# boxd

Official pricing: https://boxd.sh/pricing  
Category: agent-sandbox · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Pay as you go (credits, USD list)** (resource): $0.059/vCPU-h, $0.018/GiB-h

## Features

Yes: snapshots, memory snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, persistent disk, volumes, idle auto-stop, ≥24 h sessions, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, root, systemd, browser, desktop GUI, anti-bot stealth, preinstalled agents, SSH, HTTPS preview URLs, custom domains, raw TCP inbound, egress allowlist, open internet, static egress IP, private networking, self-hosting, BYOC, SSO, Python, Node.js, Go, credential injection, wake on request, live fork (no pause), memory fork, scheduled runs (cron), audit logs, EU data residency, MCP server, automatic snapshots, snapshots on demand, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, firewall inside (nftables), secret proxy, secret proxy for any API, extra volumes

No: your own Docker/OCI image, nested virtualization, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, public IPv4, open source, SOC 2, HIPAA, GPU, arm64, Windows, macOS, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, live resize, webhooks, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), shared volumes

Unknown: everything else. Evidence (source + quote) per feature: https://battleships.dev/data/providers/boxd.json → feature_evidence

## Caveats

- Price history (v8-history audit): the 2026-05-26 archived pricing page advertised Individual EUR 20/month in its headline but 'EUR 0 forever, no credit card' in its own FAQ (team FAQ EUR 25-200/user/month); actual old invoice terms unknown. By 2026-08-31 it had moved to the current credit-metered regime (EUR 0.049/vCPU-h, EUR 0.015/used-GiB-h, EUR 0.0001/written-GiB-h, EUR 30 starting credit; live-checked 2026-09-28). A regime change, not a measurable discount; EUR->USD toggle differences are FX, not price changes.
- EUR-native pricing. The USD list ($0.059 / $0.018 / $0.00012) is about 1.2x the EUR list (EUR 0.049 / 0.015 / 0.0001). EUR payers' USD cost depends on FX. Prices exclude VAT.
- RAM is billed on resident memory, not the provisioned 4 GiB per vCPU. The estimate uses ram_util as the resident fraction. Whether page cache counts as resident is undocumented.
- paused_ram_billed=true models STANDBY (optional auto-suspend: RAM + disk, no vCPU), per the pricing FAQ. The docs contradict this, calling standby 'near zero'. Default idle behaviour is HIBERNATE after 4 h without network traffic, which bills written disk only.
- Idle timers watch network traffic, not CPU. Machines left running bill full rate for up to 4 h (the default auto-hibernate window) after traffic stops. Disabling auto-hibernate means indefinite full billing.
- snapshot_gib_month uses the published written-disk rate ($0.00012 / GiB-h), which applies to hibernated or stopped machines. Standalone named snapshots, backups (object storage, 7-day default retention) and volumes have no published price.
- Disk is billed on bytes written, not the 100 GiB CoW provisioned. Forks share blocks.
- Egress price not published (null): the rate card bills only vCPU, resident RAM and written disk, and the egress guide covers egress control only, with no transfer price or allowance (boxd.sh/pricing + docs.boxd.sh/guides/egress rendered 2026-09-28). Not assumed free. No dedicated IPv4: machines sit behind a shared proxy IP, with 3 raw TCP/UDP forwards per machine (docs.boxd.sh/guides/resources: 'a dedicated SSH port on boxd's shared proxy IP'). Note boxd.sh/faq marketing copy says each machine has 'a public IPv4'; the docs table is followed here (verified 2026-09-28).
- 4 vCPU / 16 GiB and larger shapes need a request; the self-serve max is 2 vCPU / 8 GiB. No published ceiling for Custom.
- min_billed_seconds=0: the vendor says 'metered every second' and publishes no minimum.
- No benchmark data for boxd in benchmarks.json. The vendor claims <10 ms boot and ~85 ms wake from hibernate.
- Idle suspension on boxd is two-stage: auto-suspend (standby) stops vCPU billing but keeps billing resident RAM + written disk; only hibernate (default after 4 h without inbound traffic) drops to disk only. The engine's idle auto-suspend saving (auto_stop_idle) removes whole hours and so overstates savings for short idle gaps; use running_pct / hibernate_tail instead.
- The vendor's own pricing-page calculator prices standby: 'Personal assistant' = 1 h/day running at $0.1564/h + 4 h/day standby at $0.0384/h (2 GiB resident x $0.018 + 20 GiB written x $0.00012) + 19 h/day hibernated at $0.0024/h = $10.82/month (730 h month). This confirms paused_ram_billed=true on the pricing page itself; the docs still say standby costs 'near zero' (checked 2026-09-29).
- Currency is fixed per organization at creation (EUR or USD list), and prepaid credit purchases/top-ups are non-refundable per the Terms (last updated 2026-05-08). An org cannot switch to whichever list is cheaper at current FX.

