# Modal vs Morph: pricing, isolation and snapshots Modal runs gVisor sandboxes billed on requested CPU; Morph runs full VMs billed in MCUs and can branch a running machine, memory included. **Runtime runs the same job for 84% less than Modal and 62% less than Morph.** 1,000 one-minute runs of a 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox cost $3.97 on Modal, $1.67 on Morph and $0.64 on Runtime. Both rivals bill the size a sandbox holds for as long as it runs; Runtime bills the CPU the code uses, in a Firecracker microVM with its own kernel, and forks a running sandbox with its memory. Rates checked 23 September 2026. ## At a glance | | Modal Sandboxes | Morph Cloud | Runtime | | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | Isolation | gVisor, a user-space kernel that intercepts system calls | Full virtual machines | Firecracker microVM, own kernel | | CPU | $0.1419 per physical core-hour (2 vCPUs), request or use | $0.05 per MCU-hour; one MCU is 1 vCPU, 4 GB or 16 GB disk | $0.025 per vCPU-hour of measured CPU, with a small floor | | Memory | $0.0240 per GiB-hour, request or use | Inside the MCU; a machine pays for whichever it needs most | $0.0075 per reserved GiB-hour | | Plan fee | Starter $0 with $30 a month of compute; Team $250 a month | Free with no credit; Developer $40, Team $250 a month | None; prepaid credit from $10 | | Free start | $30 of compute a month on Starter | 1,000 MCUs with the $40 Developer plan | 50 sandbox hours, no card | | Copying a sandbox | Memory snapshots in alpha: kept 7 days, and taking one ends the sandbox | Infinibranch: a running machine to hundreds of replicas | Forks: 1 to 10 running copies with memory and processes | | GPUs | Yes | Not stated on its pricing page | CPUs only | ## Which one can copy a running sandbox? Morph built its product around it. Infinibranch branches a running machine, memory and disk included, into hundreds of parallel replicas, and Morph Devboxes keep their memory when they scale to zero. Modal has three kinds of snapshot. A filesystem snapshot copies the root filesystem and a directory snapshot copies one directory; both are kept for 30 days by default. A memory snapshot copies the whole state, memory and filesystem, but Modal lists it as alpha with known limits: it expires after 7 days, cannot be used with GPUs, and taking one currently terminates the sandbox. A Runtime [fork](/glossary/sandbox-fork) copies a running sandbox, with its files, memory and running processes, into 1 to 10 new sandboxes. The source is paused for about a second on a fresh sandbox, then woken, so it keeps running. A [snapshot](/glossary/sandbox-snapshot) you keep to start copies later is held for 1 to 365 days. ```python check from withruntime import Sandbox with Sandbox.create(funding="trial") as base: base.exec("pip install --quiet requests", check=True) forks = base.fork(count=2, funding="trial") # both running, memory included for fork in forks: print(fork.exec("python3 -c 'import requests; print(requests.__name__)'").stdout) fork.stop() ``` ## Why is Morph cheaper than Modal here? Both charge for the size a sandbox holds, busy or idle, so the rate decides. A 2 vCPU, 4 GB machine is 2 MCUs on Morph, $0.10 an hour. On Modal the same sandbox is one physical core at $0.1419 an hour plus 4 GiB at $0.0240 each, about $0.24 an hour, well over twice as much. Neither figure changes with how busy the code is, so Morph stays cheaper at every level of use. ## Cost for the same job 1,000 runs of a 2 vCPU sandbox (one physical core on Modal, 2 MCUs on Morph) with 4 GiB. Each run lasts 60 seconds and keeps the CPU busy for 20 CPU-seconds: an agent that mostly waits for a model. ``` Modal CPU 1,000 × 60 s × 1 core × $0.00003942 = $2.37 Memory 1,000 × 60 s × 4 × $0.00000667 = $1.60 Total $3.97 Morph Size 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 2 MCU × $0.05 = $1.67 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 ``` At 100,000 runs a month that is $396.60 on Modal, $166.67 on Morph and $63.89 on Runtime. With both CPUs busy for the whole minute, it is $1.33 on Runtime against $3.97 on Modal and $1.67 on Morph, so Runtime is cheaper however busy the sandbox is. Plan fees, included credit, snapshot storage, network and free allowances are left out. ## Which one to pick - **Pick Modal** if your sandboxes need GPUs, or you already run Modal functions and scheduled jobs and want sandboxes in the same SDK. - **Pick Morph** if your agent branches one running machine into hundreds of replicas, or you want shareable devboxes for people that keep their memory. - **Pick Runtime** to pay for measured CPU instead of a held size, fork a running sandbox with its memory today rather than in alpha, and keep snapshots for up to a year, at 62% less than Morph. ## Switch from either one From Modal, each call has a direct counterpart: `modal.Sandbox.create(app=...)` becomes `Sandbox.create()` with no App, `sb.exec(*args)` becomes `exec`, `Sandbox.from_name` becomes `Sandbox.getOrCreate(name)` and `sb.terminate()` becomes `stop()`. From Morph, map its create, exec, file and stop calls with the table in [migration](/docs/migrate#map-the-calls); a Morph snapshot or branch becomes `snapshot()` or `fork()`. Or give your coding agent the one instruction in [migration](/docs/migrate): it switches the project on a branch, tests it on the free trial and reports the monthly saving. From Modal, `npx withruntime switch --from modal` before your first top-up matches that top-up with credit, up to $100. The full side-by-sides are [Runtime vs Modal](/docs/modal-sandbox-alternative) and [Runtime vs Morph](/docs/morph-alternative). ## Sources Modal snapshots and Morph pricing pages rechecked 25 September 2026; the rest checked 23 September 2026. - [Modal pricing](https://modal.com/pricing), [Modal resources and billing](https://modal.com/docs/guide/resources), [Modal sandbox snapshots](https://modal.com/docs/guide/sandbox-snapshots), [Modal security](https://modal.com/docs/guide/security) - [Morph Cloud pricing](https://cloud.morph.so/web/pricing), [Morph Devboxes](https://cloud.morph.so/web/product/devboxes) - Runtime [pricing](/docs/pricing) Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026.