Namespace vs Islo
Namespace is a build and dev platform: CI runners, caches and Devboxes on Linux, macOS and Windows, and a Devbox stops after 24 hours at most. Islo is an agent sandbox: each coding agent gets its own Linux microVM with no session cap, and a gateway that controls and logs what it reaches.
The companies and products
Namespace
Namespace is a dev platform for fast builds, tests and coding environments: CI runners, build caches and Devboxes, on its own hardware.
Most of Namespace is CI: a faster drop-in for GitHub Actions runners, with Docker, Bazel, Turborepo and Nix caching. Its Devboxes are remote Linux and macOS machines with persistent storage, made for people and AI coding agents, and they also host sessions for Claude Managed Agents, Cursor Cloud Agents and Devin. It is a different kind of product from boat, so this page compares the part where they overlap: a machine an agent works on.
- Products
- GitHub Actions runners, Docker, Bazel, Turborepo and Nix caching, Devboxes, and a compute API
- Hardware
- Its own hardware in its own racks: AMD EPYC for Linux and Windows, Apple M4 Pro or M5 Max for macOS
- Linux Devboxes
- Run from a container image you choose and include Docker; the docs do not say whether each one has its own kernel
- Funding
- Announced a $42M Series B
- Compliance
- Trust center lists SOC 2 Type II
Islo
Islo is an agent sandbox from Incredibuild: each coding agent gets its own microVM, with network rules and credentials handled at a gateway.
An Islo sandbox is a Linux microVM with its own kernel, built from a container image, with Claude Code, Cursor CLI and Codex preinstalled. Outbound traffic can pass through a gateway that allows or blocks hosts, injects credentials and logs every request. It is built for teams that run coding agents, evals and RL rollouts in the background, on Islo's cloud or in their own cloud account.
- Launched
- May 4, 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. “80th cheapest of 377” means 79 of the other 376 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 | Namespace: price rank | Islo: price rank | boat: price rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software factory 100 at once · 4 vCPU / 8 GB · 2,200 sessions of 8 h a month Namespace has /dev/kvm on its Linux compute instances, while Islo documents no /dev/kvm or desktop, so emulators and on-screen browser tests are harder there; boat has both on every machine. | 39th of 367, with limits $3,495 a month | 326th of 367, with limits $7,402 a month | 3rd cheapest of 367 $634 a month |
| Always-on AI employees 50 machines 24/7 · 2 vCPU / 4 GB Islo fits an assistant that never stops, since it has no session cap and can pause an idle one with its memory; a Namespace Devbox is shut down after 24 hours at most, and boat has no session cap on paid plans. | 303rd of 366, with limits $6,645 a month | 30th cheapest of 366 $9,928 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 | 247th of 345, with limits $250 a month | 153rd of 345, with limits $503 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 300 sandboxes for your users at once is more than the 50 running sandboxes reported for Islo's Team plan, so it needs a custom limit there; boat allows 100 to 2,000 by plan. | 284th of 361, with limits $2,068 a month | 171st of 361, with limits $3,160 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 | 356th of 360, with limits $9,012 a month | 167th of 360, with limits $15,265 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 Islo has a built-in Harbor integration and gateway rules that stop trials from looking up answers; boat runs evals on more sandboxes at once. | 282nd of 364, with limits $1,043 a month | 198th of 364, with limits $2,456 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 All three fit; CI runners with Docker, Bazel and Turborepo caches are Namespace's main product, and boat runs CI jobs on full VMs with Docker and /dev/kvm. | 80th cheapest of 377 $765 a month | 119th cheapest of 377 $1,507 a month | 4th cheapest of 377 $86 a month |
| 24/7 dev boxes 1 machine 24/7 · 4 vCPU / 8 GB Islo fits a 24/7 dev box and Namespace is a compromise, because a Devbox stops after at most 24 hours, though it starts again when you connect. | 126th of 368, with limits $168 a month | 112th cheapest of 368 $402 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 Namespace's screenshot and click API works on macOS Devboxes only and Islo sandboxes are headless, so a Linux computer-use agent is a compromise on both; boat streams a 60fps Linux desktop with Chromium. | 67th of 369, with limits $982 a month | 310th of 369, with limits $2,210 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 | 285th of 367, with limits $789 a month | 113th of 367, with limits $1,105 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 | 259th of 346, with limits $332 a month | 66th cheapest of 346 $748 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 | 226th of 338, with limits $9,012 a month | 265th of 338, with limits $14,966 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 | 242nd of 360, with limits $339 a month | 47th of 360, with limits $746 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 Only Namespace fits: it runs macOS Devboxes and instances on Apple Silicon, and neither Islo nor boat has macOS. | 6th cheapest of 36 $1,205 a month | Can't run it | Can't run it |
Key features
| Feature | Namespace | Islo | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Linux Devboxes run from a container image on Namespace's own hardware; the docs do not say if each has its own kernel | Every sandbox is a microVM with its own kernel | Every sandbox is a full VM with its own kernel |
