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Where boxd stands out
Your processes survive a sleep
Stopping a Vercel sandbox saves the filesystem; resuming boots a new session and you start your services again. A boxd machine keeps its memory, so the app is already running: an HTTPS request to a hibernated machine got its answer in 156 ms.
Composable: the sandbox is one part of the kit
On Vercel, cron jobs and integrations (Vercel Connect) live in the wider Vercel platform and reach sandboxes through Functions you write, and no private network between sandboxes is published. Put together, boxd's parts ran the CI of 10 open-source projects 6× faster than one GitHub-hosted job.
| Feature | boxd | Vercel Sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| Composable | ||
| Ready machine described in code | Machine specs, built on one another | OCI images and snapshots |
| Machines create machines | Yes, signed in as the machine | You pass a token in |
| Built-in integrations | 100+, credentials kept out | Vercel Connect, platform-wide |
| Schedules and event triggers | Cron and events; sleeps between runs | Through Vercel Cron Jobs |
| Standalone disks | Yes, outlive the machine | Drives; one writer at a time |
| Private network between machines | Org network, split by tags | Not published |
| Tailscale or NetBird | Both, built in | Secure Compute VPC peering |
| Agent skills or MCP | Agent skills; no MCP server | MCP server and skill |
Wakes on a request
An HTTPS or SSH request to a sleeping boxd machine wakes it. Vercel resumes a sandbox on an SDK call, not on traffic to its URL.
Built to stay up
Vercel's own docs say its sandboxes "are not designed to run continuously" and point 24/7 servers to "a traditional VM". A boxd machine is that VM, with no session limit, and it still sleeps when nothing is happening.
Plain SSH
Every machine has its own SSH port. ssh my-machine.boxd works from any terminal, editor or agent, with no CLI tunnel and no token to refresh.
Timings are medians of ten runs on our production cluster, from a client in the same datacenter. How we measured
Side by side
Checked Oct 30, 2026. Each ↗ goes to where Vercel Sandbox says it. boxd's column is from our code and our own measurements.
| Feature | boxd | Vercel Sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| The machine | ||
| Full VM, own kernel | Yes, every machine | Yes, Firecracker↗ |
| Default size | 2 vCPU · 8 GiB · 100 GB | 2 vCPU · 4 GB · 64 GB↗ |
| Largest, self-serve | 8 vCPU · 32 GiB | 8 vCPU · 16 GB on Pro↗ |
| Root, systemd, Docker | Yes, plus nested virtualization | Root and Docker; systemd not documented↗ |
| CPU test (runs/s) | 12.6 (our run) | 12.66↗ |
| Composable | ||
| Ready machine described in code | Machine specs, built on one another | OCI images and snapshots↗ |
| Machines create machines | Yes, signed in as the machine | You pass a token in↗ |
| Built-in integrations | 100+, credentials kept out | Vercel Connect, platform-wide↗ |
| Schedules and event triggers | Cron and events; sleeps between runs | Through Vercel Cron Jobs↗ |
| Standalone disks | Yes, outlive the machine | Drives; one writer at a time↗ |
| Private network between machines | Org network, split by tags | Not published↗ |
| Tailscale or NetBird | Both, built in | Secure Compute VPC peering↗ |
| Agent skills or MCP | Agent skills; no MCP server | MCP server and skill↗ |
| Ready when you are | ||
| Sleeps with processes kept | Yes, standby and hibernate | No; disk only↗ |
| Wakes on a request | Yes, HTTPS or SSH · app answers in 156 ms | On SDK calls, not traffic↗ |
| Starts from a snapshot, app running | Yes · app answers in 1.19 s | Disk snapshots; processes restart↗ |
| Session limit | None | 45 min Hobby · 24 h Pro↗ |
| Built for agents | ||
| Coding agents installed | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi↗ |
| SSH | Native, own port per machine | SSH-like CLI shell↗ |
| HTTPS URL per port | Yes, plus custom domains | Yes, up to 15 ports↗ |
| Raw TCP inbound | Yes, 3 ports per machine | Not published |
| Secrets kept out | Yes, swapped in at the proxy | Yes, credential brokering↗ |
| Price | ||
| vCPU-hour | $0.047, CPU used | $0.128 per active CPU-hour↗ |
| RAM GiB-hour | $0.014, memory in use | $0.0212 per GB-hour↗ |
| While asleep | Hibernated: disk only | Stopped: snapshot storage↗ |
| Also worth knowing | ||
| GPUs | No | Not published |
| Regions | Frankfurt (US waitlist) | 19 worldwide↗ |
| SOC 2 | SOC 2 in progress | SOC 2 Type II↗ |
| SAML SSO | No | Enterprise, or Pro add-on↗ |
| Egress allowlist | Yes | Yes↗ |
| Self-host | Yes, free to 16 vCPUs | No |
Where Vercel Sandbox is stronger
Regions. 19 regions worldwide. boxd runs in Frankfurt only for now.
Compliance. SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and HIPAA on Enterprise.
Next to your Vercel app. If your app is on Vercel, the sandbox is one SDK call away with the same account and billing.
Questions
- Does a Vercel sandbox keep running processes?
- No. Stopping saves the filesystem, and resuming starts a new session from it, so you start your services again. A boxd machine keeps its memory through standby and hibernation, so the processes are still there.
- Is Vercel Sandbox cheaper?
- Usually not. Both bill CPU only while it works: Vercel at $0.128 per CPU-hour, boxd at $0.047. boxd's RAM bills on what's in use, and a sleeping boxd machine pays only for its disk.
- How long can a Vercel sandbox run?
- 45 minutes per session on Hobby and 24 hours on Pro; stopping and resuming resets the clock. A boxd machine has no session limit.