## How this provider charges


boxd sells KVM microVM "machines" on prepaid credits. No plan fee, no seats. There are two price lists, EUR (native)
and USD (a separate list behind the EUR/USD toggle on boxd.sh/pricing). Every USD number is about 1.2x the EUR number:
0.059/0.049 = 1.204, 0.018/0.015 = 1.20, 0.00012/0.0001 = 1.20. Prices exclude VAT.
Each resource is metered on a different basis:

- **vCPU**: the machine's full vCPU count, and only while it runs.
- **RAM**: resident memory, sampled every second, while the machine runs *or is in standby*.
- **Disk**: bytes actually written, not the 100 GiB copy-on-write that is provisioned. Billed in every state.

## Regime table

| Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers (USD list / EUR list) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Running (PAYG) | Machine running | vCPU on shape size + resident RAM + written disk, per second, drawn from credits | $0.059 / vCPU-h (€0.049); $0.018 / GiB-h resident RAM (€0.015); $0.00012 / GiB-h written disk (€0.0001) = $0.0876 / GiB-month | https://boxd.sh/pricing |
| Shape: 2 vCPU / 8 GiB (default, self-serve) | Every machine unless the quota is raised | Same rates. RAM cap 8 GiB, but only resident RAM is billed | $0.262/h at full RAM, $0.1564/h with 2 GiB resident and 20 GiB written (the vendor's example) | boxd.sh/pricing (FAQ), docs.boxd.sh/guides/resources |
| Shape: 1 vCPU / 4 GiB | Selectable in the rate-card calculator | Same rates | $0.131/h at full RAM | boxd.sh/pricing |
| Shape: 4 vCPU / 16 GiB (and larger) | Only after emailing contact@boxd.sh ("larger shapes than the default 2 vCPU / 8 GiB"). Larger shapes are on the Custom plan | Same rates on the published list. Custom may carry volume pricing (not published) | $0.524/h at 16 GiB resident; $0.380/h with 8 GiB resident | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ |
| Standby (auto-suspend / `machine pause`) | Optional. Auto-suspend is off by default in the docs and triggers after N s with no inbound TCP/UDP | No vCPU; resident RAM still billed (frozen in host RAM) + written disk | $0.018 / GiB-h RAM + disk | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ ("a machine in standby pays for RAM and disk"). The docs conflict: they call it "near zero" (docs.boxd.sh/how-it-works/suspend-resume) |
| Hibernated (auto-hibernate) | On by default after 4 h with no *network* traffic (docs). The pricing page says it happens "when network activity stops". Memory is written to disk; wake takes about 85 ms per the docs (the pricing FAQ says "sub-millisecond", which the docs attribute to standby, not hibernate) | Written disk only | $0.00012 / GiB-h ($0.0876 / GiB-month) | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ; docs suspend-resume |
| Stopped | `machine stop` | Written disk only; vCPU "nothing in ... stopped" | same disk rate | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ |
| Destroyed / auto-destroy | `idle.destroy_after` timer or explicit destroy | Nothing. Checkpoints die with the machine ("billing ends with the machine") | $0 | docs checkpoints; features record |
| Checkpoints (up to 10 per machine, memory+disk) | Per machine | Not priced separately. Presumably part of the machine's written disk (unverified) | null | docs.boxd.sh/guides/checkpoints |
| Named snapshots (replicated, outlive the machine) | Golden images, fan-out | No published price | null | docs.boxd.sh/guides/snapshots |
| Disk backups to object storage | On demand, or on a schedule of 15 min or longer; 7-day default retention; sparse + dedup | No published price ("keep the storage bill honest") | null | docs.boxd.sh/guides/disaster-recovery |
| Volumes (detachable disks) | Optional | No published price. Presumably the written-disk rate (unverified) | null | features record |
| Egress / bandwidth | Always | Not published anywhere (pricing, FAQ, egress docs) | null | boxd.sh/pricing, docs egress |
| Public IPv4 | n/a | Not offered per the docs: shared proxy IP, SSH on a per-machine port, 3 raw TCP/UDP forwards per machine. (boxd.sh/faq marketing says "a public IPv4"; docs table followed) | n/a | docs resources, boxd.sh/faq |
| Free credit | Adding a payment method | One-time $30 / €30. Afterwards auto top-up adds $20 / €20 at a time (amount can be changed or turned off) | $30 one-time | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ |
| No payment method | Before a card is added | Quota of 2 machines | — | docs resources |
| Org quota | Default | 50 machines per org, **hibernated machines included**. Can be raised the same day on request | 50 | docs resources, features |
| Custom (volume / bigger machines / SSO) | Contract | Volume pricing, not published | null | boxd.sh/pricing |
| Self-host / BYOC | Contract | Annual licence for a single Rust binary running on your own hardware. Price not published | null | boxd.sh/pricing FAQ |
| Currency regime | Account currency | EUR list or USD list. The USD list is about 1.2x EUR, so what a EUR payer pays in USD terms depends on the FX rate | — | boxd.sh/pricing (EUR/USD toggle) |

No dated price changes turned up. The blog (Aug–Sep 2026) and the docs have no pricing posts or changelog entries.

