AWS AgentCore vs Upstash Box
AWS AgentCore is the part of AWS that hosts agents, with microVM sessions of up to 8 hours plus managed Code Interpreter and Browser tools. Upstash Box gives each agent a light container with a coding agent built in that pauses when idle, keeps its files and wakes on the next request.
The companies and products
AWS AgentCore
Amazon Bedrock AgentCore is a set of AWS services to deploy and run AI agents: a Runtime that hosts your agent code, plus built-in Code Interpreter and Browser tools.
AgentCore is not a sandbox product first. It is a hyperscaler's agent platform: you push a container image or code, and each Runtime session gets its own Firecracker microVM that you reach through AgentCore APIs. Around it sit managed tools (Code Interpreter, Browser) and services for memory, identity, gateways and evaluations, and an Instances compute type runs longer sessions on EC2 in your own account. It is built for teams who already build on AWS and want agents to stay inside their account, IAM and VPC.
Upstash Box
Upstash Box is a cloud computer for AI agents from Upstash, the company known for serverless Redis, Vector and QStash.
Each box is a Docker container with its own filesystem, shell, git and an optional coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode, which you drive from TypeScript or Python SDKs. A box pauses when it sits idle, keeps its files, and you pay for the CPU it actually uses. Upstash built it to run its own Context7 service and opened it to everyone in March 2026.
Which use cases each one fits
For each use case, Battleships prices every sandbox provider on the same workload and sorts them from the cheapest monthly bill up. “7th cheapest of 345” means 6 of the other 344 providers run that workload, with every feature it needs, for less. “With limits” means the provider runs it but misses something, so it is listed after every full match. Open a use case for its whole ranking and what each provider misses.
| Use case and its workload | AWS AgentCore: price rank | Upstash Box: price rank | boat: price rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month A coding agent that runs databases in Docker fits neither well: AgentCore stops at 2 vCPU and 8 hours per microVM session, and an Upstash box is itself a container, while boat gives it a full machine with Docker. | 100th of 367, with limits $888 a month | 61st of 367, with limits $464 a month | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB An assistant that stays on all month outlasts AgentCore's 8-hour microVM lifecycle and needs the Instances type on EC2, while an Upstash keep-alive box stays on for a flat price and boat simply keeps running. | 64th of 366, with limits $1,300 a month | 103rd of 366, with limits $475 a month | 5th cheapest of 366 $657 a month |
| Code interpreter bursts 100 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 200,000 sessions of 1 min a month Both fit short code runs well: AgentCore Code Interpreter and a standard Upstash box each bill only the CPU actually used. | 7th cheapest of 345 $114 a month | 10th cheapest of 345 $119 a month | 186th of 345, with limits $2,000 a month |
| Sandboxes for your users 300 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 23 min a month AgentCore sessions have no open ports, so your users cannot open the app their sandbox runs; an Upstash box gets an HTTPS URL that wakes it, and boat gives each user a full VM with HTTPS on up to 50 ports. | 210th of 361, with limits $506 a month | 2nd cheapest of 361 $222 a month | Cheapest of 361 $209 a month |
| RL rollouts 1,000 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 1,000,000 sessions of 3 min a month | 125th of 360, with limits $8,075 a month | 352nd of 360, with limits $8,068 a month | 34th of 360, with limits $2,000 a month |
| Agent evals 250 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 15,000 sessions of 20 min a month | 33rd cheapest of 364 $650 a month | 52nd cheapest of 364 $1,011 a month | 10th cheapest of 364 $200 a month |
| CI runners 40 at once · 8 vCPU / 16 GB · 6,000 sessions of 12 min a month CI jobs that build containers or Android apps need Docker and /dev/kvm, which neither AgentCore nor Upstash documents and boat exposes in every sandbox. | 52nd cheapest of 377 $399 a month | 120th cheapest of 377 $1,520 a month | 4th cheapest of 377 $86 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB A dev box needs SSH and a disk that keeps installed packages; Upstash gives a keep-alive box with SSH through a gateway, while AgentCore has no SSH and resets files outside its storage mount. | 228th of 368, with limits $52 a month | 10th cheapest of 368 $20 a month | 18th cheapest of 368 $26 a month |
