REAL COMPUTERS VS CLOUD
Give your agents real computers. Not rented VMs.
Cloud rents your agents capacity by the hour. ibara gives them computers you own: no monthly bill, your home or office connection, and real hardware to themselves. Both have a place. This page lays out the difference, where the cloud is the better choice, and what running your own machines actually costs.
Updated
Five places an agent can work#
| Your computer + ibara | Cloud VM | Hosted agent sandbox | Hosted browser | Local VM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A physical Omarchy computer you own, running your apps | A virtual machine you rent from a cloud provider | A provider-run desktop built for agents, usually started per session | A browser a provider runs for you, driven over an API | A virtual machine on a computer you already use |
| Where it runs | On your desk or rack, on your network | In the provider’s data center | In the provider’s data center | In the provider’s data center | On your computer, sharing it with you |
| Hardware | Real CPU, GPU, display and USB devices | Virtual hardware on a shared host | Virtual hardware on a shared host | A browser only, no desktop apps | Virtual hardware, using your computer’s CPU and memory |
| State | Persistent: your logins, files and setup stay | Persistent while you keep paying for it | Usually thrown away after the session | Per session, sometimes with a saved profile | Persistent until you reset it |
| Cost model | Buy once (or reuse), then electricity | Per hour or month, plus storage and traffic | Per minute or per session | Per browser hour or session | Free, paid for in your own computer’s speed |
| Scaling up | Add another machine | Minutes | Seconds | Seconds | Limited by your computer |
| Maintenance | You | Provider (hardware), you (OS) | Provider | Provider | You |
| You can use it too | Yes: watch, take control, hand back | Through remote desktop, if set up | Usually view-only | Usually a view of the page | Yes, in a window on your desktop |
Categories and typical offers as of September 2026.
What a VM actually is#
A virtual machine is a guest operating system running on a hypervisor, sharing a physical server with other guests. A cloud instance is exactly that: the provider owns the host, and you rent a slice of it (AWS explains its own instances this way). That model is excellent for servers. It is a different thing from a desktop computer, and the differences matter when an agent is using apps the way a person would.
1 · Own the machine#
With ibara, the computer is an asset you keep, not capacity you rent. There is no subscription to keep it alive and no bill that grows with every hour your agent works. A spare you already own costs nothing extra beyond power. When you need the machine for something else, it’s still yours.
2 · Use your connection#
The computer works from whatever network you put it on: your home, your office, a lab. It can reach the printers, dev servers and devices on that network like any other computer there, and websites see traffic from that connection, not from a data center address range. This is a separate point from hardware: a VM with a home connection is still a VM, and a physical machine in a data center is still in a data center.
3 · Run on real hardware#
The agent uses a physical computer: real hardware, real input, the GPU that’s actually there, and USB devices you plug in. Its desktop, browser profile and files persist between tasks, exactly as they would for you. And because it’s the same machine, you can sit down at it, take control from ibara, or hand it back without anything changing underneath.
Browsers and VMs#
Some websites and fraud-prevention services treat signs of a virtual machine as a risk signal, separately from checking where traffic comes from (for example, Fingerprint’s VM detection signal). A physical workstation doesn’t carry that particular signal. That is all it means: ibara is not a way to evade detection, doesn’t make an agent look like a person, and doesn’t change any site’s rules. Websites keep their own terms, and your agent should follow them.
Where the cloud wins#
Cloud VMs are strongest when you want standardized capacity you can create, copy, replace and throw away quickly. Choose them when you need:
- Many machines for a short time, started in minutes and stopped when you’re done.
- Identical, disposable environments, with snapshots and images you can reset after every run.
- Hardware you don’t own, such as large GPUs or lots of memory.
- No physical upkeep at all: no repairs, no power, no space.
ibara doesn’t try to win those. It’s for persistent workstations on hardware and networks you control.
Cost calculator#
Put in your own numbers. The defaults are examples only: check your electricity bill and your provider’s current prices.
Example defaults; put in your own. Electricity only for your computers, the plan or hourly price only for the cloud. Neither includes your agent’s model costs, your time or repairs.
How this comparison works#
- Categories, not vendors. Each column describes a kind of option, not one provider. Typical offers and prices are as of September 2026. Check current prices before you decide.
- Your computers: the price of each computer, paid once, plus electricity. Electricity is watts × hours a day × 365 ÷ 1,000 kWh a year, times your price per kWh, for each computer.
- The cloud: the plan price × 12 months, or the hourly price × hours a day × 365, for each computer.
- Paying it off: the month in which the cloud’s cost, less your electricity, adds up to what you paid for the computers. If the cloud costs less than your electricity, owning never pays off at those numbers, and the calculator says so.
- The example defaults: one $150 mini PC drawing 10 W all day uses 87.6 kWh a year, about $13 at $0.15 per kWh. Against a $30 monthly plan ($360 a year), it pays for itself in month 6 and saves about $890 over three years.
- Left out: your agent’s model costs, which are the same either way, plus your time, repairs, resale value, and any storage or traffic a provider bills separately.
What owning doesn’t change#
- Reasoning may still happen elsewhere. Your agent may send screenshots and task details to its model provider. What leaves the computer.
- Suitability varies. Not every old computer handles every workload. Tested hardware.
- You look after it. Updates, backups and the occasional reboot are yours, as with any computer you own. If you’d rather hand that off, Cirlet plans, sets up and supports agent computers.
Ready to put one to work? Check the requirements, then install ibara.