## Gotchas

1. **Standby can cost more than running the same hours.** Standby drops vCPU but keeps billing resident RAM. A 4 vCPU / 8 GiB-resident box parked in standby for 554 idle h/month costs more than its 176 working hours. Hibernate is the cheap idle state. The docs say standby is "near zero"; the pricing page says it pays RAM. We follow the pricing page.
2. **Idle timers watch the network, not the CPU.** A CPU-bound job with no inbound traffic gets hibernated after 4 h by default, and its clocks freeze. If you disable auto-hibernate to prevent that, a forgotten machine bills full vCPU + RAM forever. The default also means a machine you walk away from keeps billing about 4 h of running time before it hibernates.
3. **RAM billed on resident memory flatters light workloads.** The vendor headline of about $0.16/h assumes 2 of 8 GiB resident. Page cache, a JVM heap, or Docker can push resident memory to the full allocation, giving $0.262/h on the default shape. Whether page cache counts as resident is not documented.
4. **vCPU is billed on size, not on utilisation.** 30% CPU utilisation saves nothing.
5. **4 vCPU is not self-serve.** The self-serve shape is 2 vCPU / 8 GiB. The 4/16 shape appears in the calculator but needs an email. There is no public ceiling above 4/16.
6. **Quota counts hibernated machines.** 50 concurrent running machines leaves no room for parked ones unless the quota is raised.
7. **Unpublished prices:** snapshot, backup and volume storage, and egress. Disk is cheap at $0.0876/GiB-month, but only for written bytes. Forks share CoW blocks and start near zero.
8. **Credits, not invoices.** When the balance runs out, auto top-up in $20 steps keeps machines alive. With auto top-up off, what happens at zero balance is undocumented.

## Worked example

Workload: 4 vCPU / 8 GiB, 50 concurrent × 8 h/day × 22 days (8,800 machine-hours), 30% CPU utilisation, 50 GiB of snapshots retained, 100 GiB egress.

Assumptions:
- The shape is 4 vCPU / 16 GiB, unlocked on request, with 8 GiB resident. RAM is billed on resident memory, so the 16 GiB provisioned does not matter.
- Hourly rate = 4 × 0.059 + 8 × 0.018 = **$0.380/h**. At 30% CPU the vCPU charge does not change.
- The 50 GiB of retained state is billed as written disk on hibernated machines: 50 × $0.0876 = **$4.38**. Named-snapshot storage price is unknown.
- Egress: **unknown (null)**. Totals below exclude it.
- Idle hours per machine: 730 − 176 = 554 h/month.

| Regime | Computation | Monthly (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| A. Running, then hibernate / stop when idle (recommended) | 8,800 × 0.380 = 3,344.00 + 4.38 disk | **$3,348.38** + egress |
| A′. Same, resident RAM only 4 GiB (sensitivity) | 8,800 × (0.236 + 0.072) = 2,710.40 + 4.38 | $2,714.78 |
| B. Running, then left alone until default auto-hibernate (4 h extra running per workday) | 3,344 + 50 × 4 × 22 × 0.380 = 1,672.00 + 4.38 | **$5,020.38** |
| C. Running, then standby overnight and weekends | 3,344 + 50 × 554 × 8 × 0.018 = 3,988.80 + 4.38 | **$7,337.18** |
| D. Destroy after each session, keep 50 GiB as named snapshots | 3,344.00 + snapshot storage (unpublished) | $3,344.00 + null |
| E. Self-serve default shape 2 vCPU / 8 GiB (nearest self-serve; half the CPU) | 8,800 × 0.262 = 2,305.60 + 4.38 | $2,309.98 |
| F. EUR list, regime A | 8,800 × €0.316 = €2,780.80 + 50 × €0.073 = €3.65 | **€2,784.45** (USD depends on FX) |
| G. Custom / volume / self-host | not published | null |

Free credit: −$30 once, in the first month only. Quota: 50 concurrent is exactly the default org quota, and hibernated machines count toward it. In A, the 50 hibernated machines are the same 50, so it fits. In D, snapshots do not count as machines.

Sources: https://boxd.sh/pricing (EUR and USD toggles, research/raw/boxd_sh_pricing*.txt), https://boxd.sh/faq/,
https://docs.boxd.sh/guides/resources, https://docs.boxd.sh/how-it-works/suspend-resume, https://docs.boxd.sh/guides/snapshots,
https://docs.boxd.sh/guides/disaster-recovery, https://docs.boxd.sh/guides/egress, https://boxd.sh/blog