# Docker Cloud Sandboxes

Official pricing: https://www.docker.com/blog/introducing-cloud-sandboxes-start-on-your-laptop-finish-in-the-cloud/  
Category: agent-sandbox · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Pay-as-you-go fixed sizes (micro..xl), per second** (sizes): micro 1 vCPU/2 GiB $0.07/h; small 2 vCPU/4 GiB $0.14/h; medium 4 vCPU/8 GiB $0.28/h; large 8 vCPU/16 GiB $0.56/h; xl 16 vCPU/32 GiB $1.12/h

## Features

Yes: snapshots, memory snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, persistent disk, volumes, ≥24 h sessions, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, your own Docker/OCI image, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, root, preinstalled agents, SSH, HTTPS preview URLs, egress allowlist, SSO, arm64, Python, Node.js, credential injection, wake on request, live fork (no pause), memory fork, 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: idle auto-stop, nested virtualization, browser, desktop GUI, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, public IPv4, static egress IP, self-hosting, BYOC, open source, SOC 2, HIPAA, GPU, Windows, macOS, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, live resize, EU data residency, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), shared volumes

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

## Caveats

- Launched 2026-09-24; only one published rate card. Enterprise/volume pricing not published.
- Default quota 10 concurrent sandboxes; higher concurrency process and cost unpublished (worked example of 50 concurrent needs a quota raise).
- Hard cap 24 h from creation per sandbox (renew-timeout cannot go beyond); long jobs must be stopped/restarted or recreated.
- Disk size per size tier not published (disk_gib null). Volumes are experimental and free; stopped-sandbox state storage free per 'Volumes, egress ... are free' and 'compute isn't billed while stopped'.
- 'Always-on' sandbox configuration appears in quota docs but has no separate price; assumed same per-second rate.
- Standard one-time credit is $25 ($250 only for signups 2026-09-22..30). Credits expire 6 months after redemption; a valid credit card is required at signup. Credits cover sandbox compute only (setup, idle time and retries all count), not model-provider charges.
- Isolation: product page says MicroVM; hypervisor unnamed. Region(s) unpublished (regions []).
- Docker Pro/Team/Business subscription fees are separate and not needed; they do not include cloud sandbox credit.
- No benchmark data in benchmarks.json.
- All snapshots, including the one created when a sandbox is paused/stopped, are deleted after 7 days of non-use; stopped state is free but not durable storage.
- Volume-backed sandboxes can't be stopped (TTL action must be delete); volume data is snapshotted only on exit, last writer wins.
- Request rate limits exist and 'can vary by operation' but no numbers are published.
- 24 h cap is per lifecycle: resuming a stopped sandbox starts a fresh lifecycle timer; accounts with always-on access can use the 'restart' timeout action (stop+resume cycles preserving memory) and keep their concurrency slot while stopped.

## How this provider charges


Launched 2026-09-24. One compute rate card: five fixed sizes, all 1 vCPU : 2 GiB, priced linearly at
**$0.07 per (1 vCPU + 2 GiB)-hour**, metered per second while running. Everything else (volumes, egress, stopped
state, public images/Kits) is free. Billing sits on a separate "Docker Agentic Platform" pay-as-you-go subscription
tied to a personal Docker account. It is not part of Docker Personal/Pro/Team/Business.

4 vCPU / 8 GiB = **medium = $0.28/h** (≈ $0.035/vCPU-h + $0.0175/GiB-h if split like a 1:2 unit).

## Regime table

| Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Docker Sandboxes | `sbx` on your own machine | Free, incl. commercial use (no Desktop licence needed) | $0 | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes/cloud/local-vs-cloud/, forums.docker.com/t/151790 |
| Cloud PAYG (Docker Agentic Platform) | Any cloud sandbox | No recurring fee; per-second compute on the chosen size; invoiced monthly in arrears | micro 1/2 $0.07, small 2/4 $0.14 (default), medium 4/8 $0.28, large 8/16 $0.56, xl 16/32 $1.12 per hour | Docker blog (launch), https://docs.docker.com/agentic-platform/signup/ |
| Promo credit | New accounts, limited time | One-time compute credit; not usable for model inference | $250 (≈893 h of medium) | Docker blog, https://www.docker.com/c/sbx-promo/ |
| Running | Sandbox started | Allocated size, idle or busy | as above | https://docs.docker.com/agentic-platform/signup/ |
| Stopped (memory + filesystem preserved) | `sbx stop` or TTL action `stop` | "Compute isn't billed while it is stopped"; storage free; frees the concurrency slot but counts toward 50 stored sandboxes | $0 | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes/cloud/usage/, /sandboxes-api/limits/ |
| TTL expiry (default) | 1 h after creation unless renewed | Default on-timeout: **stop** if resumable, else **delete**; `restart` also available | billing continues until expiry | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes/cloud/usage/ |
| Max lifetime | Any sandbox | Renewals cannot move expiry beyond 24 h from creation | 24 h cap | same |
| Always-on sandbox | Configured always-on | Keeps its concurrency slot when "stopped"; no separate price published | null | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes-api/limits/ |
| Volumes (experimental) | Persistent data outside a sandbox | Free; snapshot saved when the sandbox exits | $0; 100 volumes/account | Docker blog, /cloud/usage/ |
| Egress / public HTTPS URL | All traffic / exposed ports | Free | $0 | Docker blog |
| Quotas | Default account | 10 concurrent, 50 stored, 100 volumes, 100 secrets, 3 image preps | raise: unpublished | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes-api/limits/ |
| AI Governance | Org-wide policies | Separate paid subscription, contact sales | null | https://docs.docker.com/ai/sandboxes/ |
| Docker Pro/Team/Business | Docker Hub/Desktop seats | $9–24/user/mo; **no** sandbox credit; not required | n/a | https://www.docker.com/products/docker-sandboxes/ |

No dated price changes (product is 4 days old).

## Gotchas

1. **The 1-hour default TTL is a billing floor if you never stop.** Sandboxes bill until explicitly stopped or until the TTL action fires.
2. **24 h hard ceiling from creation.** Long-lived agents need stop/restart cycles or re-creation.
3. **Only 10 concurrent by default**, and no published way or price to raise it.
4. Stopped state includes **memory**, and is free, so it is a cheap pause, limited only by the 50 stored-sandbox quota.
5. Being a Docker Business customer gives you nothing here: the Agentic Platform is billed separately on a personal account (no org billing documented).
6. Disk size per size tier is not published.

## Worked example

4 vCPU / 8 GiB (medium), 50 concurrent × 8 h/day × 22 days = 8,800 sandbox-hours, 30% CPU, 50 GiB snapshots, 100 GiB egress.

| Regime | Feasible? | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|
| PAYG, stopped between shifts | Only after a quota raise (default 10 concurrent) | 8,800 × $0.28 = **$2,464.00**; snapshots/volumes $0, egress $0; CPU util irrelevant (allocated) |
| First month with promo credit | same | $2,464 − $250 = $2,214 |
| Anti-pattern: left running 24 h/day | Not possible beyond 24 h from creation; recreate daily | 50 × 24 × 22 × 0.28 = $7,392 |