Morph Cloud vs Docker Cloud Sandboxes
Both give each agent its own Linux VM with Docker inside and can copy a running machine with its memory. Morph Cloud is a cloud platform with no session cap and account-wide resource pools, while Docker Cloud Sandboxes is the sbx microVM from your laptop, run in the cloud for up to 24 hours and 10 at a time by default.
The companies and products
Morph Cloud
Morph Cloud sells full virtual machines for AI agents that can be snapshotted, branched and restored with their memory, which it calls Infinibranch.
You get MorphVM instances as low-level building blocks and Devboxes as ready workspaces on top of them, with SSH, preview URLs and a tmux API for running coding agents you install yourself. Everything is billed in MCUs, where one MCU is 1 vCPU, 4 GB of RAM or 16 GB of disk for an hour. It is built for teams that fan agents out from one saved state, and it also sells managed GitHub Actions runners and a shared filesystem.
- Regions
- Not published
Docker Cloud Sandboxes
Docker Cloud Sandboxes runs Docker's sbx coding-agent microVMs on Docker-managed compute instead of your laptop.
Each sandbox is a microVM with its own Linux kernel and its own Docker Engine, started from the same sbx CLI you use locally, with Claude Code, Codex and other agents ready to run. You can move a sandbox from your laptop to the cloud and back, publish HTTPS ports and SSH in. It launched on September 24, 2026, is billed pay-as-you-go on a personal Docker account, and is built for developers who want their local agent sandboxes to keep going off their machine.
- Launched
- September 24, 2026
- Session length
- 1 hour by default, extendable to 24 hours from creation
- Default quota
- 10 concurrent and 50 stored sandboxes per account
- Regions
- Not published
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. “16th cheapest of 345” means 15 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 | Morph Cloud: price rank | Docker Cloud Sandboxes: price rank | boat: price rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month A software factory runs many agents for days: Morph has no session cap but you install and drive each agent through tmux, Docker ends each sandbox at 24 hours, and boat ships the agents with an API. | 198th of 367, with limits $2,288 a month | 280th of 367, with limits $4,928 a month | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB An assistant that lives on its machine all month fits Morph's no-expiry VMs but not Docker's 24-hour sessions; boat adds a desktop and a credentials proxy for any API. | 235th of 366, with limits $3,014 a month | 276th of 366, with limits $5,110 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 pause short code runs with their memory; Morph Cloud ranks 16th here because its paused VMs bill only the snapshot and wake on the next request. | 16th cheapest of 345 $154 a month | 119th of 345, with limits $233 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 Morph Cloud fits serving your users from its resource pools, Docker stops at 10 sandboxes at once by default, and boat ranks 1st with token-protected HTTPS on up to 50 ports. | 12th cheapest of 361 $905 a month | 136th of 361, with limits $1,628 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 Rollouts that start from one running state suit Morph's memory branching, which makes many copies in under 250 ms; Docker can fork with memory too, but only 10 sandboxes run at once by default. | 86th of 360, with limits $4,847 a month | 114th of 360, with limits $7,000 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 | 38th cheapest of 364 $675 a month | 167th of 364, with limits $1,400 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 Morph sells managed GitHub Actions runners; Docker has none and caps you at 10 sandboxes, and boat runs your own runner with /dev/kvm for Android and VM builds. | 39th cheapest of 377 $355 a month | 172nd of 377, with limits $672 a month | 4th cheapest of 377 $86 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB A dev box that stays on all month fits Morph, which never expires a VM unless you set a time to live, while Docker's sandboxes end 24 hours after creation. | 85th cheapest of 368 $116 a month | 127th of 368, with limits $204 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 ships a ready desktop: Morph has browser-based remote access where you install the rest, Docker is terminal only, and boat has a 60fps desktop with Chromium and a computer use API. | 182nd of 369, with limits $595 a month | 268th of 369, with limits $1,400 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 | 214th of 367, with limits $250 a month | 277th of 367, with limits $700 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 | 239th of 346, with limits $234 a month | 262nd of 346, with limits $350 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 | 154th of 338, with limits $4,750 a month | 190th of 338, with limits $7,000 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 | 214th of 360, with limits $228 a month | 248th of 360, with limits $350 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 | Morph Cloud | Docker Cloud Sandboxes | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Full VM with its own kernel | MicroVM with its own Linux kernel; hypervisor not named | Full VM with its own kernel on dedicated AMD Ryzen 9 9950X hosts |
| Session length | No expiry unless you set a time to live | 1 hour by default, at most 24 hours from creation | No cap on paid plans; you set the time to live |
| Machines at once | Account-wide pools: 64 vCPU on Developer (16 machines of 4 vCPU), 256 on Team, 1,024 on Scale | 10 by default; no published way to raise it | 100 on the $20 plan, up to 2,000 on higher plans, self-serve |
| Pause with memory | Yes; a paused VM bills only its snapshot, and snapshots have no default expiry | Yes; a stopped sandbox is free, but snapshots unused for 7 days are deleted | No; disk is saved every minute and on stop, and resume boots the machine again |
