Windows Sandbox alternatives
The 5 alternatives below are grouped by kind of sandbox, and each says what it does differently from Windows Sandbox. Start from whatever made you look: missing GPUs, session limits, self-hosting, pricing or isolation.
Why teams look beyond Windows Sandbox
A free, well-isolated throwaway Windows desktop for single-agent or manual use, not a platform for running agents at scale.
- Only one instance can run at a time and there is no API, so it cannot back parallel agent runs
- Nothing persists between launches except writes to mapped folders
- Networking and clipboard sharing are on by default and must be disabled explicitly for hostile workloads
- Windows Home is not supported and the feature requires virtualisation enabled in firmware (nested virtualisation inside a VM)
Windows Sandbox alternatives, by kind
Browser and desktop sandboxes
Hosted browsers and full desktops that computer-use agents click, type and browse in.
Kasm Workspaces
Container-streamed Linux desktops and browsers, self-hosted or as Kasm SaaS, with a Developer API and a free Community Edition that Kasm now also positions for agentic AI.
- Docker container
- Self-hostable
- GPU
How it differs: Organisations that already run browser-streamed desktops and want to give agents the same isolated, policy-controlled containers. A mature container-streaming VDI platform whose Developer API can hand agents isolated desktops, best suited to teams that already operate it.
Open-source runtimes to self-host
Open-source sandbox runtimes you run on your own servers or Kubernetes.
Microsandbox
Open-source, local-first microVM runtime that gives each sandbox its own Linux kernel, with an optional managed cloud.
- MicroVM (libkrun)
- Open source
- Self-hostable
- BYOC
- Snapshots
How it differs: Self-hosted microVM isolation on developer machines or your own servers. The most approachable way to get microVM-grade isolation locally or self-hosted.
Local sandboxes for coding agents
Isolation for agents like Claude Code, Codex or Gemini CLI on your own laptop.
Anthropic Sandbox Runtime
Open-source CLI and library (`srt`) that restricts filesystem and network access for any local process at the OS level, without a container or VM.
- OS-level (Seatbelt / bubblewrap)
- Open source
- Self-hostable
How it differs: Lightweight local sandboxing of coding agents and CLI tools. Excellent lightweight guardrail for local agents; pair with a VM for untrusted multi-tenant code.
Apple container
Apple's open-source CLI that runs each Linux container in its own lightweight virtual machine on Apple silicon Macs.
- Lightweight VM per container
- Open source
How it differs: Running Linux containers for coding agents on an Apple silicon Mac with VM-grade isolation instead of a shared VM. The strongest isolation you can get for local containers on a Mac from the OS vendor itself, at the cost of maturity and platform reach.
Docker Sandboxes
Docker’s `sbx` CLI for running AI coding agents in microVM sandboxes on your machine, with an experimental Docker-hosted cloud.
- MicroVM
- Self-hostable
- GPU
- Pause/resume
How it differs: Running coding agents unsupervised on a laptop with microVM isolation. The easiest way to give local coding agents a real microVM boundary.
Windows Sandbox vs alternatives
| Sandbox | Isolation | Open source | Self-host / BYOC | Cold start (vendor) | Max session | Snapshots / pause | GPU | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Sandbox | Hyper-V lightweight VM | No | No / No | A few seconds | Until closed | No / No | Yes | CLI |
| Anthropic Sandbox Runtime | OS-level (Seatbelt / bubblewrap) | Yes | Yes / Not documented | Process start | Not documented | No / No | Not documented | CLI (srt), TypeScript (npm) |
| Apple container | Lightweight VM per container | Yes | No / No | Sub-second (claimed) | Not documented | No / No | Not documented | CLI |
| Docker Sandboxes | MicroVM | No | Yes / No | Not documented | Until removed (local) | Yes / Yes | Yes | sbx CLI, TypeScript (cloud), REST API (cloud) |
| Kasm Workspaces | Docker container | No | Yes / No | Not documented | Admin-defined | No / Not documented | Yes | REST API |
| Microsandbox | MicroVM (libkrun) | Yes | Yes / Yes | <100 ms | Not documented | Yes / Not documented | No | TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, Ruby, CLI, MCP server |
Frequently asked questions
What are the main alternatives to Windows Sandbox?
Is there an open-source alternative to Windows Sandbox?
Cite this page
Agent Sandboxes. (2026). Windows Sandbox alternatives. agentsandboxes.org. Last reviewed November 9, 2026. https://agentsandboxes.org/alternatives/windows-sandbox/
Found an error or a missing sandbox? Submit a correction — every entry links to the sources it relies on.