Which is better, CodeSandbox or Freestyle?
It depends on machine size and how many VMs run concurrently. For agents that mostly wait on a model, Runtime has the lowest bill, $0.64 for the job against $2.48 on CodeSandbox and $2.25 on Freestyle, and it runs 100 concurrent sandboxes without a plan. Pick the CodeSandbox SDK for the largest VMs, up to 64 cores; pick Freestyle for 32 vCPUs per VM or 400 concurrent VMs on Pro.
At a glance
| CodeSandbox SDK | Freestyle | Runtime | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker microVM | Full Linux virtual machines | Firecracker microVM, own kernel |
| Price | Nano (2 cores, 4 GB) $0.1486 an hour in credits | $0.1322 an hour for 2 vCPUs and 4 GiB, plus disk | Measured CPU and reserved memory |
| Billing | By the minute, rounded up | Metered on the allocation | By the second |
| Largest | 64 cores and 128 GB | 32 vCPUs and 64 GiB on Pro | 16 vCPUs and 64 GiB, paid |
| At once | 10 VMs free; 250 on Scale at $170 a month | 10 free, 40 Hobby, 400 Pro | 100 paid, no plan |
Plans set the ceiling
Both rivals tie concurrency to a plan. CodeSandbox's free Build plan runs ten VMs and Scale, at $170 a month, runs 250; Freestyle's free plan runs ten and Pro, at $500, runs 400. A paid Runtime account runs 100 sandboxes with no plan, and raises the limit on request.
Cost for the same job
2 cores and 4 GB, 60 seconds, 20 CPU-seconds, 1,000 runs; Freestyle with its 32 GiB default disk:
- Size
- 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × $0.1486
- $2.48
- CPU
- 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 2 × $0.04032
- $1.34
- Memory
- 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0129
- $0.86
- Disk
- 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 32 × $0.000086
- $0.05
- CPU
- 1,000 × 20 s / 3,600 × $0.025
- $0.14
- Memory
- 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0075
- $0.50
Kept busy for the whole minute on both CPUs, it stays $2.48 on CodeSandbox and $2.25 on Freestyle, and becomes $1.33 on Runtime.
Which one to pick
- CodeSandbox SDK for the largest VMs, up to 64 cores.
- Freestyle for VMs that fork live and hibernate.
- Runtime for the lowest bill and 100 concurrent sandboxes without a plan.
See Runtime vs CodeSandbox and Runtime vs Freestyle.
Runtime Cloud
Runtime costs 74% less than CodeSandbox and 72% less than Freestyle on the same job. 1,000 runs of a minute on 2 cores and 4 GB, each with 20 CPU-seconds of work, are $2.48 on a CodeSandbox Nano VM, $2.25 on Freestyle and $0.64 on Runtime.
Start with npx withruntime login; the free usage needs no card. Existing code moves over as the migration guide describes.
Sources
CodeSandbox rates checked 25 October 2026; Freestyle rates checked 25 October 2026.
- Together: CodeSandbox SDK, CodeSandbox SDK pricing
- Freestyle pricing, Freestyle VM pricing and limits
- Runtime pricing
Facts on this page were checked on 26 October 2026.