| Fork a running machine | With its memory, as many copies as you ask for, in under 250 ms | Snapshot with disk or disk and memory, then restore as a new sandbox | Fork a running sandbox with its disk |
| Wake on request | Yes; a paused VM resumes on the next HTTP request, SSH or exec call | Not documented | No; a stopped sandbox is started by API |
| Root and Docker inside | Yes, including Docker in Docker and local Kubernetes | Its own Docker Engine; the agent runs as a non-root user with sudo | Yes, with root, Docker and systemd |
| Nested virtualization | Experimental | Not documented | Yes, /dev/kvm for Android emulators and VMs |
| Guest systems | Linux, with experimental Windows and macOS (x86) | Linux, amd64 or arm64 by account | Linux |
| Desktop and browser | Browser-based remote desktop; you install the browser and any computer use agent | Terminal sessions only | 60fps Linux desktop with Chromium and a computer use API |
| Coding agents | You install the agent, then drive it through a tmux API that sends keys and reads the screen | Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, OpenCode and more, run and attached to from the sbx CLI | Seven agents preinstalled, with a prompt, steer and events API to drive them from outside |
| Keeping API keys out of the sandbox | Responses Proxy for model APIs; other secrets are handed to the machine | Cloud proxy sets the auth header for built-in AI services and custom hosts | Credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API; switch a credential to another account when credits run out |
| Inbound access | Named HTTP services with optional API key auth; SSH through Morph's gateway; no raw TCP | Public HTTPS URL per published port, not protected by Docker sign-in; not a TCP tunnel | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected by default; raw TCP |
| Outbound rules | Open internet, no provider-side allowlist | Allow and deny rules by host, with allow-all, balanced and deny-all presets | Open internet, no provider-side allowlist |
Every feature Battleships tracks (43)
| Feature | Morph Cloud | Docker Cloud Sandboxes | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Docker inside | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nested virtualization | Yes | No | Yes |
| Root | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Systemd | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | No | Yes |
| Browser | No | No | Yes |
| Computer-use API | No | No | Yes |
| SSH | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Persistent disk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pause/resume | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic snapshots | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fork/clone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live fork (no pause) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Memory fork | Yes | Yes | No |
| Custom image (Docker or snapshot) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ≥24 h sessions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Idle auto-stop | Yes | No | No |
| Wake on request | Yes | Not published | No |
| HTTPS preview URLs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Raw TCP inbound | No | Not published | Yes |
| Public IPv4 | No | No | No |
| Egress allowlist | No | Yes | No |
| Secret proxy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Secret proxy for any API | No | Yes | Yes |
| Preinstalled agents | No | Yes | Yes |
| Agent harness API | Yes | No | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes | No |
| GPU | No | No | No |
| Windows | Yes | No | No |
| Arm64 | No | Yes | No |
| Self-hosting | No | No | No |
| BYOC | No | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | No |
| Scoped API keys | Yes | Not published | Yes |
| Spend limits | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Usage per sandbox (API) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audit logs | Yes | Not published | No |
| SSO | Not published | Yes | No |
| SOC 2 | Not published | No | No |
| HIPAA | Not published | No | No |
| EU data residency | Not published | No | Yes |
| Zero data retention | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Performance
There is no comparable CPU measurement for Morph Cloud or Docker Cloud Sandboxes: neither is in the hpc-sandbox-benchmarks runs, and Docker does not say what hardware it uses. 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. Morph's under 250 ms figure is snapshot restore time, not CPU speed.
Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, higher is better. Measured with the open hpc-sandbox-benchmarks suite. Morph Cloud and Docker Cloud Sandboxes 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 | Morph Cloud, a month | Docker Cloud Sandboxes, 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 | $32 · Developer | $49 · Docker Agentic Platform (pay-as-you-go) | $20 · $20/mo |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $121 · Team | $204 · Docker Agentic Platform (pay-as-you-go) · with limits | $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 | $1,459 · Scale | $2,464 · Docker Agentic Platform (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 | $325 · Scale | $700 · Docker Agentic Platform (pay-as-you-go) · with limits | $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 | $869 · Scale | $1,400 · Docker Agentic Platform (pay-as-you-go) · with limits | $2,000 · $2000/mo · with limits |
Morph Cloud: Morph bills MCUs at $0.05 each: per hour, a machine uses the largest of its vCPUs, its RAM in 4 GiB steps or its disk in 16 GiB steps. Team ($40 a month) and Scale ($250 a month) are prepaid MCU bundles at a discount, and a paused VM bills only its snapshot.
Docker Cloud Sandboxes: Docker bills per second for the size you pick, from $0.07 an hour for 1 vCPU / 2 GiB to $1.12 an hour for 16 vCPU / 32 GiB, with no monthly fee. A stopped sandbox costs nothing, and volumes and egress are free.
