boat vs Manus Cloud Computer
Manus Cloud Computer is a command-line Ubuntu server with 2 vCPU that you rent by the month inside the Manus agent app. boat is a sandbox platform: full VMs you start, stop and fork from code, with a desktop, a browser and coding agents built in.
Where boat stands out
Sandboxes you run from code
On boat your code creates, stops, forks and deletes sandboxes through an API, CLI or SDK, up to 100 at once from the $20 plan. A Manus Cloud Computer is bought one at a time in the Manus app, and the Manus API drives Manus tasks, not these servers.
Stop for free, keep everything
A boat sandbox can stop whenever it is idle, costs nothing while stopped, and keeps its disk with snapshots every minute. You can fork a running sandbox to try two paths at once. A Manus Cloud Computer has no stop or pause state, and when the plan ends its files are deleted.
A screen, a browser and coding agents
Every boat sandbox has a 60fps desktop with Chromium for computer use, and ships Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and more that you drive from outside with a prompt, steer and events API. A Manus Cloud Computer is command line only.
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
Manus Cloud Computer
Manus is an AI agent app; Cloud Computer is the always-on Linux server you can rent inside it so the Manus agent can run your sites, bots and scripts around the clock.
Each Cloud Computer is a persistent virtual machine running Ubuntu Server 24.04 with a dedicated public IP, sold as a monthly plan with 2 vCPU and 4 GB or 8 GB of memory. You reach it through a web terminal or SSH, or you ask the Manus agent in plain English to set things up on it. It is a server rental for Manus users, not a sandbox API you call from your own code, so this page compares where the two overlap: a machine for an agent to work on.
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 | Manus Cloud Computer: price rank |
|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month A software factory needs many machines made from code; Manus sells Cloud Computers one at a time in its app, with no documented API to create them. | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month | 233rd of 367, with limits $3,000 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB Manus Cloud Computer is built to stay on, but every server is 2 vCPU and bought one at a time, so many assistants means many separate rentals. | 5th cheapest of 366 $657 a month | 178th of 366, with limits $1,500 a month |
| Code interpreter bursts 100 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 200,000 sessions of 1 min a month Short code runs fit neither well; Manus has no per-run machines to rent, and boat's start limits make big bursts a compromise. | 186th of 345, with limits $2,000 a month | 190th of 345, with limits $3,000 a month |
| Sandboxes for your users 300 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 23 min a month Giving each of your users a sandbox needs an API to create and stop machines; Manus Cloud Computer has none documented, so it only fits as hundreds of monthly rentals. | Cheapest of 361 $209 a month | 340th of 361, with limits $9,000 a month |
| RL rollouts 1,000 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 1,000,000 sessions of 3 min a month | 34th of 360, with limits $2,000 a month | 192nd of 360, with limits $30,000 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 | 336th of 364, with limits $7,500 a month |
| CI runners 40 at once · 8 vCPU / 16 GB · 6,000 sessions of 12 min a month CI runners start and stop many times a day; a Manus server is always on and billed by the month, with no stop state. | 4th cheapest of 377 $86 a month | 326th of 377, with limits $1,200 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB Both can keep a box on all month; Manus gives you one 2 vCPU server with a fixed public IP, and boat gives 4 vCPU by default that you can also stop for free. | 18th cheapest of 368 $26 a month | 142nd of 368, with limits $30 a month |
| Computer-use agents 50 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 20,000 sessions of 15 min a month Computer-use agents need a screen; Manus Cloud Computer is command line only, while boat streams a 60fps desktop with Chromium. | 6th cheapest of 369 $200 a month | 274th of 369, with limits $1,500 a month |
| Browser-use agents 50 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 10 min a month There is no browser or desktop on a Manus Cloud Computer, so a browser agent has to install and run a headless browser itself. | 7th cheapest of 367 $200 a month | 329th of 367, with limits $1,500 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 | 321st of 346, with limits $1,500 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 | 305th of 338, with limits $30,000 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 | 350th of 360, with limits $6,000 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 |
| 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 | Manus Cloud Computer |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A sandbox platform: VMs you create, stop, fork and delete from the API, CLI or SDK | One always-on server per monthly plan, bought in the Manus app |
| Isolation | Every sandbox is a full VM with its own kernel | A fully isolated virtual machine running Ubuntu Linux |
| Machine size | 4 vCPU / 8 GB by default; up to 8 vCPU / 16 GB on the $20 plan and 16 vCPU / 32 GB from the $100 plan | 2 vCPU with 4 GB and 70 GB disk, or 2 vCPU with 8 GB and 120 GB disk; changing plan restarts the VM |
| Docker, root and nested virtualization | Docker, root, systemd and /dev/kvm on every machine | Ubuntu Server 24.04 over SSH, where you can install tools such as Docker; root and /dev/kvm are not documented |
| Desktop and browser | 60fps desktop and Chromium, computer use and browser control, embeddable stream | Command line only; no graphical desktop to view |
| Stopping and keeping files | Stop any time for free; the disk is kept, with snapshots every minute and on stop | Always on with no stop or pause; when the plan ends the VM is shut down and its files, tools and databases are deleted |
| Fork and templates | Fork a running sandbox; save named snapshots and start new sandboxes from them | No fork, clone or snapshot documented; each server is bought on its own |
| Creating machines from code | API, CLI and SDK; up to 100 sandboxes at once from the $20 plan | Bought in the Manus app; the Manus API creates agent tasks and does not cover Cloud Computers |
| Agents inside the machine | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and more preinstalled, driven from outside with a prompt, steer and events API | The Manus agent sets up and runs the server for you from plain English in the Manus chat |