| CPU speed (Node.js build-and-test, 4 vCPU / 8 GB) | 21.79 runs/s | Not measured | 26.69 runs/s |
| Docker and nested virtualization | Docker in Linux Devboxes; /dev/kvm on Linux compute instances, not on macOS or Windows | Docker inside and sudo; no /dev/kvm or nested virtualization documented | Docker, root, systemd and /dev/kvm on every machine |
| How long a session can run | Devboxes stop after 4, 5 or 24 hours by plan, raisable to 24 at most; instances after 3, 5 or 24 | No published cap; a sandbox runs until you stop it or its own lifecycle policy fires | No session cap on paid plans |
| Desktop and computer use | Screenshot and click API on macOS Devboxes only; VNC and RDP for compute instances | A browser inside the sandbox for testing; no desktop or computer-use API | 60fps Linux desktop and Chromium, computer use and browser control, embeddable stream |
| Idle stop and wake | Devboxes stop after an idle timeout (15 minutes to 8 hours) and start again when you connect; compute instances can suspend with RAM kept | Pause keeps files, processes and memory; can pause after idle time and resume on the next exec, file access or webhook | Machines run until you stop them; snapshots every minute and on stop, and a stopped sandbox costs nothing |
| Fork | No fork | Snapshot a running sandbox's files, then start new sandboxes from it | Fork a running sandbox into new ones |
| Reaching the sandbox | HTTPS URLs that need a Namespace login, TCP through a running CLI port-forward; no public IP | HTTPS share links anyone with the URL can open, expiring after a TTL (24 hours by default); SSH and port-forward through the CLI | HTTPS URLs for up to 50 ports, token-protected; raw TCP; dedicated IPv6 or IPv4 |
| Outbound internet rules | Egress policies per Devbox blueprint, runner or instance: block, advisory or allow by domain | Gateway profiles allow or deny by host, path and HTTP method, with default deny, rate limits, content filters and per-request logs | Open internet on every plan; no provider-side allowlist |
| Keeping keys out of the sandbox | Egress rules inject a header from Namespace Vault, resolved outside the workload | Gateway injects stored credentials into outbound requests for any host | AI credentials proxy for model providers and any HTTPS API you register; switch a credential to another account when credits run out |
| Coding agents | Hosts Claude Managed Agents, Cursor and Devin sessions run through those partners; an MCP server lets your own agent create Devboxes | Claude Code, Cursor CLI and Codex preinstalled; factory lines run agent steps with events, steer and follow-ups | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and more preinstalled, with a prompt, steer and events API |
| Sandboxes at once | A pool of vCPU and memory per plan (32 vCPU on Developer up to 160 on Business); no Devbox limit published | Free 5 and Team 50 running sandboxes per launch coverage; paused ones do not count; more by contract | 100 to 2,000 running sandboxes by plan, raised by adding seats |
| Operating systems | Linux, macOS on Apple Silicon, and Windows on Team plans and up | Linux only | Linux only; Wine for Windows apps |
| Where it runs | Several regions, with a preferred region on request; region-exclusive residency on Enterprise | US West, or inside your own cloud account with BYOC | EU only: Germany, Finland, France; EU data residency and zero data retention |
Every feature Battleships tracks (43)
| Feature | Namespace | Islo | boat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full VM (own kernel) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Docker inside | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nested virtualization | Yes | No | Yes |
| Root | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Systemd | Not published | Not published | Yes |
| Desktop GUI | Yes | No | Yes |
| Browser | No | Yes | Yes |
| Computer-use API | Yes | No | Yes |
| SSH | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Persistent disk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pause/resume | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic snapshots | Yes | Yes | 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 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Idle auto-stop | Yes | Yes | No |
| Wake on request | Yes | Yes | No |
| HTTPS preview URLs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Raw TCP inbound | Yes | No | Yes |
| Public IPv4 | No | No | No |
| Egress allowlist | Yes | Yes | No |
| Secret proxy | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Secret proxy for any API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Preinstalled agents | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Agent harness API | No | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | No | No |
| GPU | No | No | No |
| Windows | Yes | No | No |
| Arm64 | Yes | No | No |
| Self-hosting | No | No | No |
| BYOC | No | Yes | 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 | Yes | No |
| SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| SOC 2 | Yes | Not published | No |
| HIPAA | No | Not published | No |
| EU data residency | Yes | No | Yes |
| Zero data retention | Not published | Not published | Yes |
Performance
In StarSling's public run of 2026-09-29, at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, boat did 26.69 Node.js build-and-test runs per second and Namespace did 21.79, so the same build takes about a fifth longer on Namespace. Islo was not part of that run, so there is no comparable measurement for it.