Docker Cloud Sandboxes: 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
Morph Cloud fits all five scenarios on this page, though more than 16 GiB of disk per vCPU raises its bill and its egress price is not published. Docker Cloud Sandboxes fits only the workday agent: its 24-hour session cap rules out one agent that never stops, and its default of 10 sandboxes at once rules out 50 agents, sandboxes for your users and 1,000 short jobs. boat has no session cap, but for 1,000 short jobs at once even its $2,000 plan queues the starts, while Morph Scale fits.
| Scenario | Morph Cloud | Docker Cloud Sandboxes | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Sandboxes for your users |
|
| None that bite |
| 1,000 short jobs at once |
|
|
|
Which one should you use?
Use Morph Cloud when
your agents branch from one running state with its memory, sleep and wake on request, run for weeks, or need experimental Windows and macOS guests or managed CI runners.
- Branch a running VM with its memory. For agents that fan out from one running state: Morph copies a VM with its memory into many branches in under 250 ms.
- No session cap and wake on request. For agents that live for weeks or sleep between requests: VMs never expire unless you say so, and paused ones wake on demand.
- Windows, macOS and managed CI runners. For teams that test on other systems or want hosted CI: experimental Windows and macOS guests, plus GitHub Actions runners.
Use Docker Cloud Sandboxes when
you already run agents in sbx on your laptop and want a few of them to keep going in the cloud for up to a day, with strict outbound rules.
- The same sandbox on your laptop. If you already run sbx locally, the cloud is the same microVM and CLI, and you can move a sandbox either way.
- Outbound rules at the proxy. For teams that must limit where an agent connects: allow and deny rules by host, enforced outside the VM.
- Agents ready, no monthly fee. For a few agents at a time: Claude Code, Codex and others start from the CLI, billed per second with no plan to buy.
Where boat fits
If you are choosing between Morph Cloud and Docker Cloud Sandboxes to run coding agents, look at boat when the agent has to arrive ready and be driven from your own app. boat is a full VM with root, Docker, systemd and /dev/kvm, with no session cap on paid plans, seven agents preinstalled, a 60fps desktop and hosting on 50 ports.
Agents you drive from outside
On Morph you install the agent and drive it through tmux keystrokes; on Docker you attach to its terminal from the sbx CLI. Either way your code parses screen text to know when the agent is done. boat gives you prompt, steer and events by API.
A screen and a real kernel to work with
Docker's sandboxes are terminal only with no documented nested virtualization, and Morph's nested virtualization is experimental, with the browser and desktop left to you. boat ships a 60fps desktop with Chromium, computer use and /dev/kvm for Android emulators.
Hosting that is closed by default, in the EU
Docker's port URLs are public without Docker sign-in and neither offers raw TCP, and neither publishes its regions. boat gives token-protected HTTPS on up to 50 ports, raw TCP, and keeps data in the EU.
Use boat when your agents need to arrive ready and run for days or by the dozen: coding agents driven by API, a desktop with Chromium, /dev/kvm, and hosting on many ports in the EU. Compare it one to one: boat vs Morph Cloud and boat vs Docker Cloud Sandboxes.
Questions people ask
Is Morph Cloud cheaper than Docker Cloud Sandboxes?
For one coding agent on workdays, Morph comes to $32 a month against $49 on Docker for 4 vCPU / 8 GiB. Docker does not fit the other four scenarios, because of its 24-hour cap or its default of 10 sandboxes at once, while Morph fits all five. boat is $20 a month for the workday agent.
Which is faster, Morph Cloud or Docker Cloud Sandboxes?
Neither has a comparable CPU measurement, so there is no fair speed answer. boat did 26.69 runs per second on the hpc-sandbox-benchmarks Node.js loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB. Morph restores a snapshot in under 250 ms, which is start time, not CPU speed.
Can each run Docker inside the sandbox?
Yes. Morph is a full VM with root, Docker in Docker and local Kubernetes, and each Docker cloud sandbox has its own Docker Engine, with the agent running as a non-root user with sudo. boat also runs Docker with root and systemd, and exposes /dev/kvm.
Can a sandbox run longer than 24 hours?
On Morph, yes: a VM does not expire unless you set a time to live. A Docker cloud sandbox ends at most 24 hours after creation, and resuming a stopped one starts a new timer. boat has no session cap on paid plans.
Can both keep memory when a sandbox stops?
Yes. Morph pauses a VM with its memory, bills only the snapshot and can wake it on the next request; Docker keeps memory on stop for free, but deletes snapshots unused for 7 days. boat saves the disk, and resuming boots the machine again.
Do they come with coding agents?
Docker starts Claude Code, Codex and others from the sbx CLI. On Morph you install the agent and drive it through a tmux API. boat ships seven agents preinstalled and lets you prompt, steer and follow them through an API.
Try boat
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