E2B vs Blaxel E2B is 20% cheaper per agent run

Which is better, E2B or Blaxel?

It depends on how long your sandboxes sit idle between runs. Runtime gives agents the lowest bill whether they wait or work: $0.64 for the waiting job, against $2.76 on E2B and $3.45 on Blaxel, and its pause keeps memory and processes. Pick E2B to self-host its Apache-2.0 runtime or keep paused sandboxes with no expiry. Pick Blaxel for sandboxes that idle for free and return in about 25 ms, or fleets past 100,000.

At a glance

Why do E2B and Blaxel charge the same an hour?

Their rates meet at two gigabytes per core. E2B charges 2 × $0.0504 for the vCPUs and 4 × $0.0162 for the memory of a 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox: $0.1656 an hour. Blaxel charges only for memory, 4 GB × $0.0414, and gives it 2 cores: also $0.1656 an hour. The same holds at 4 vCPUs and 8 GB, $0.3312 an hour on both.

They part when a job wants a different mix. On Blaxel, CPU comes from memory, so a job that needs 4 cores pays for 8 GB even if it uses 2. On E2B you set vCPUs and memory apart, so 4 vCPUs with 4 GiB costs $0.2664 an hour. And they part when the sandbox goes quiet: Blaxel keeps billing for about 15 seconds after a run, then stops charging for compute once the sandbox is in standby, while E2B bills until the sandbox is paused, killed or timed out.

Runtime sets vCPUs and memory apart like E2B, and bills CPU only as it is used, so the waiting part of a run costs a small floor rather than the full size.

Cost for the same job

1,000 runs of a 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox (4 GB on Blaxel). Each run lasts 60 seconds and keeps the CPU busy for 20 CPU-seconds: an agent that mostly waits for a model.

At 100,000 runs a month that is $276.00 on E2B or Blaxel and $63.89 on Runtime. With both CPUs busy for the whole minute, it is $1.33 on Runtime against $2.76 on E2B and $3.45 on Blaxel, so Runtime is cheaper however busy the sandbox is. The Blaxel figure includes the 15 seconds or so each sandbox stays billed after its run, before standby. Plan fees, storage, network and free credits are left out.

What does an idle sandbox cost?

On Blaxel, nothing for compute: a sandbox goes to standby when its connections close and resumes in about 25 ms, and its standby snapshot costs $0.20 per GB a month. On E2B, a paused sandbox keeps its files, memory and running processes with no expiry.

A paused Runtime sandbox keeps files, memory and processes for $0.08 per GB a month, and, like Blaxel's standby, any request to it wakes it: an exec, a file call or a visit to a shared port.

TypeScriptimport { Sandbox } from "withruntime";const sbx = await Sandbox.create({ timeoutSeconds: 600 });await sbx.exec("echo state > /workspace/state.txt");await sbx.pause(); // memory and files are kept; compute billing stops// ... later, even from another process:const again = await Sandbox.connect(sbx.id);await again.wake({ timeoutSeconds: 1200 });await again.extend(600); // moves its time limit ten minutes onawait again.stop();

Which one to pick

• Pick E2B to choose vCPUs and memory separately, keep paused sandboxes with no expiry, or self-host its Apache-2.0 runtime.
• Pick Blaxel for sandboxes that idle for free and come back in about 25 ms, or fleets beyond 100,000 concurrent sandboxes on its top tier.
• Pick Runtime for over 75% below either price on an agent that waits, vCPUs and memory chosen apart, paused storage at $0.08 per GB-month, and an agent that connects without an API key.

Switch from either one

From E2B, Runtime's SDK runs your code after one import change:

TypeScriptimport { Sandbox } from "withruntime/e2b"; // was: from "e2b"

Pythonfrom withruntime.e2b import Sandbox  # was: from e2b import Sandbox

From Blaxel, the import changes the same way, and standby becomes a pause the next call wakes from:

TypeScriptimport { SandboxInstance } from "withruntime/blaxel"; // was: from "@blaxel/core"

Pythonfrom withruntime.blaxel import SandboxInstance  # was: from blaxel.core import SandboxInstance

Porting to Runtime's own calls instead is short: create, exec, file and delete map to Sandbox.create(), exec, files.write and files.read, and stop(), and idlePauseSeconds pauses a sandbox after the idle time you choose.

Pythonfrom withruntime import Sandboxwith Sandbox.create() as box:    box.files.write("/workspace/invoice.py", "print(sum([125, 250, 375]))\n")    print(box.exec("python3 /workspace/invoice.py", check=True).stdout)

Or give your coding agent the one instruction in migration: it switches the project on a branch, tests it on the free usage and reports the monthly saving. Credit you add within 30 days of signing up is matched, up to $1,000 in total. The full side-by-sides are Runtime vs E2B and Runtime vs Blaxel; sandbox snapshots explains what a paused sandbox keeps.

Sources

E2B rates checked 25 October 2026 and its pricing page rechecked 25 October 2026. Blaxel rates checked 25 October 2026, with its pricing page and sandbox documentation.

• E2B pricing, E2B sandbox persistence
• Blaxel pricing, Blaxel sandboxes
• Runtime pricing and the JavaScript guide

Facts on this page were checked on 26 October 2026.