# Daytona (Windows sandboxes)

Official pricing: https://www.daytona.io/pricing  
Category: windows · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Windows VM sandbox (presets small/medium/large)** (resource): $0.0504/vCPU-h, $0.0162/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), root, browser, desktop GUI, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, preinstalled agents, SSH, HTTPS preview URLs, custom domains, egress allowlist, open internet, private networking, BYOC, SOC 2, HIPAA, SSO, Windows, live resize, live fork (no pause), memory fork, EU data residency, MCP server, automatic snapshots, snapshots on demand, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, secret proxy, secret proxy for any API

No: your own Docker/OCI image, Docker inside, nested virtualization, systemd, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, public IPv4, raw TCP inbound, static egress IP, self-hosting, open source, GPU, arm64, macOS, Python, Node.js, HTTP method/path egress rules, wake on request, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), firewall inside (nftables), extra volumes, shared volumes

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

## Caveats

- Windows surcharge encoded as ADDITIVE ($0.0504 + $0.0858 = $0.1362/vCPU-h) per the live pricing page layout; cards/daytona.json 'windows' mode still encodes it as a replacement ($0.0354 extra). If the replacement reading is right this card is ~$0.14/h too high for windows-large.
- Only presets with fixed 4 GiB/vCPU: a 4 vCPU / 8 GiB need is priced as windows-large (16 GiB).
- 60-minute idle auto-pause tail billed at full rate; disk billed while paused/stopped (no archive for VMs).
- Egress/IPv4 not published.
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 orgs have restricted egress that cannot be overridden (essential services only); full internet needs the Tier 3 $500 top-up.
- Creating/Starting/Stopping/Pausing transitions are billed as Started; snapshots created from a sandbox remain billed for storage at an unpublished rate.

## How this provider charges


Daytona runs Windows as VM sandboxes built for computer use. They support pause/resume with memory, fork, and memory snapshots, and come only as three presets. The live pricing page lists **"OS, Windows, $0.0858/vCPU/h"** as its own line next to Compute ($0.0504/vCPU-h), Memory ($0.0162/GiB-h) and Storage ($0.000108/GiB-h). That layout reads as a surcharge **added** to the vCPU rate, giving $0.1362/vCPU-h. This card encodes the additive reading.

Note that `cards/daytona.json` currently encodes the replacement reading (+$0.0354). The two cards disagree until that is reconciled.

## Regime table

| # | Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windows VM, running | Presets only | Per second on allocated vCPU + RAM + disk | vCPU $0.0504 + Windows $0.0858 = $0.1362/vCPU-h; RAM $0.0162/GiB-h. windows-small 1/4/30 = $0.201/h; windows-medium 2/8/50 = $0.4020/h; **windows-large 4/16/50 = $0.804/h** (excluding disk) | https://www.daytona.io/pricing, https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/sandboxes.md |
| 2 | Idle tail | Until auto-pause | Full rate. Windows defaults to **auto-pause after 60 min idle**, auto-stop disabled | | docs/sandboxes |
| 3 | Paused (memory preserved) | Pause | Disk only | $0.000108/GiB-h above 5 GiB ($0.0788/GiB-month) | https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/billing |
| 4 | Stopped | Stop | Disk only. Windows cannot be archived ("stopping already releases disk quota") | same | docs/sandboxes |
| 5 | Snapshots (fs or fs+memory) | Retained snapshots | "Remain billed", rate unpublished | null | docs/billing |
| 6 | Tiers / pools | Org-wide | Prepaid top-ups set vCPU/RAM/disk pools. Windows uses 4 GiB/vCPU, so RAM pools fill fast | Tier 3 ($500) 250 vCPU/500 GiB; Tier 4 ($2,000 per 30 days) 500/1000 | https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/limits |
| 7 | Free credit | Sign-up | One-time | $200 | pricing |

## Gotchas

1. Fixed 4 GiB per vCPU: a 4 vCPU/8 GiB workload has to use windows-large (16 GiB).
2. The **60-minute idle auto-pause** tail bills at the full Windows rate.
3. Additive vs replacement ambiguity: the replacement reading would make windows-large $0.6024/h.
4. 50 × 16 GiB = 800 GiB of RAM needs Tier 4 (the $2,000 per 30 days top-up is consumed as credit).

## Worked example

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

Assumptions: windows-large, paused outside hours (27,700 paused sandbox-hours), 45 GiB billable disk each.

| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Compute 8,800 × $0.804 | $7,075.20 |
| Disk while running 8,800 × 45 × $0.000108 | $42.77 |
| Disk while paused 27,700 × 45 × $0.000108 | $134.62 |
| Snapshots 50 GiB | unpublished (null) |
| Egress | not published |
| **Monthly** | **$7,252.59** (replacement reading: $5,478.51) |

The idle tail adds 60 min × 50 × 22 = 1,100 h × $0.804 = **+$884.40** if sandboxes are left to auto-pause.

Sources: https://www.daytona.io/pricing · https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/sandboxes.md · https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/billing · https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/limits