| Computer-use agents 50 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 20,000 sessions of 15 min a month Neither AgentCore nor Upstash offers a full desktop, only a browser, while boat streams a full Linux desktop at 60fps for agents that use other apps too. | 104th of 369, with limits $202 a month | 73rd of 369, with limits $76 a month | 6th cheapest of 369 $200 a month |
| Browser-use agents 50 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 10 min a month AgentCore Browser is a managed Chromium with live view and session replay, Upstash ships a headless Chromium with AI page actions, and boat runs Chromium on a desktop the agent can see. | 4th cheapest of 367 $144 a month | 49th of 367, with limits $38 a month | 7th cheapest of 367 $200 a month |
| Scraping & bots (startup scale) 50 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 100,000 sessions of 3 min a month | 27th cheapest of 346 $287 a month | 37th cheapest of 346 $400 a month | 6th cheapest of 346 $90 a month |
| Mass scraping & bots (undetectable) 1,000 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 3,000,000 sessions of 2 min a month | 165th of 338, with limits $5,458 a month | 200th of 338, with limits $8,000 a month | 71st of 338, with limits $1,800 a month |
| Parallel red teaming 200 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 5,000 sessions of 30 min a month | 62nd of 360, with limits $294 a month | 225th of 360, with limits $259 a month | 2nd cheapest of 360 $200 a month |
| GPU eval jobs 10 at once · 8 vCPU / 32 GB · 500 sessions of 30 min a month | Can't run it | Can't run it | Can't run it |
| macOS agents 5 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 1,000 sessions of 20 min a month | Can't run it | Can't run it | Can't run it |
Key features
| Feature | AWS AgentCore | Upstash Box | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Firecracker microVM per Runtime session; Code Interpreter and Browser in a containerized environment | Docker container per box on AWS | Full VM with its own kernel on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X hosts |
| Biggest machine | 2 vCPU / 8 GB per microVM session, not adjustable; bigger EC2 types only on Instances | Large: 8 vCPU / 16 GB | Up to 16 vCPU / 32 GB on the $100 plan and above |
| Session length | Up to 8 hours per lifecycle on microVMs, stopped after 15 idle minutes by default; up to 14 days on Instances | No maximum documented; a standard box pauses when idle and resumes later, a keep-alive box stays on | No cap on paid plans; you set the time to live |
| What survives a stop | Only one storage mount under /mnt, up to 1 GB, in preview; EBS volumes on Instances; the rest resets | The box keeps its files when paused, on a 5, 10 or 20 GB disk by size; storage bills while paused | The whole disk, 50 GB at the default size, saved every minute and on stop; a stopped sandbox costs nothing |
| Snapshots and fork | No user snapshots or fork of a session | Snapshot a running box and start many new boxes from it | Automatic snapshots every minute; fork a running sandbox with its disk |
| Docker, systemd and /dev/kvm | Root inside the microVM; arm64 container images; Docker and /dev/kvm not documented | No Docker inside; the box is itself a Docker container, with no VM support documented | Root, Docker, systemd and /dev/kvm for Android emulators and VMs |
| Inbound access | No open ports or SSH; sessions are reached only through AgentCore APIs with IAM or JWT | HTTPS URL per port, public unless you add a token or basic auth; SSH through a gateway; no raw TCP | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected by default; raw TCP; SSH |
| Wake on request | The next call after a stop starts a fresh microVM | A request to a public URL resumes a paused box and waits for the app | No; a stopped sandbox is started by API |
| Network controls | VPC mode with security groups, PrivateLink and a NAT gateway for a fixed outbound IP | Allow all, deny all, or allow and deny by domain and CIDR, changeable on a running box | Open internet, no provider-side allowlist |
| Browser and desktop | Managed Chromium with live view, session recording and replay, profiles and proxies; no full desktop | Managed headless Chromium with AI page actions and CDP; no desktop | Full Linux desktop streamed at 60fps, with Chromium and computer use |
| Coding agents | AWS's own managed harness built on Strands Agents, or your own agent code in any framework | Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode built in, with run and stream APIs, webhooks and scheduled prompts | Claude Code, Codex and five more preinstalled, with a prompt, steer and events API |
| Keeping API keys out of the sandbox | AgentCore Identity stores OAuth tokens and API keys and hands them to your agent code | Host proxy injects headers into outbound HTTPS on port 443; set when the box is created | Credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API; switch a credential to another account when credits run out |
