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Sandboxes for AI coding agents compared

A coding agent needs a computer it can change freely: a shell, the repository, and room to install, build, and run tests. In dx that computer is an Orb, and it runs on a sandbox provider you connect or your dx deployment offers. dx supports four. This page compares them on what dx does with each, so you can pick one.

At a glance

Section titled “At a glance”
E2B Cloudflare Containers Freestyle Docker Cloud Sandboxes
Runs each Orb as An E2B sandbox A container owned by a Durable Object A Freestyle VM A microVM with its own kernel
What you enter API key Account ID and API token API key Docker ID and personal access token
Plan needed Not checked; dx skips sizes your team’s tier refuses Workers Paid Free for up to 4 CPU and 8 GB; Hobby or Pro for 8 CPU Docker Agentic Platform
dx setup Builds Orb templates in your team, a few minutes Copies the Orb image and deploys an Orb Worker, a few minutes Builds Orb snapshots, about ten minutes Starts and checks a test Orb, a few minutes
CPU 1 to 4 0.5 to 4 2 to 8 2 to 16
Memory 2 to 8 GB 4 to 12 GB 4 to 16 GB 4 to 32 GB
Disk 20 GB 8 to 20 GB 16 to 64 GB About 20 GB
A pause keeps Memory: processes keep running Files; processes restart Memory: processes keep running Files; processes may restart
A dx deployment can offer it on its own account Yes Yes No No

Sizes

Section titled “Sizes”
Provider Size CPU Memory Disk
E2B a1.tiny 1 2 GB 20 GB
E2B a1.small 2 4 GB 20 GB
E2B a1.medium 4 8 GB 20 GB
Cloudflare standard-1 0.5 4 GB 8 GB
Cloudflare standard-2 1 6 GB 12 GB
Cloudflare standard-3 2 8 GB 16 GB
Cloudflare standard-4 4 12 GB 20 GB
Freestyle small 2 4 GB 16 GB
Freestyle medium 4 8 GB 32 GB
Freestyle large 8 16 GB 64 GB
Docker small 2 4 GB About 20 GB
Docker medium 4 8 GB About 20 GB
Docker large 8 16 GB About 20 GB
Docker xl 16 32 GB About 20 GB

On E2B and Freestyle, dx leaves out sizes your plan refuses and checks again after a day, so larger sizes appear after you upgrade.

How to choose

Section titled “How to choose”
  • Long-running processes across pauses. An idle Orb pauses after five minutes by default. On E2B and Freestyle a pause keeps memory, so a dev server, a watcher, or a debugger session is still running when the agent comes back. On Cloudflare the files stay and processes start again. On Docker the files stay, and processes may start again.
  • Large builds. Docker goes up to 16 CPU and 32 GB of memory. Freestyle has the most disk, up to 64 GB.
  • Already on Cloudflare. If your account has Workers Paid, Cloudflare Containers runs Orbs in your own account, next to your other Workers.
  • Quick start. E2B, Cloudflare, and Docker are ready a few minutes after you connect. Freestyle takes about ten.
  • Running dx yourself. A self-hosted dx deployment can offer E2B or Cloudflare Containers on its own account, so people need no connection of their own. Freestyle and Docker run only on accounts people connect.

Whatever you pick, each Thread gets its own Orb with the repository and a terminal, and keeps the provider and size it started with. You can connect several providers and choose one per Thread.

Connect one

Section titled “Connect one”

Open Personal Settings → Orb Providers in dx and choose Connect next to the provider. See Connecting an Orb provider.

Source

Section titled “Source”