Runtime

CodeSandbox vs Prime Sandboxes: fixed sizes or hourly parts

CodeSandbox sells fixed VM sizes by the minute; Prime prices CPU, memory and disk by the hour. The 2-core, 4 GB benchmark: $2.48 against $1.52.

Runtime costs 74% less than CodeSandbox and 58% less than Prime. 1,000 runs of a minute on 2 vCPU and 4 GiB, each with 20 CPU-seconds of work, cost $2.48 on a CodeSandbox Nano VM, $1.52 on Prime Sandboxes and $0.64 on Runtime.

Estimated compute cost

74% less than CodeSandbox58% less than Prime Sandboxes

2 vCPUs · 4 GiB · 60 s a run · 20 CPU-seconds busy

1,000

Compute only, at list rates checked 23 September 2026 and 25 September 2026 (Together Code Sandbox, Prime Sandboxes overview). Plan fees, network, taxes and free credits are left out. The worked example below shows the arithmetic.

At a glance

CodeSandbox SDK Prime Sandboxes Runtime
Isolation Firecracker microVM Hardware-virtualized microVM, own guest kernel Firecracker microVM, own kernel
Price Nano (2 cores, 4 GB) $0.1486 an hour in credits $0.091 an hour for 2 vCPUs, 4 GiB, 5 GiB disk Measured CPU and reserved memory
Largest 64 cores and 128 GB 16 vCPUs, 64 GiB, 128 GiB of disk 16 vCPUs and 64 GiB, paid
Snapshots Memory snapshot and restore Listed as coming soon Pause and forks keep memory and processes
At once 10 free; 250 on Scale at $170 a month 1,024 to start 100 after a first week at 50; more on request

Snapshots today

CodeSandbox can snapshot a VM's memory and restore it, which Prime lists as coming soon. Prime answers with price and scale: $0.091 an hour for this shape against CodeSandbox's $0.1486, and a thousand sandboxes without a plan. Runtime has memory snapshots, forks and the lowest price here.

Cost for the same job

2 cores and 4 GB, 60 seconds, 20 CPU-seconds, 1,000 runs; Prime with its 5 GiB default disk:

TextCodeSandbox  Size   1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × $0.1486                = $2.48Prime        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                                                  $1.52Runtime      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

Neither rival reads CPU use, so with both CPUs busy for the whole minute it is $2.48 on CodeSandbox and $1.52 on Prime, and $1.33 on Runtime.

Which one to pick

  • CodeSandbox SDK for VMs above 16 cores, up to 64.
  • Prime Sandboxes for RL training at scale.
  • Runtime for the lowest bill with snapshots and forks now.

See Runtime vs CodeSandbox and Runtime vs Prime Sandboxes.

Sources

CodeSandbox rates checked 23 September 2026; Prime Sandboxes rates checked 25 September 2026.

Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026.

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