| GPUs | NVIDIA G-series and Inferentia2 on the Instances type | No | No |
| Regions | 17 commercial AWS regions plus GovCloud | US only (AWS us-east-1) | EU only (Germany, Finland, France) |
Every feature Battleships tracks (43)
| Feature | AWS AgentCore | Upstash Box | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Docker inside | Not published | No | Yes |
| Nested virtualization | No | No | Yes |
| Root | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Systemd | No | Not published | Yes |
| Desktop GUI | No | No | Yes |
| Browser | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Computer-use API | Yes | No | Yes |
| SSH | No | Yes | Yes |
| Persistent disk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pause/resume | No | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic snapshots | No | No | Yes |
| Fork/clone | No | Yes | Yes |
| Live fork (no pause) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Memory fork | No | No | No |
| Custom image (Docker or snapshot) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ≥24 h sessions | No | Yes | Yes |
| Idle auto-stop | Yes | Yes | No |
| Wake on request | Yes | Yes | No |
| HTTPS preview URLs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Raw TCP inbound | No | No | Yes |
| Public IPv4 | No | No | No |
| Egress allowlist | Yes | Yes | No |
| Secret proxy | No | Yes | Yes |
| Secret proxy for any API | No | Yes | Yes |
| Preinstalled agents | No | Yes | Yes |
| Agent harness API | No | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | No |
| GPU | Yes | No | No |
| Windows | No | No | No |
| Arm64 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Self-hosting | No | No | No |
| BYOC | Yes | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | No |
| Scoped API keys | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Spend limits | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Usage per sandbox (API) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audit logs | Yes | Not published | No |
| SSO | Yes | No | No |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Yes | No |
| HIPAA | Yes | No | No |
| EU data residency | Yes | No | Yes |
| Zero data retention | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Performance
There is no comparable measurement for either: neither AWS AgentCore nor Upstash Box was part of the hpc-sandbox-benchmarks CPU run. boat did 26.69 runs per second on that Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X hosts.
Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, higher is better. Measured with the open hpc-sandbox-benchmarks suite. AWS AgentCore and Upstash Box have no published run in this suite yet, so there is no like-for-like number to compare.
Pricing in five scenarios
Each bill is priced from the providers' public price lists by the open Battleships engine, with the cheapest plan that runs the scenario.
| Scenario | AWS AgentCore, a month | Upstash Box, a month | boat, a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| One coding agent, workdays 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, 8 hours a day, 22 days a month, files kept between days | $26 · Pay-as-you-go (Instances) · with limits | $21 · Pay as You Go | $20 · $20/mo |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $107 · Pay-as-you-go (Instances) · with limits | $21 · Pay as You Go | $26 · $20/mo |
| 50 agents in parallel 50 machines of 4 vCPU / 8 GB at once, 8-hour sessions, 1,100 sessions a month, Docker inside | $1,286 · Pay-as-you-go (Instances) · with limits | $900 · Pay as You Go · with limits | $317 · $20/mo × 3 seats |
| Sandboxes for your users 2 vCPU / 4 GB, 30,000 sessions of 10 minutes a month, up to 300 at once | $423 · Pay-as-you-go · with limits | $306 · Pay as You Go | $200 · $100/mo × 2 seats |
| 1,000 short jobs at once 2 vCPU / 4 GB, 1,000 at once, 3 minutes each, 200,000 jobs a month | $1,615 · Pay-as-you-go (Instances) | $1,822 · Pay as You Go | $2,000 · $2000/mo · with limits |
AWS AgentCore: Runtime microVMs, Code Interpreter and Browser bill per second for CPU actually used and for peak memory. The 4 vCPU shape in these scenarios is the Instances type: the EC2 on-demand price plus a 12% management fee, with EBS storage and data transfer billed by AWS on top.
Upstash Box: A standard box is billed for the CPU it actually uses, at $0.10, $0.20 or $0.40 per active CPU hour for Small, Medium and Large, plus $0.10 per GB-month of storage, and RAM is free. A keep-alive box costs a flat $8, $16 or $32 a month whether it is busy or not.
Upstash Box: Plans start at $20 a month, and the whole fee is usage credit. You pay per second while a sandbox runs, and a stopped sandbox costs nothing and keeps its disk.
