full VMs with Docker-in-Docker and systemd.
  • A devbox dashboard for creating and opening environments.

Using it without writing code

DashboardA devbox dashboard can create a machine from a template or snapshot and open it in VS Code.
Without codeA devbox can be created without API code, but setup asks for an SDK or CLI and an API key.
SignupAn invite is mentioned in the signup docs; card requirement and waitlist status are not published.
Docs and supportDocumentation covers devboxes, instances, snapshots, volumes and agent tokens. No independent status page was verified.

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

    Free credit is described two ways Contradiction

    Signup docs promise 300 free compute hours a month on the $0 Developer plan; the pricing page lists 0 MCUs and says to purchase MCUs to use compute.

  2. 02

    Stop deletes the instance Open question

    The stop API releases the instance and its resources; only a separately retained snapshot survives.

  3. 03

    Snapshot billing basis is unpublished Open question

    Whether snapshots bill allocated or stored bytes, and how compression and deduplication count, is not stated.

  4. 04

    Volumes are object storage Open question

    Morph Volumes is an S3-compatible product accessed through a gateway and CLI, distinct from an attached disk or EFS mount.

  5. 05

    No published region, GPU or architecture list Open question

    Host locations, data residency and GPU availability were not confirmed in primary material.

Sources

The three shared workloads

List-price illustrations, not quotes

A · 1,000 short tasks

$16.67

2 vCPU / 4 GiB, disk under 32 GiB, deleted after each task

  • MCUs166.67 h × max(2, 4/4, disk/16) = 333.33 MCU333.33
  • Cost333.33 × $0.05$16.67
  • Retained snapshots are excluded; a larger disk raises the MCU count.
  • The requested shape can be provisioned exactly.

B · One always-on box

$146.00

4 vCPU / 8 GiB / 50 GiB, 730 h

  • MCUs730 h × max(4, 8/4, 50/16) = 2,920 MCU2,920
  • Cost2,920 × $0.05$146.00
  • The disk dimension sets the rate at 4 MCU/hour.
  • A plan allocation would discount this, but list-rate usage is shown.

C · Three hours a day

$9.15

2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 20 GiB, 90 running hours, 630 paused

  • Running90 × 2 MCU × $0.05$9.00
  • Paused snapshot24 GB × 630 h × $0.00001$0.15
  • Paused billing is charged on the snapshot, not on the instance.
  • The snapshot's billable size is an assumption; actual counting is not published.