boat vs AWS EC2
AWS EC2 is a hyperscaler's general-purpose VM service: you get a machine and build the rest. boat is a sandbox made for agents, where every machine already has Docker, /dev/kvm, a desktop, coding agents and HTTPS URLs, and you can fork it while it runs.
Where boat stands out
Coding agents you drive from outside
boat ships Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and other agents inside each sandbox, and you drive them from outside with a prompt, steer and events API. Its credentials proxy keeps real AI keys out of the sandbox and can switch to another account when one runs out of credits. EC2 gives you a clean VM and a shell.
Fork a running machine, stop for free
boat snapshots the disk every minute and on stop, and a stopped sandbox costs nothing. You can fork a running sandbox to try two ideas from the same point. On EC2 a copy means making an image and booting a new instance from it, and a stopped instance still bills its EBS disk and public IPv4.
Desktop, browser and HTTPS URLs ready
Every boat sandbox has a 60fps desktop with Chromium and computer use, and HTTPS URLs on up to 50 ports, token-protected. EC2 Linux images have no desktop, and an HTTPS URL needs your own domain, certificate and a load balancer or web server.
The companies and products
boat
boat.dev runs sandboxes for AI agents: each one is a full Linux VM with its own kernel.
You start a machine with one command or one API call, then SSH in, run Docker, open a desktop, or let a built-in agent (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and others) work in it. The disk stays between sessions, and a stopped sandbox costs nothing.
- Isolation
- Full VM per sandbox, own kernel
- Regions
- EU: Germany, Finland, France
AWS EC2
AWS EC2 is Amazon's general-purpose cloud VM service, not a sandbox product: you rent virtual servers by the second and set them up yourself.
You pick an instance type (Intel, AMD, Graviton Arm, GPU or Mac), a machine image and a network, and EC2 boots a Nitro VM with its own kernel and root access. Disks are EBS volumes, inbound traffic goes through security groups, and anything agent-specific (agents, desktops, HTTPS URLs, key handling) is yours to build. It is built for every kind of server workload, from websites to GPU training, across AWS's worldwide regions.
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. “3rd cheapest of 367” means 2 of the other 366 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 | boat: price rank | AWS EC2: price rank |
|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month EC2 can run a software factory, but you build the agent setup, preview URLs and cloning yourself; boat ships them on every machine. | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month | 87th of 367, with limits $775 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB An always-on assistant fits both; EC2 bills the disk and public IPv4 even while stopped, and its cheapest always-on price needs a 3-year commitment. | 5th cheapest of 366 $657 a month | 114th of 366, with limits $646 a month |
| Code interpreter bursts 100 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 200,000 sessions of 1 min a month EC2 handles short bursts better than boat's start limits allow, though each instance takes tens of seconds to boot. | 186th of 345, with limits $2,000 a month | 102nd of 345, with limits $165 a month |
| Sandboxes for your users 300 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 23 min a month Sandboxes for your users fit boat fully; on EC2 you build the HTTPS access, isolation per user and lifecycle tooling yourself. | Cheapest of 361 $209 a month | 70th of 361, with limits $607 a month |
| RL rollouts 1,000 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 1,000,000 sessions of 3 min a month EC2 fits large RL rollouts better: it can launch big fleets once your quota is raised, while boat's starts per day cap large bursts. | 34th of 360, with limits $2,000 a month | 13th of 360, with limits $830 a month |
| Agent evals 250 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 15,000 sessions of 20 min a month | 10th cheapest of 364 $200 a month | 5th cheapest of 364 $177 a month |
| CI runners 40 at once · 8 vCPU / 16 GB · 6,000 sessions of 12 min a month | 4th cheapest of 377 $86 a month | 21st cheapest of 377 $255 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB | 18th cheapest of 368 $26 a month | 59th cheapest of 368 $76 a month |
| Computer-use agents 50 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 20,000 sessions of 15 min a month EC2 Linux images have no desktop or computer-use API, so you install and stream one yourself; boat streams a 60fps desktop out of the box. | 6th cheapest of 369 $200 a month | 103rd of 369, with limits $195 a month |
| Browser-use agents 50 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 10 min a month boat has Chromium and browser control ready in each sandbox; on EC2 you install and wire the browser yourself. | 7th cheapest of 367 $200 a month | 165th of 367, with limits $101 a month |
