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Head-to-head

Northflank Sandboxes vs E2B

Answer in brief

Choose Northflank Sandboxes for teams that want sandboxes in their own cloud account (BYOC) alongside app hosting, databases and GPUs; choose E2B for code interpreters and short-to-medium-lived agent tasks that need microVM isolation, with an open-source self-host path. Northflank Sandboxes uses Cloud Hypervisor microVM isolation; E2B uses Firecracker microVM isolation and is open source.

By the Agent Sandboxes editors · Updated

Northflank Sandboxes vs E2B at a glance

AttributeNorthflank SandboxesE2B
What it isSandboxes on Northflank’s Kubernetes-based platform — microVMs for CPU work, gVisor for GPUs — on Northflank’s cloud or in your own cloud account.Open-source cloud sandboxes for AI agents, each a Firecracker microVM, with pause/resume, snapshots and forking.
IsolationMicroVMs on Cloud Hypervisor with their own guest kernel for CPU workloads; gVisor for GPU workloadsFirecracker microVM with its own kernel per sandbox
Open sourceNoYes (Apache-2.0)
Self-host / BYOCNo / YesYes / Yes
SDKsJavaScript/TypeScript, PythonPython, JavaScript/TypeScript
Cold start (vendor claim)Under 1 s; sample “ready in 0.8 seconds” on a cached image (vendor claim)Not documented
Max sessionNo time limit; runs until deleted; idle sandboxes can be pausedUp to 1 hour continuous (Hobby), 24 hours (Pro) or custom (Enterprise); pausing resets the clock and paused sandboxes are kept until deleted
PersistenceEphemeral by default; persistent and shared volumes, S3 mounts, managed databases and pause/resumePause/resume preserves filesystem and memory; snapshots of running sandboxes, forking from a snapshot, filesystem-only snapshots, auto-resume and volumes (beta)
GPUYes — L4 to B200 under gVisor (e.g. H100 $2.74/hour on Northflank Cloud) or on your own GPU nodesNo — sandboxes are CPU-only
NetworkingPrivate by default; network policies for ingress/egress by FQDN and IP range; mTLS service mesh; secrets injected at egressInternet on by default; can be disabled or restricted with allow/deny lists of IPs, CIDRs and domains; public sandbox URLs for exposed ports; custom domains and published egress IPs
PricingPer second: $0.01667 per vCPU-hour + $0.00833 per GB-hour; BYOC $0.02083 per node vCPU-hour plus your cloud billPer second: $0.000014 per vCPU-second (~$0.050/vCPU-hour) + $0.0000045 per GiB-second (~$0.016/GiB-hour). Pro plan $150/month plus usage; Enterprise from $3,000/month
ComplianceSOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, ISO 27001SOC 2 Type II; HIPAA BAA and DPA available on request
Best forTeams that want sandboxes in their own cloud account (BYOC) alongside app hosting, databases and GPUsCode interpreters and short-to-medium-lived agent tasks that need microVM isolation, with an open-source self-host path

Verified November 8, 2026 from each provider’s documentation. Cold-start figures are vendor claims, not our measurements.

Which should you choose?

Choose Northflank Sandboxes if…

  • You need BYOC on any major cloud or bare metal
  • You want GPUs and CPU sandboxes on one platform
  • You also need app hosting, databases and pipelines
  • You want low published per-vCPU rates

Choose E2B if…

  • You want the most widely integrated agent sandbox, with a large ecosystem of examples
  • You need Firecracker microVM isolation for untrusted multi-tenant code
  • You want an open-source codebase you can self-host or run via BYOC
  • You want ready-made code-interpreter and desktop SDKs

Both are worth piloting with your own image and region. See the full Northflank Sandboxes profile and E2B profile, or the complete comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Is Northflank Sandboxes or E2B better for AI agents?
Neither is better for every workload. Northflank Sandboxes is best for teams that want sandboxes in their own cloud account (BYOC) alongside app hosting, databases and GPUs. E2B is best for code interpreters and short-to-medium-lived agent tasks that need microVM isolation, with an open-source self-host path.
Which is open source, Northflank Sandboxes or E2B?
E2B is open source (Apache-2.0); Northflank Sandboxes is not.
How do Northflank Sandboxes and E2B isolate code?
Northflank Sandboxes: MicroVMs on Cloud Hypervisor with their own guest kernel for CPU workloads; gVisor for GPU workloads. E2B: Firecracker microVM with its own kernel per sandbox.

Sources

  1. northflank.com/product/sandboxes
  2. northflank.com/pricing
  3. northflank.com/docs/v1/application/sandboxes
  4. bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/northflank-security-breach-leads-to-abuse-of-customers-ai-api-keys/
  5. e2b.dev/
  6. e2b.dev/pricing
  7. docs.e2b.dev/
  8. docs.e2b.dev/sandbox.md

Cite this page

Agent Sandboxes. (2026). Northflank Sandboxes vs E2B. agentsandboxes.org. Last reviewed November 8, 2026. https://agentsandboxes.org/compare/northflank-vs-e2b/

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