# AWS Lambda MicroVMs vs Prime Sandboxes: microVM pricing compared

Both give every sandbox its own kernel in a microVM. Prime's lower rates make the 2 vCPU, 4 GiB benchmark $1.52, against $4.20 on Lambda MicroVMs.

**Runtime is cheaper than both: 85% under Lambda and 58% under Prime.** The
benchmark, 1,000 one-minute runs at 2 vCPU and 4 GiB doing 20 CPU-seconds of
work each, costs $4.20 on AWS Lambda MicroVMs, $1.52 on Prime Sandboxes and
$0.64 on Runtime.

## At a glance

|           | AWS Lambda MicroVMs                          | Prime Sandboxes                                | Runtime                                                  |
| --------- | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Isolation | Firecracker microVM                          | Hardware-virtualized microVM, own guest kernel | Firecracker microVM, own kernel                          |
| CPU       | $0.0997 per baseline vCPU-hour               | $0.02 per vCPU-hour while running              | $0.025 per vCPU-hour of measured CPU, with a small floor |
| Memory    | $0.0132 per GB-hour                          | $0.0125 per GiB-hour                           | $0.0075 per reserved GiB-hour                            |
| Largest   | A 4 vCPU, 8 GB baseline                      | 16 vCPUs, 64 GiB, 128 GiB of disk              | 16 vCPUs and 64 GiB, paid                                |
| At once   | Hundreds launched within a minute            | 1,024 per account to start                     | 100 on a paid account, 50 in its first week              |
| Suspend   | Memory and disk in a snapshot, up to 8 hours | Snapshots listed as coming soon                | Memory and processes, 1 to 365 days                      |

## Why the gap is so wide

Memory costs about the same on both. CPU does not: Lambda charges five times
Prime's rate per vCPU-hour, and both charge it for every second a sandbox
runs. Two vCPUs for a minute cost Lambda 0.33 cents and Prime 0.07 cents
before memory. Runtime's measured CPU is dearer per hour than Prime's but is
only charged while the code computes.

## Cost for the same job

1,000 runs of 60 seconds, 2 vCPU and 4 GiB (4 GB on Lambda), 20 CPU-seconds
each, and Prime's 5 GiB default disk:

```
Lambda    CPU    1,000 × 60 s × 2 × $0.0000276944              = $3.32
          Memory 1,000 × 60 s × 4 × $0.0000036667              = $0.88
          Total                                                  $4.20

Prime     CPU    1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 2 × $0.02              = $0.67
          Memory 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0125            = $0.83
          Disk   1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 5 × $0.0002            = $0.02
          Total                                                  $1.52

Runtime   CPU    1,000 × 20 s / 3,600 × $0.025                = $0.14
          Memory 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0075           = $0.50
          Total                                                  $0.64
```

A month of 100,000 runs: $420.33 on Lambda, $151.67 on Prime, $63.89 on
Runtime. Kept busy for the whole minute on both CPUs, the job is $4.20 on Lambda, $1.52 on Prime and $1.33 on Runtime.

## Which one to pick

- **Lambda MicroVMs** where IAM, VPC access and AWS regions matter most.
- **Prime Sandboxes** for RL rollouts by the thousand on Prime Intellect.
- **Runtime** for the lowest bill at any load, and sandboxes that pause with
  their memory and fork today.

More: [Runtime vs AWS Lambda MicroVMs](/docs/aws-lambda-microvms-alternative),
[Runtime vs Prime Sandboxes](/docs/prime-sandboxes-alternative).

## Sources

Lambda and Prime rates checked 25 September 2026.

- [AWS Lambda pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/pricing/), [Lambda MicroVMs](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/lambda-microvms/)
- [Prime Sandboxes overview](https://docs.primeintellect.ai/sandboxes/overview), [Prime Sandboxes launch](https://www.primeintellect.ai/blog/sandboxes)
- Runtime [pricing](/docs/pricing)

Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026.