Runtime

Runloop vs Freestyle: devboxes and VMs, priced

Runloop's devboxes cost more than twice Freestyle's VMs for the same shape: $5.33 against $2.25 for the 2 vCPU, 4 GB benchmark.

Runtime runs it for 88% less than Runloop and 72% less than Freestyle. The benchmark, 1,000 one-minute runs of a 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox with 20 CPU-seconds of work each, is $5.33 on a Runloop MEDIUM devbox, $2.25 on Freestyle and $0.64 on Runtime.

Estimated compute cost

88% less than Runloop72% less than Freestyle

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 (Runloop pricing, Freestyle pricing). Plan fees, network, taxes and free credits are left out. The worked example below shows the arithmetic.

At a glance

Runloop Freestyle Runtime
Isolation microVM, with a container inside Full Linux virtual machines Firecracker microVM, own kernel
CPU $0.108 per CPU-hour while running $0.04032 per allocated vCPU-hour $0.025 per vCPU-hour of measured CPU, with a small floor
Memory $0.0252 per GB-hour $0.0129 per GiB-hour $0.0075 per reserved GiB-hour
Suspend Keeps the disk; processes restart Hibernates with memory Keeps memory and processes, 1 to 365 days
Extras SWE-Bench and custom benchmarks Live forks, custom domains Harbor and Inspect integrations

Suspend that keeps memory

A suspended Runloop devbox keeps its disk and restarts its processes. A hibernated Freestyle VM comes back with memory in place, as does a paused Runtime sandbox. For an agent that holds a running server or a loaded model, that is the difference between resuming and rebuilding.

Cost for the same job

2 vCPU and 4 GB, 60 seconds a run, 20 CPU-seconds, 1,000 runs (a MEDIUM devbox with 8 GB of disk; Freestyle with 32 GiB):

TextRunloop    CPU    1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 2 × $0.108             = $3.60           Memory 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0252            = $1.68           Disk   1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 8 × $0.00034236        = $0.05           Total                                                  $5.33Freestyle  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           Total                                                  $2.25Runtime    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

Both rivals bill the same busy or idle, so with both CPUs busy for the whole minute it is $5.33 on Runloop and $2.25 on Freestyle, and $1.33 on Runtime.

Which one to pick

  • Runloop for benchmarking platforms with suites ready to run.
  • Freestyle for long-lived VMs that fork live.
  • Runtime for evals and agents at the lowest price per run.

See Runtime vs Runloop and Runtime vs Freestyle.

Sources

Runloop rates checked 23 September 2026; Freestyle rates checked 25 September 2026.

Facts on this page were checked on 25 September 2026.

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