Limits in those scenarios
AgentCore's microVM sessions stop at 2 vCPU / 8 GB and 8 hours, so the 4 vCPU scenarios use the Instances type, capped at 14 days, and files outside the storage mount reset after a stop; that is why AgentCore fits only the 1,000 short jobs scenario here. Upstash has no Docker inside a box, so the 50-agent scenario does not fit there, and its egress price is not published. Both handle 1,000 short jobs at once, where boat's plans queue starts above 90 per minute.
| Scenario | AWS AgentCore | Upstash Box | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| One coding agent, workdays |
|
| None that bite |
| One agent that never stops |
|
| None that bite |
| 50 agents in parallel |
|
| None that bite |
| Sandboxes for your users |
|
| None that bite |
| 1,000 short jobs at once |
|
|
|
Which one should you use?
Use AWS AgentCore when
your agents must stay inside your AWS account and VPC, need a GPU or a region outside the US, or are short code and browser tasks that fit the managed tools.
- It lives inside your AWS account. Teams built on AWS keep agents behind their own IAM, VPC, security groups and PrivateLink, in 17 commercial regions.
- GPUs and two-week sessions on Instances. Agents that need a GPU or a session of up to 14 days can run on EC2 in your account.
- Managed browser with replay. For browser tasks, AgentCore Browser gives a managed Chromium with live view, session recording and replay, profiles and proxies.
Use Upstash Box when
your agents mostly wait, should wake on an incoming request, need a coding agent ready to go, and can run in a light container in the US.
- Idle costs no CPU, and a request wakes the box. Good for agents that wait a lot: RAM is free, idle CPU costs nothing, and a request to its URL wakes it.
- Coding agents built in. Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode come built in, with stream APIs, webhooks and scheduled prompts for teams that want them ready.
- Outbound rules by domain. Useful when an agent may only reach a short list of domains or IP ranges, changeable on a running box.
Where boat fits
If your agents do real work on a machine for hours, with installs, builds, Docker and a browser, both AgentCore and Upstash Box get in the way: one with short, small sessions that forget their files, the other with a container that cannot run Docker. boat gives each agent a full Linux VM that keeps its whole disk and runs as long as the work takes.
A whole machine with Docker and /dev/kvm
AgentCore microVMs stop at 2 vCPU and do not document Docker or /dev/kvm, and an Upstash box is itself a container. So 50 agents with Docker fit neither; AgentCore's way out is running EC2 Instances in your account.
A disk that keeps everything
On AgentCore only a 1 GB storage mount survives a stop, so installed packages reset each time. Upstash keeps files but caps the disk at 20 GB. boat saves a 50 GB disk every minute and can fork a running sandbox.
A desktop and a URL you can open
AgentCore sessions have no open ports, so you proxy previews through your own code, and both offer only a browser, no desktop. boat streams a 60fps Linux desktop and serves HTTPS on up to 50 ports plus raw TCP.
Use boat when your agents need a real machine for hours: Docker, emulators, a desktop, a big disk that keeps everything and a URL you can open. Compare it one to one: boat vs AWS AgentCore and boat vs Upstash Box.
Questions people ask
Is AWS AgentCore cheaper than Upstash Box?
In four of the five scenarios on this page, Upstash Box costs less, for example $21 a month against $107 for one agent that never stops. AgentCore costs less for 1,000 short jobs at once: $1,615 against $1,822 a month.
Which is faster, AWS AgentCore or Upstash Box?
There is no comparable measurement: neither was part of the hpc-sandbox-benchmarks CPU run. boat did 26.69 runs per second on that test at 4 vCPU / 8 GB.
Can AWS AgentCore or Upstash Box run Docker?
AgentCore runs your arm64 container image as root in a microVM, but its docs do not say Docker or /dev/kvm work inside a session. An Upstash box is itself a Docker container and does not offer Docker inside. boat runs Docker and exposes /dev/kvm in every sandbox.
How long can a session run on each?
An AgentCore microVM session lasts up to 8 hours and stops after 15 idle minutes by default; the Instances type runs up to 14 days. Upstash documents no maximum: a standard box pauses when idle and resumes later with its files, and a keep-alive box stays on. boat has no session cap on paid plans.
Do AWS AgentCore and Upstash Box have a desktop for computer use?
Neither has a full desktop. AgentCore Browser is a managed Chromium with live view and replay, and Upstash gives a headless Chromium with AI page actions and CDP. boat streams a full Linux desktop at 60fps with computer-use tools.
Where do AWS AgentCore and Upstash Box run?
AgentCore runs in 17 commercial AWS regions plus GovCloud. Upstash Box runs only in AWS us-east-1, with more regions planned. boat runs in the EU, in Germany, Finland and France.
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