| Scraping & bots (startup scale) 50 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 100,000 sessions of 3 min a month | 6th cheapest of 346 $90 a month | 195th of 346, with limits $116 a month |
| Mass scraping & bots (undetectable) 1,000 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 3,000,000 sessions of 2 min a month | 71st of 338, with limits $1,800 a month | 82nd of 338, with limits $2,046 a month |
| Parallel red teaming 200 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 5,000 sessions of 30 min a month | 2nd cheapest of 360 $200 a month | 108th of 360, with limits $45 a month |
| GPU eval jobs 10 at once · 8 vCPU / 32 GB · 500 sessions of 30 min a month Only EC2 fits: it rents Nvidia GPU instances such as H100s, and boat has no GPUs. | Can't run it | 25th cheapest of 98 $1,723 a month |
| 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 |
Key features
| Feature | boat | AWS EC2 |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | An agent sandbox: a full VM with agents, desktop, URLs and snapshots set up | A general cloud VM; you install and wire everything else |
| Isolation | Every sandbox is a full VM with its own kernel | Every instance is a Nitro VM with its own kernel |
| Docker and nested virtualization | Docker, root, systemd and /dev/kvm on every machine | Docker, root and systemd on any instance; /dev/kvm only on C8i, M8i, R8i and metal instances |
| Coding agents | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and more preinstalled, with a prompt, steer and events API | None preinstalled; you install agents and drive them over SSH or Systems Manager |
| Keeping keys out of the machine | AI credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API; switch a credential to another account when credits run out | No credential proxy; IAM role credentials and secrets are read from inside the instance |
| Desktop and computer use | 60fps desktop and Chromium, computer use and browser control, embeddable stream | Linux images have no desktop; Windows instances have Remote Desktop; no computer-use API |
| Reaching the machine | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected; raw TCP; dedicated IPv6 or IPv4 | Public IPv4 ($0.005 an hour) and any port through security groups; HTTPS needs your own domain, certificate and load balancer or web server |
| Files after a stop | Snapshots every minute and on stop; a stopped sandbox costs nothing | EBS disks are kept and billed while stopped; snapshots are manual or scheduled with Data Lifecycle Manager |
| Pause and fork | Fork a running sandbox; resume reboots from disk (no memory snapshots) | Hibernation keeps memory for the same instance; cloning means making an image and booting a new instance from it |
| Outbound network rules | Open internet on every plan; no provider-side allowlist | Security group rules per instance; domain allowlists with AWS Network Firewall or DNS Firewall (paid) |
| GPUs | None | Nvidia GPU instances, from L4 and L40S up to H100 and H200 |
| Operating systems and CPUs | Linux on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (Zen 5); Wine for Windows apps | Linux and Windows on Intel, AMD and Graviton Arm; macOS on Mac Dedicated Hosts |
| Regions | EU only: Germany, Finland, France | 39 regions worldwide, including several in the EU |
| Compliance and transparency | SOC 2 is in progress. We're open about where we stand: live status and data retention policy. | SOC 2 |
Every feature Battleships tracks (43)
| Feature | boat | AWS EC2 |
|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | Yes |
| Docker inside | Yes | Yes |
| Nested virtualization | Yes | Yes |
| Root | Yes | Yes |
| Systemd | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | No |
| Browser | Yes | No |
| Computer-use API | Yes | No |
| SSH | Yes | Yes |
| Persistent disk | Yes | Yes |
| Pause/resume | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic snapshots | Yes | Yes |
| Fork/clone | Yes | No |
| Live fork (no pause) | Yes | No |
| Memory fork | No | No |
| Custom image (Docker or snapshot) | Yes | Yes |
| ≥24 h sessions | Yes | Yes |
| Idle auto-stop | No | No |
| Wake on request | No | No |
| HTTPS preview URLs | Yes | No |
| Raw TCP inbound | Yes | Yes |
| Public IPv4 | No | Yes |
| Egress allowlist | No | Yes |
| Secret proxy | Yes | No |
| Secret proxy for any API | Yes | No |
| Preinstalled agents | Yes | No |
| Agent harness API | Yes | No |
| MCP server | No | No |
| GPU | No | Yes |
| Windows | No | Yes |
| Arm64 | No | Yes |
| Self-hosting | No | No |
| BYOC | No | No |
| Open source | No | No |
| Scoped API keys | Yes | Not published |
| Spend limits | Yes | Not published |
| Usage per sandbox (API) | Yes | Yes |
| Audit logs | No | Not published |
| SSO | No | Yes |
| SOC 2 | No | Yes |
| HIPAA | No | Yes |
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes |
| Zero data retention | Yes | Not published |
Performance
There is no comparable measurement: EC2 was not part of the public benchmark run we use. In that run, StarSling's Node.js build-and-test test on 2026-09-29, boat did 26.69 runs per second at 4 vCPU / 8 GB. EC2 speed depends on the instance family you pick, from Graviton Arm to the latest Intel and AMD chips.
Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, higher is better. Measured with the open hpc-sandbox-benchmarks suite. AWS EC2 has 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 | boat, a month | AWS EC2, 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 | $20 · $20/mo | $21 · Pay-as-you-go (no platform fee) |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $26 · $20/mo | $51 · Pay-as-you-go (no platform fee) · with limits |
| 50 agents in parallel 50 machines of 4 vCPU / 8 GB at once, 8-hour sessions, 1,100 sessions a month, Docker inside | $317 · $20/mo × 3 seats | $944 · Pay-as-you-go (no platform fee) |
| Sandboxes for your users 2 vCPU / 4 GB, 30,000 sessions of 10 minutes a month, up to 300 at once | $200 · $100/mo × 2 seats | $269 · Pay-as-you-go (no platform fee) |
| 1,000 short jobs at once 2 vCPU / 4 GB, 1,000 at once, 3 minutes each, 200,000 jobs a month | $2,000 · $2000/mo · with limits | $502 · Pay-as-you-go (no platform fee) |
boat: You pick a monthly plan from $20, and all of it becomes usage credit spent per second on running sandboxes. A stopped sandbox costs nothing and keeps its disk.
AWS EC2: EC2 bills each instance per second (60 second minimum) at its list rate, here the Graviton c7g sizes on demand, with no platform fee. EBS disks and public IPv4 addresses bill on top, also while stopped, and lower rates need a 1-year or 3-year commitment that bills every hour of the term.
Limits in those scenarios
A new AWS account can run only 5 vCPUs of standard On-Demand instances per region, which is one 4 vCPU machine. AWS raises that quota with usage or on request, but 50 agents in parallel or 300 sandboxes for your users need it raised first. One agent that never stops reaches the price shown only with a 3-year commitment. On boat, the 1,000-job burst is the one that does not fit: the $2,000 plan allows 90 starts a minute, 600 an hour and 2,400 a day, so the burst is queued.
| Scenario | boat | AWS EC2 |
|---|---|---|
| One coding agent, workdays | None that bite | None that bite |
| One agent that never stops | None that bite |
|
| 50 agents in parallel | None that bite | None that bite |
| Sandboxes for your users | None that bite | None that bite |
| 1,000 short jobs at once |
| None that bite |
Which one should you use?
Use AWS EC2 when
you need GPUs, Windows or macOS, regions outside Europe, or very large bursts of short jobs, and you have the people to build the agent tooling on top.
- GPUs, Windows and macOS. Useful if your agents need GPUs, Windows or macOS: EC2 rents Nvidia GPU instances, Windows servers and Mac hosts.
- Regions all over the world. Useful if your users or data must sit outside Europe: EC2 runs in 39 regions across every continent but Antarctica.
- Network rules and memory hibernation. Useful if you must limit where code can connect, or resume a machine with its memory intact: EC2 does both.
Use boat when
you want each agent on a ready, full VM: coding agents with an API, keys kept outside, a desktop, HTTPS URLs, minute-by-minute snapshots and forks, with no infrastructure to assemble.
- Coding agents you drive from outside. On EC2 you write the code that installs, starts, prompts and watches every agent, and the keys sit inside the instance where any root process can read them. That is a small platform team's work before the first task runs.
- Fork a running machine, stop for free. Agents break things and branch often. On EC2 each branch waits for an image and a fresh boot, and every parked machine keeps costing money for its disk and address until you delete it.
- Desktop, browser and HTTPS URLs ready. A computer-use agent on EC2 needs you to install a desktop, a streaming server and a click API. Showing a user the app an agent built needs DNS and TLS work for every instance.
Questions people ask
Is boat cheaper than AWS EC2?
In most scenarios we priced, yes. One coding agent on workdays is about even, $20 a month on boat and $21 on EC2. 50 agents in parallel come to $317 on boat versus $944 on EC2, and sandboxes for your users to $200 versus $269. EC2 wins the 1,000-job burst at $502 a month, which does not fit boat's start limits.
Can I just run Claude Code on an EC2 instance?
Yes. You launch an instance, install the agent, give it a key and keep it running over SSH or Systems Manager. boat does that work for you: the agents come preinstalled, you drive them with a prompt, steer and events API, and the real keys stay outside the machine.
Does EC2 support nested virtualization like boat?
Since February 2026, EC2 supports KVM or Hyper-V inside virtual C8i, M8i and R8i instances, and metal instances have long allowed it. Other virtual instances, including C7i, M7i and Graviton, do not. On boat, /dev/kvm is available on every machine.
Does boat have GPUs, Windows or macOS like EC2?
No. boat runs Linux VMs on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (Zen 5) hosts, with no GPUs and Wine docs for Windows apps. If you need Nvidia GPUs, a Windows desktop or macOS, EC2 has all three.
Where does my data run?
boat runs only in the EU (Germany, Finland and France), with EU data residency and a zero data retention option. EC2 runs in 39 regions worldwide, including several in the EU, and you choose the region for each instance.
Is boat SOC 2 compliant?
SOC 2 is in progress. We're open about where we stand: live status at status.ascii.dev and our data retention policy at docs.boat.dev/data-retention.
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