COMPARISON
E2B vs Daytona.
Both run sandboxes for AI agents by the second, and both now offer desktops for computer use. E2B runs every sandbox in its own microVM, is open source and self-hostable, and its desktop is Linux only. Daytona adds Windows desktops and more SDKs, but its code moved to a private codebase this year. For a desktop that’s always there, on a computer you own, there’s a third option.
Updated
At a glance
| E2B | Daytona | ibara | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the agent gets | A Firecracker microVM; E2B Desktop adds a Linux desktop | A sandbox, with Linux or Windows desktops for computer use | The desktop of a physical computer you own |
| Desktop operating systems | Linux | Linux and Windows; macOS through a partner | Omarchy only |
| Free start | $100 one-time credit | $200 of compute, no card | Free software |
| 2 vCPU, 4 GiB for an hour | About $0.17 | About $0.17 on Linux | No hourly charge; you supply the hardware |
| Running time | Up to 1 hour on Hobby, 24 on Pro; pausing resets it | Stops after 15 idle minutes by default; can run indefinitely | Always on, like any computer |
| Source | Apache-2.0, self-hostable | Public repository archived; private codebase since June 2026 | MIT core and plugin |
| Where it runs | E2B’s cloud, your cloud (Enterprise) or self-hosted | Daytona’s cloud or your own compute | Your own computers, on your network |
From each vendor’s own pages, checked 15 October 2026. Hourly figures are our arithmetic from their published per-second and per-hour rates. Prices change; check before you buy.
What each one is
E2B runs code from AI agents in isolated Firecracker microVMs. Its open-source E2B Desktop template adds a Linux desktop the agent can see and control, with a stream you can watch. It has Python and JavaScript SDKs and a SOC 2 Type II report.
Daytona is a sandbox API for code written by AI. Its computer-use features cover mouse, keyboard, screenshots, the Linux accessibility tree and screen recording, on Linux and Windows. It has SDKs in Python, TypeScript, Ruby, Go and Java, and an MCP server.
Desktops for computer use
If your agent needs Windows, Daytona is the choice of the two: E2B’s desktop is Linux only, with no GPU. Daytona offers macOS by sending you to a third-party service where you reserve a Mac. On Linux, both give the agent a working desktop; E2B’s is a lightweight Xfce desktop in a microVM.
Pricing
E2B’s Hobby plan is free with a one-time $100 credit and up to 20 sandboxes at once. Pro is $150 a month plus usage, with 100 at once. Usage is $0.000014 a vCPU-second and $0.0000045 a GiB-second, so the default 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox is about $0.17 an hour.
Daytona starts you with $200 of compute and no card. Linux is $0.0504 a vCPU-hour and $0.0162 a GiB-hour, also about $0.17 an hour for 2 vCPU and 4 GiB; Windows is $0.0858 a vCPU-hour. It bills by the second.
On Linux they cost the same per hour. E2B’s Pro fee buys longer sessions and more sandboxes at once.
How long a sandbox lives
E2B caps a running sandbox at 1 hour on Hobby and 24 hours on Pro. Pausing saves the disk and memory, keeps the sandbox indefinitely and resets the clock. Daytona stops an idle sandbox after 15 minutes and archives it after 7 days by default; you can set it to run indefinitely, and it has snapshots and volumes.
Open source and hosting
E2B is Apache-2.0 and can be self-hosted on a single Linux machine with KVM, or deployed into your own cloud on Enterprise. Daytona’s public repository was archived on 3 October 2026; its notice says core development moved to a private codebase in June 2026. You can still run Daytona on your own compute, but the current code isn’t public.
Which to choose
- Choose E2B for strong isolation, open source you can host yourself, and a Linux desktop.
- Choose Daytona for Windows desktops, SDKs in more languages, or sandboxes that run as long as you like.
- Choose either when you need many disposable environments, started fast and thrown away after each run.
A third option: a computer that stays
Sandboxes are built to be disposable. ibara, computer use built for Omarchy, is for the opposite case: an agent workstation that keeps its apps, logins and files from one task to the next, on hardware you own. It gives the agent you already use (Claude Code, Codex or any agent that can use MCP tools) the desktop of a spare computer.
- Always there. No session cap, no auto-stop, nothing billed while it runs. The software is free and open source.
- Real hardware. A physical computer with its own CPU, GPU and USB devices, not a virtual one.
- Your connection. Websites see your home or office connection, not a data center address.
- You choose who’s driving. Watch, take control and hand it back.
ibara isn’t a sandbox: you can’t start a hundred fresh ones in a second, and it’s built for Omarchy only, not Windows. When you need disposable capacity at scale, E2B or Daytona is the better fit. Real computers vs cloud covers the trade.
Install ibara · Take over the demo
Sources
All checked 15 October 2026. ibara.app publishes this page; ibara is the third option.
- E2B pricing, persistence docs, E2B Desktop on GitHub
- Daytona pricing, computer use docs, archived repository
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