| Reaching the machine | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected; raw TCP; SSH; dedicated IPv6 or IPv4 | Dedicated public IP on every plan; web terminal and SSH; you set up your own web server and TLS |
| Keeping keys out of the machine | AI credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API you register; switch a credential to another account when credits run out | Not documented; keys you use live on the server |
| Regions | EU only: Germany, Finland, France, with EU data residency | Not published |
| 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 | Manus Cloud Computer |
|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | Yes |
| Docker inside | Yes | Yes |
| Nested virtualization | Yes | No |
| Root | Yes | Not published |
| Systemd | Yes | Not published |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | No |
| Browser | Yes | No |
| Computer-use API | Yes | No |
| SSH | Yes | Yes |
| Persistent disk | Yes | Yes |
| Pause/resume | Yes | No |
| Automatic snapshots | Yes | No |
| Fork/clone | Yes | No |
| Live fork (no pause) | Yes | No |
| Memory fork | No | No |
| Custom image (Docker or snapshot) | Yes | Not published |
| ≥24 h sessions | Yes | Yes |
| Idle auto-stop | No | No |
| Wake on request | No | No |
| HTTPS preview URLs | Yes | Yes |
| Raw TCP inbound | Yes | Not published |
| Public IPv4 | No | Yes |
| Egress allowlist | No | No |
| 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 | No |
| Windows | No | No |
| Arm64 | No | No |
| 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 | No |
| Audit logs | No | Not published |
| SSO | No | Yes |
| SOC 2 | No | Yes |
| HIPAA | No | No |
| EU data residency | Yes | Not published |
| Zero data retention | Yes | Not published |
Performance
There is no comparable measurement for Manus Cloud Computer: it is not in StarSling's public sandbox benchmark, and Manus publishes no CPU model or speed for its plans. For reference, boat did 26.69 Node.js build-and-test runs per second at 4 vCPU / 8 GB in that benchmark, on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (Zen 5) hosts.
Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, higher is better. Measured with the open hpc-sandbox-benchmarks suite. Manus Cloud Computer 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 | Manus Cloud Computer, 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 | $50 · Cloud Computer rental · with limits |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $26 · $20/mo | $50 · Cloud Computer rental · 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 | $2,500 · Cloud Computer rental · with limits |
| 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 | $9,000 · Cloud Computer rental · with limits |
| 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 | $30,000 · Cloud Computer rental · with limits |
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.
Manus Cloud Computer: Each Cloud Computer is a flat monthly plan, $30 for Standard and $50 for Advanced per the Manus help center billing article, charged whether it is busy or idle, so the scenarios price one always-on server per machine needed. Egress and any Manus membership needed to buy one are not published, so they are not in these numbers.
Limits in those scenarios
Every Manus Cloud Computer has 2 vCPU, so no scenario that asks for 4 vCPU per agent can be met, and the largest plan is the 8 GB Advanced server. Manus does not publish how many Cloud Computers one account can run, so 300 sandboxes for your users or 1,000 jobs at once are unconfirmed and would mean hundreds of monthly rentals. On boat the limit is a sandbox count (100 to 2,000 by plan) plus starts per minute, so the 1,000-job burst gets queued and needs more starts per day than the $2,000 plan allows.
| Scenario | boat | Manus Cloud Computer |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Manus Cloud Computer when
you already work in Manus and want its agent to keep one small server, such as a site or a bot, running on a fixed IP for a flat monthly price.
- Set it up by asking in plain English. Useful if you already work in Manus chat: its agent can create, set up and run the server for you without code.
- A fixed public IP on every server. Useful if a service must always reach one IP address: every Manus plan includes a dedicated public IP that stays with the server.
- One flat bill per server. Useful if you want one small server for a whole month at a fixed price, with no hourly meter to watch.
Use boat when
your own code runs agents: many full VMs made on demand, stopped for free, forked, and fitted with a desktop, a browser and coding agents you drive from outside.
- Sandboxes you run from code. An agent platform needs a fresh machine per task or per user. With Manus you would buy and track each 2 vCPU server by hand, one monthly plan each, and there is no call to make one.
- Stop for free, keep everything. Agent work comes in bursts. On Manus the server runs and bills all month whether the agent works or not, and letting the plan lapse wipes the files, tools and databases on it.
- A screen, a browser and coding agents. A browser or computer-use agent on Manus has no screen to see, so you install and run a headless browser yourself, and you wire up your own coding agent and its keys on the server.
Questions people ask
Is boat cheaper than Manus Cloud Computer?
In every scenario we priced, yes, though Manus fits none of them fully because each server has 2 vCPU. One agent that never stops comes to $26 a month on boat against $50 for an Advanced server. 50 agents in parallel come to $317 versus $2,500, and 300 sandboxes for your users come to $200 versus $9,000.
Is Manus Cloud Computer the same as the sandbox Manus uses in tasks?
No. A normal Manus task runs in a temporary sandbox that closes when the task ends. Cloud Computer is a separate, paid, always-on server where files, tools and running processes stay between sessions.
Can I create Manus Cloud Computers through an API?
Manus documents buying them in its app, and the Manus API creates and manages agent tasks without covering Cloud Computers. On boat, sandboxes are created, stopped, forked and deleted through the API, CLI or SDK.
What happens to my files if I stop paying for a Manus Cloud Computer?
Manus says the VM is shut down and the working files, installed tools and databases on it are deleted; results already sent in chat stay in your history. A boat sandbox can be stopped at no cost and keeps its disk, with snapshots every minute.
Does Manus Cloud Computer have a desktop or a browser?
No. It runs Ubuntu Server and works only through the command line, through a web terminal or SSH. boat sandboxes have a 60fps desktop with Chromium, computer use and browser control.
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. Manus lists SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27701 on its security page.
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