boat vs Opensteer
Opensteer sells a team of ready-made browser agents that run on its cloud runtime or on your own machine. boat gives your agent a whole Linux VM with a browser and desktop inside, where it can also run code, Docker and servers.
Where boat stands out
A whole machine around the browser
A boat sandbox is a full Linux VM with root, SSH, Docker, systemd and nested virtualization, with Chromium and a 60fps desktop already inside. Your agent can browse a site, run a script on what it found, build an app and serve it on a public HTTPS URL, all on one machine.
State you can save, stop and fork
boat saves the whole disk every minute and when a sandbox stops, and a stopped sandbox costs nothing. You can fork a running sandbox to try several paths at once from the same state.
Any coding agent, driven from outside, with keys kept out
Claude Code, Codex and five other agents come preinstalled, and you prompt, steer and follow them from outside through one API. A credentials proxy keeps real API keys outside the sandbox for any HTTPS API, and a credential can switch to another account when one runs out of credits.
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
Opensteer
Opensteer is a Y Combinator startup that makes specialized AI agents that browse the web, use your tools and run on schedules, in its cloud or on your machine.
Opensteer is a different kind of product from boat: an agent product with a browser runtime, not a general sandbox. Its open-source runtime gives coding agents like Codex and Claude Code control of a local Chrome or Edge, or of an Opensteer Cloud browser, over CDP. Opensteer Cloud adds hosted workspaces that run around the clock, with schedules, browser profiles, security controls and team access, billed per runtime-hour.
- Access to the workspace
- A remote toolbelt for commands and file edits, not SSH
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 | Opensteer: price rank |
|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month A software factory needs Docker, a shell and a place to build and serve apps, which Opensteer's hosted workspaces do not document. | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month | 246th of 367, with limits $3,515 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB Both can keep an agent running all month; boat also gives it root, Docker and hosting on the same machine. | 5th cheapest of 366 $657 a month | 79th of 366, with limits $7,295 a month |
| Code interpreter bursts 100 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 200,000 sessions of 1 min a month | 186th of 345, with limits $2,000 a month | 290th of 345, with limits $662 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 a published machine size and concurrency, which Opensteer does not list. | Cheapest of 361 $209 a month | 293rd of 361, with limits $2,320 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 | 285th of 360, with limits $9,995 a month |
| Agent evals 250 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 15,000 sessions of 20 min a month Evals need many identical machines; boat can fork a running sandbox, and Opensteer documents no fork or snapshot. | 10th cheapest of 364 $200 a month | 281st of 364, with limits $995 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 | 260th of 377, with limits $235 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB | 18th cheapest of 368 $26 a month | 272nd of 368, with limits $141 a month |
| Computer-use agents 50 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 20,000 sessions of 15 min a month Both have a computer-use runtime; boat streams a full Linux desktop at 60fps, while Opensteer does not publish what its computer runtime contains. | 6th cheapest of 369 $200 a month | 22nd cheapest of 369 $995 a month |
| Browser-use agents 50 at once · 2 vCPU / 4 GB · 30,000 sessions of 10 min a month Opensteer is built around browser agents and can also drive your own local Chrome; boat puts Chromium on a whole machine where the agent can also run code. | 7th cheapest of 367 $200 a month | 36th cheapest of 367 $995 a month |
| Scraping & bots (startup scale) 50 at once · 1 vCPU / 2 GB · 100,000 sessions of 3 min a month For startup-scale bots, boat gives each one a whole machine with a browser and a disk that is saved every minute. | 6th cheapest of 346 $90 a month | 73rd cheapest of 346 $995 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 | 286th of 338, with limits $19,995 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 | 71st of 360, with limits $495 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 | Opensteer |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A full Linux VM with its own kernel and root, on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X hosts | Hosted agent workspaces with browser and computer runtime |
| Shell access | SSH, plus a command and file API | A remote toolbelt that runs commands and reads, writes and patches files; no SSH |
| Docker and nested virtualization | Docker, systemd and /dev/kvm for Android emulators and VMs | Not documented |
| Machine size | Up to 16 vCPU / 32 GB on the $100 plan and above | Not published; billed per runtime-hour |
| Session length | No cap on paid plans; you set the time to live | Hosted workspaces are built to run 24/7 |
| State and snapshots | Disk saved every minute and on stop; a stopped sandbox costs nothing | Hosted workspace and synced browser profiles; no snapshot feature documented |
| Fork | Fork a running sandbox with its disk | Not documented |
| Browser | Chromium inside the VM | Local Chrome or Edge, or Opensteer Cloud browsers, driven over CDP with named sessions |
| Desktop and computer use | A full Linux desktop streamed at 60fps; embed it, record it | A billed computer runtime; what it contains is not published |
| Agents | Seven coding agents preinstalled, with a prompt, steer and events API | Ready-made specialized agents on schedules; attach your local coding agent to a hosted workspace |
| Keeping API keys out of the sandbox | Credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API; switch a credential to another account when credits run out | No credentials proxy documented; its own API key is set as an environment variable |
