# smol machines

Official pricing: https://smolmachines.com/pricing  
Category: agent-sandbox · Isolation: vm

## Pricing regimes (raw)

- **Active usage plus running-instance fee** (resource): $0.05/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, your own Docker/OCI image, full VM (own kernel), Docker inside, preinstalled agents, HTTPS preview URLs, egress allowlist, open internet, self-hosting, BYOC, open source, SSO, arm64, Python, Node.js, wake on request, live fork (no pause), memory fork, spend limits, MCP server, snapshots on demand, gVisor or VM (no shared kernel), inbound access rules, firewall inside (nftables), secret proxy, secret proxy for any API

No: nested virtualization, browser, desktop GUI, computer-use API, browser + desktop control, anti-bot stealth, CAPTCHA solving, residential IPs, SSH, public IPv4, static egress IP, SOC 2, HIPAA, GPU, Windows, macOS, credential injection, HTTP method/path egress rules, live resize, EU data residency, automatic snapshots, agent harness API, hosted agent API (their own agent), extra volumes, shared volumes

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

## Caveats

- Bills a $0.04 per running-machine-hour base PLUS $0.05 per active vCPU-hour and $0.0162 per active RSS GB-hour; base is not reserved resources.
- One-minute minimum initially at requested size; longer lifetimes use sampled CPU/RSS and second-level metering. Fork fanout pays minimum once, not per clone.
- Engine cannot express per-running-instance base fee or initial allocated-resource minimum with later active usage. Card deliberately has null CPU/RAM rates to prevent underpricing. Native rates are retained in provider extras.
- Disk is used bytes at $0.0001/GB-hour, including stopped state; scale-to-zero removes base and CPU/RAM. Beta discount: 10% only on spend above $2,000/month; threshold may change.
- Pro/Startup are pure fees, not credits. Standard 20 stored machines, Pro 100, Startup 1000; limits need not equal running concurrency.
- Null values mean unknown, not free/unlimited. No model-token cost, tax or unverified ancillary charge included.
- Native browser/device/task/credit prices with unknown CPU/RAM are deliberately non-priceable. Check regime before interpreting any partial resource estimate.
- Re-checked 2026-09-28 on smolmachines.com/pricing: rates unchanged ($0.04/machine-h base, 1-min minimum; $0.05/active vCPU-h; $0.0162/active RSS GB-h; $0.0001/GB-h disk; $0.05/GB egress). Still unpriced: the engine has no per-running-instance hourly fee field, and folding the $0.04 base into vcpu_h/ram_gib_h would misprice every size. Per-machine limits: Standard 8 vCPU/16 GB, Pro 16/24, Startup 32/32.
- Beta volume discount: 10% off spend above $2,000/month ('threshold and rate may still change'). Prepaid credits (top-ups) expire 12 months after purchase and are non-refundable after 14 days; rates may change on 14 days' notice.

## How this provider charges


YC: Spring 2026; directory status **Active**. Research scope: public-product-researched. Source: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/smol-machines

Ship software faster with portable, self contained virtual machines.

## Regime table

| Regime | When it applies | How billed | Numbers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active usage plus running-instance fee | Not representable: $0.04/machine-h plus $0.05/active-vCPU-h + $0.0162/active-RSS-GB-h. | resource; CPU alloc, memory alloc | Unknown or native-unit billing; see facts below | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Standard | Plan limits apply | Monthly fee; credits only as stated | fee=0; included usage=$0; concurrent=None; max session h=None | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Pro | Plan limits apply | Monthly fee; credits only as stated | fee=20; included usage=$0; concurrent=None; max session h=None | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Startup | Plan limits apply | Monthly fee; credits only as stated | fee=150; included usage=$0; concurrent=None; max session h=None | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Enterprise | Plan limits apply | Monthly fee; credits only as stated | fee=None; included usage=$None; concurrent=None; max session h=None | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Retained disk / GiB-month | Lifecycle/scope must be checked | Native add-on | $0.073 | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Snapshots / GiB-month | Lifecycle/scope must be checked | Native add-on | unverified, not $0 | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| Egress / GiB | Lifecycle/scope must be checked | Native add-on | $0.05 | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |
| IPv4 / month | Lifecycle/scope must be checked | Native add-on | unverified, not $0 | https://smolmachines.com/pricing |

## Verified billing facts and gotchas

1. Bills a $0.04 per running-machine-hour base PLUS $0.05 per active vCPU-hour and $0.0162 per active RSS GB-hour; base is not reserved resources.
2. One-minute minimum initially at requested size; longer lifetimes use sampled CPU/RSS and second-level metering. Fork fanout pays minimum once, not per clone.
3. Engine cannot express per-running-instance base fee or initial allocated-resource minimum with later active usage. Card deliberately has null CPU/RAM rates to prevent underpricing. Native rates are retained in provider extras.
4. Disk is used bytes at $0.0001/GB-hour, including stopped state; scale-to-zero removes base and CPU/RAM. Beta discount: 10% only on spend above $2,000/month; threshold may change.
5. Pro/Startup are pure fees, not credits. Standard 20 stored machines, Pro 100, Startup 1000; limits need not equal running concurrency.

Native pricing (not coerced into incompatible engine units):
```json
{
  "base_machine_hour_usd": 0.04,
  "active_vcpu_hour_usd": 0.05,
  "active_ram_gib_hour_usd": 0.0162,
  "disk_gib_hour_usd": 0.0001
}
```

## Worked example

Requested: 4 vCPU/8 GiB, 50 simultaneous × 8 h/day × 22 days = **8,800 instance-hours**, 30% CPU; 50 GiB snapshots and 100 GiB egress. A month is 730 hours only when explicitly used in rate conversion.

Assuming 100% of 8 GiB remains resident and 30% of 4 vCPU consumed: 8,800×($0.04+4×0.3×$0.05+8×$0.0162)=$2,020.48. Pro adds $20. Fifty GiB retained storage adds $3.65 and 100 GiB egress $5: $2,049.13 before the conditional beta discount and any running disks. Memory utilization is not specified by the workload, so this is an explicit full-RSS scenario; snapshot-specific storage semantics remain unverified.

## Sources and coverage

- https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/smol-machines
- https://smolmachines.com/pricing
- https://smolmachines.com/faq
- https://smolmachines.com/docs/
- https://smolmachines.com/
- https://smolmachines.com/llms.txt

Page captures and documentation indexes/bundles are in `raw/`; provider JSON lists the evidence paths. HN query results were captured separately as `<id>--hn.txt`; they are discovery leads, not current tariff authority. Downloaded docs do not imply every feature was verified; unsupported assertions remain null.