# Flow Swiss Mac Bare Metal

Official pricing: https://doc.flow.swiss/platform/pricing/mac-bare-metal  
Category: macos · Isolation: dedicated-host

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Whole Mac, hourly with 24 h minimum (CHF converted to USD)** (sizes): macmini.m1.8-16-512 (M1) 8 vCPU/16 GiB $0.326295/h; macmini.2018.6-16-256 (Intel i7) 6 vCPU/16 GiB $0.326295/h; macmini.m2.8-24-512 (M2) 8 vCPU/24 GiB $0.41089/h; macmini.2018.6-32-512 (Intel i7) 6 vCPU/32 GiB $0.664675/h; macmini.2018.6-64-1024 (Intel i7) 6 vCPU/64 GiB $0.82178/h; macmini.m2-pro.12-32-4096 (M2 Pro) 12 vCPU/32 GiB $0.74927/h
- **Mac split into 2 macOS VMs (Apple SLA cap), per-VM price** (sizes): 1/2 of macmini.m1.8-16-512 (M1) 4 vCPU/8 GiB $0.163148/h; 1/2 of macmini.m2.8-24-512 (M2) 4 vCPU/12 GiB $0.205445/h; 1/2 of macmini.m2-pro.12-32-4096 (M2 Pro) 6 vCPU/16 GiB $0.374635/h; 1/2 of macmini.m4-pro.12-48-2048 (M4 Pro) 6 vCPU/24 GiB $0.453187/h; 1/2 of macmini.m4-pro.14-48-2048 (M4 Pro) 7 vCPU/24 GiB $0.495485/h; 1/2 of macmini.m5-pro.18-64-2048 (M5 Pro) 9 vCPU/32 GiB $0.616335/h [alt]
- **CI Engine (managed ephemeral macOS CI runners on M4 Pro), monthly per concurrent job** (sizes): Essential gen1-3c.8g 3 vCPU/8 GiB $null/h; Professional gen1-6c.16g 6 vCPU/16 GiB $null/h [alt, commit]

## Features

Yes: persistent disk, ≥24 h sessions, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, nested virtualization, root, browser, desktop GUI, SSH, public IPv4, raw TCP inbound, egress allowlist, open internet, static egress IP, private networking, arm64, macOS, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, firewall inside (nftables)

No: snapshots, memory snapshots, fork/clone, pause/resume, volumes, idle auto-stop, custom image (Docker or snapshot), start from your own snapshot, your own Docker/OCI image, systemd, computer-use API, code interpreter, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, preinstalled agents, HTTPS preview URLs, custom domains, self-hosting, BYOC, open source, SOC 2, HIPAA, SSO, GPU, Windows, Python, Node.js, GPU desktop, HTTP method/path egress rules, wake on request, live resize, live fork (no pause), memory fork, webhooks, EU data residency, MCP server, automatic snapshots, snapshots on demand, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), secret proxy, secret proxy for any API, extra volumes, shared volumes

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

## Caveats

- Sweep assumed 1.25 USD/CHF; current rate is ~1.21 USD/CHF (Flow's own doc says '1 CHF is usually equal to 1 USD', which is out of date). Prices exclude Swiss VAT.
- Egress: 20 TB/month per organisation included; overage price not published. Each Mac gets a free elastic public IPv4.
- Hourly granularity assumed (prices quoted per hour).
- No sandbox/agent SDK, but a REST API (api.flow.swiss/v3, same functionality as the control panel) covers Mac Bare Metal devices; Flow CLI does not yet support Mac. Zurich (ZRH1) only.
- Granularity after the 24 h minimum is ambiguous: pricing page says 'Billing is per hour', billing FAQ says Mac billing is 'on a daily basis respectively 24 hours'. Card keeps 3600 s; if Flow actually bills whole days, sessions of 25-47 h would cost 48 h.
- Flow's own pages disagree on which Macs exist: the API product list shows only Intel + M1, the marketing page lists 'Intel, M1, M1-Max, M2-Pro', the price list has Intel, M1, M2, M2 Pro, M4 Pro x2, M5 Pro, M4 Max Studio. Price list used; availability/stock not published.

## How this provider charges


Flow Swiss rents whole Mac minis and Mac Studios in Switzerland. Prices are in **CHF, excluding VAT**.

**Conversion:** 1 CHF = **1.2085 USD** (1 USD = 0.8275 CHF on 2026-09-26, Wise).
- The sweep assumed 1.25 USD/CHF.
- Flow's own documentation says "1 CHF is usually equal to 1 USD", which is out of date.

## Regime table

| # | Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers (CHF per hour / per month; USD per hour) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hourly, 24 h minimum | Default | Per hour. **24-hour minimum allocation**. Billing **continues while the Mac is switched off** | M1 8c/16 GB/512 GB 0.27 / 199 (**$0.3263/h**); M2 8c/24/512 0.34 / 249 ($0.4109); M2 Pro 12c/32/4 TB 0.62 / 449 ($0.7493); M4 Pro 12c/48/2 TB 0.75 / 549 ($0.9064); M4 Pro 14c/48/2 TB 0.82 / 599 ($0.9910); M5 Pro 18c/64/2 TB 1.02 / 749 ($1.2327); Mac Studio M4 Max 16c/128/2 TB 1.34 / 979 ($1.6194); Intel i7 6c/16/256 0.27 / 199; 6c/32/512 0.55 / 399; 6c/64/1 TB 0.68 / 499 | https://doc.flow.swiss/platform/pricing/mac-bare-metal |
| 2 | Monthly figure | Shown next to the hourly price | About 737 h × hourly, so **not a discount** versus running 730 h | e.g. M1 CHF 199 ($240.49) | same |
| 3 | 2 macOS VMs per Mac (DIY) | Tart/Lume on the host | Host price / 2 per VM (Apple SLA cap of 2) | M1 half: $0.1631/h | https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macOS27.pdf |
| 4 | Network | Included | Free elastic public IPv4 per Mac. 20 TB/month outbound per organisation | $0 (overage price not published) | doc.flow.swiss |

## Gotchas

1. The 24 h minimum plus "billed while off" means **any use costs at least 24 h**, and a Mac you keep costs 730 h/month.
2. Currency: prices exclude VAT, and USD figures move with CHF (the sweep's 1.25 overstated them by about 3%).
3. The M4/M5 Pro and M4 Max machines are new on the price list; the provider file said "no M4 models listed", which is now corrected.
4. Switzerland only. No agent API.

## 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.

Assumption: M1 8c/16 GB is the smallest fit.

| Regime | Mac-hours | **Monthly** |
|---|---|---|
| 50 Macs kept all month | 50 × 730 × $0.326295 | **$11,909.77** |
| 50 Macs, 24 h per workday (released nightly after 24 h) | 50 × 528 × $0.326295 | **$8,614.19** |
| 2 VMs per Mac, 25 Macs all month | 25 × 730 × $0.326295 | **$5,954.88** |

Snapshots (local disk), egress (within 20 TB) and IPv4 are all $0.

Sources: https://doc.flow.swiss/platform/pricing/mac-bare-metal · https://flow.swiss/mac-bare-metal · https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-chf-rate/history · https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macOS27.pdf