| Hosting | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected by default; raw TCP | No way to serve your own ports documented |
| Run it yourself | No | Open-source MIT runtime that runs on your own machine with your own browser |
| Compliance and transparency | SOC 2 is in progress. We're open about where we stand: live status and data retention policy. | Not published |
Every feature Battleships tracks (43)
| Feature | boat | Opensteer |
|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | Not published |
| Docker inside | Yes | No |
| Nested virtualization | Yes | No |
| Root | Yes | Not published |
| Systemd | Yes | Not published |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | Yes |
| Browser | Yes | Yes |
| Computer-use API | Yes | Yes |
| SSH | Yes | No |
| 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 | No |
| Raw TCP inbound | Yes | Not published |
| Public IPv4 | No | No |
| Egress allowlist | No | Not published |
| Secret proxy | Yes | No |
| Secret proxy for any API | Yes | No |
| Preinstalled agents | Yes | Yes |
| Agent harness API | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | No |
| GPU | No | No |
| Windows | No | No |
| Arm64 | No | No |
| Self-hosting | No | Yes |
| BYOC | No | No |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Scoped API keys | Yes | Not published |
| Spend limits | Yes | Not published |
| Usage per sandbox (API) | Yes | No |
| Audit logs | No | Not published |
| SSO | No | Not published |
| SOC 2 | No | Not published |
| HIPAA | No | Not published |
| EU data residency | Yes | Not published |
| Zero data retention | Yes | Not published |
Performance
There is no comparable measurement. Opensteer sells browser and computer runtime by the hour and does not publish the CPU or memory behind it, and it is not in the CPU benchmark. boat scored 26.69 runs per second on the hpc-sandbox-benchmarks Node.js test 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. Opensteer 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 | Opensteer, 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 | $30 · Developer · with limits |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $26 · $20/mo | $141 · Developer · 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 | $1,755 · Developer · 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 | $995 · Developer · 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 | $1,995 · Developer · with limits |
boat: 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.
Opensteer: Opensteer bills $0.20 per hour of browser or computer runtime, paid from monthly platform credits ($5 free, $50 on Starter, $200 on Business). Model use is billed separately at API prices from model credits, unless you bring your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription.
Limits in those scenarios
None of the five scenarios fits Opensteer as written, because each asks for a general machine of a set size and Opensteer sells runtime-hours of a size it does not publish. It also documents no Docker, which the 50-agent scenario needs, and no limit on how many runtimes can run at once, which the 300 and 1,000 machine scenarios need. boat fits four scenarios; at 1,000 short jobs at once its $2,000 plan queues the starts.
| Scenario | boat | Opensteer |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Opensteer when
you want ready-made browser agents on a schedule, or an open-source runtime that lets your local coding agent drive your own logged-in Chrome.
- Open source, on your own machine. For agents that should use your own logged-in Chrome or Edge: the MIT runtime runs locally and drives it over CDP.
- Ready-made agents with schedules. For teams that want finished browser agents: they run on schedules, with synced browser profiles and team access.
- Use the AI plan you already pay for. For people with a Claude or ChatGPT subscription: agents can run on it instead of paid model credits.
Use boat when
your agent does more than browse: it needs a shell, Docker, a desktop, files that are saved and forked, or a server next to the browser, on a machine of known size.
- A whole machine around the browser. Opensteer's hosted workspace is reached through a command-and-file toolbelt, with no SSH, no documented Docker and no published machine size. Work that needs containers or a server has to run somewhere else.
- State you can save, stop and fork. Opensteer documents no snapshots, pause or fork, so its workspaces keep running to keep their state. Starting ten agents from one prepared machine means setting up each one again.
- Any coding agent, driven from outside, with keys kept out. Opensteer documents no credentials proxy, so keys for the APIs your agent calls sit where the agent can read them. One prompt injection in a page it browses can then leak them.
Questions people ask
Is Opensteer a sandbox like boat?
No. Opensteer is an agent product: hosted agents with browser and computer runtime, reached through its own command and file tools rather than SSH. boat gives you a whole Linux VM with root, Docker, Chromium and a desktop, so the browser is one tool among many.
Is boat cheaper than Opensteer?
In four of the five scenarios on this page, yes, for example $26 against $141 for one agent running all month. For 1,000 short jobs at once the two are about the same, and neither fits. Opensteer's model use is billed on top of runtime.
Can I run Opensteer's open-source runtime on boat?
It is MIT licensed and installs with one command, and a boat sandbox has Python, Chromium and root, so you can install it there. It is built for local Chrome or Edge, so check that it attaches to the browser you run in the sandbox.
Can Opensteer run Docker or an Android emulator?
Opensteer documents neither; its workspaces are for browser and computer-use agents. A boat sandbox runs Docker and systemd and exposes /dev/kvm for Android emulators and VMs.
How big is an Opensteer machine?
Opensteer does not publish the vCPU or memory behind its browser and computer runtime. A boat sandbox defaults to 4 vCPU / 8 GB and goes up to 16 vCPU / 32 GB on the $100 plan and above.
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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