Node.js build-and-test loop at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, higher is better. Measured with the open hpc-sandbox-benchmarks suite. Namespace measured on: Linux compute instance (unit-minutes, PAYG/overage $0.0015). Islo 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 | Namespace, a month | Islo, 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 | $50 · Devbox (pay as you go) | $101 · Free | $20 · $20/mo |
| One agent that never stops 4 vCPU / 8 GB, 50 GB disk, running 24/7 all month | $176 · Devbox (pay as you go) · with limits | $420 · Free | $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 | $2,198 · Devbox (pay as you go) | $4,863 · Team | $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 | $1,214 · Devbox (pay as you go) | $1,382 · Team · 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 | $3,237 · Devbox (pay as you go) | $3,053 · Team · with limits | $2,000 · $2000/mo · with limits |
Namespace: Devboxes are billed in Devbox Minutes at $0.004 each, pay as you go on every plan; a 4 vCPU / 8 GB Devbox uses one a minute. The minutes in the Team ($100) and Business ($250) plans cover runners and instances, not Devboxes, and stored files cost $0.20 per GB-month.
Islo: Islo bills each CPU core and each GB of memory and disk you give a sandbox while it runs, billed per hour, with no plan fee. An idle sandbox keeps billing until a pause-after-idle timer fires, and that timer can only be set when the sandbox is created.
Islo: 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.
Limits in those scenarios
On Namespace the limit that bites is time: a Devbox is shut down after 4, 5 or 24 hours by plan, so the agent that never stops does not fit without daily restarts. On Islo it is count: the Team plan is reported at 50 running sandboxes, so 300 sandboxes for your users and 1,000 short jobs at once need a custom contract, while Namespace fits both. On boat the 1,000-job burst gets queued and needs more starts per day than the $2,000 plan allows. Neither Namespace nor Islo publishes an egress price, so their totals here leave egress out.
| Scenario | Namespace | Islo | 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 Namespace when
you need macOS or Windows machines, faster GitHub Actions runners with build caches, or Devboxes for sessions under a day that stop when idle.
- macOS and Windows. Useful if your agents build iOS or Mac apps or test on Windows: Namespace runs macOS on Apple Silicon and Windows machines.
- CI runners and build caches. Useful if you also want faster GitHub Actions: Namespace is a drop-in runner with Docker, Bazel and Turborepo caching.
- Smaller bills for workday agents. Useful if agents run in sessions under a day: in our scenarios Namespace comes to about half of Islo's total.
Use Islo when
your agents run for days, you need per-host egress rules with a log of every outbound call, or you want a US region or your own cloud account.
- No clock on the session. Useful for agents that run for days: an Islo sandbox keeps going until you stop it, with no published cap.
- Egress rules and request logs. Useful if you must control what agents reach: Islo allows or blocks each host, path and method, and logs every call.
- Pause with memory, wake on request. Useful for agents that sit idle between tasks: Islo pauses them with memory kept and resumes on the next request.
Where boat fits
Look at boat if your agents work on Linux and need more than a shell: a screen to click, /dev/kvm for emulators, or ports other people and programs can reach. boat gives every sandbox a full VM with no session cap on paid plans, and it runs only in the EU.
A desktop and /dev/kvm on every machine
Islo sandboxes are headless with no /dev/kvm documented, and Namespace's click API works on macOS only. A Linux agent that must use a screen or boot an emulator means installing VNC yourself, or paying for macOS minutes.
No clock and room for many sandboxes
A Namespace Devbox is shut down after 24 hours at most, so long agents restart every day. Islo has no clock, but its Team plan is reported at 50 running sandboxes. boat has no session cap and allows 100 to 2,000.
Ports you can host on
Namespace URLs need a Namespace login and TCP goes through a CLI port-forward. Islo share links open to anyone with the URL and expire after 24 hours by default. boat serves 50 token-protected HTTPS ports and raw TCP.
Use boat when your Linux agents need a full VM with no session cap, a 60fps desktop, /dev/kvm, ports you can host on, and up to 2,000 sandboxes at once in the EU. Compare it one to one: boat vs Namespace and boat vs Islo.
Questions people ask
Is Namespace cheaper than Islo?
In most scenarios we priced, yes: one coding agent on workdays comes to $50 a month on Namespace and $101 on Islo, and 50 agents in parallel come to $2,198 versus $4,863. One agent running all month is $176 on Namespace, but it must restart at least once a day, while Islo runs it nonstop for $420. On boat these come to $20, $317 and $26.
Which is faster, Namespace or Islo?
We cannot say: Islo has no public benchmark we use. In StarSling's run of 2026-09-29 at 4 vCPU / 8 GB, Namespace did 21.79 Node.js build-and-test runs per second and boat did 26.69.
How long can a session run on Namespace and Islo?
A Namespace Devbox stops after 4 hours on Developer, 5 on Team and 24 on Business, even while you work in it, and support can raise it to 24 at most. Islo publishes no cap, so a sandbox runs until you stop it or its lifecycle policy fires. boat has no session cap on paid plans.
Can Namespace and Islo run Docker?
Yes. Namespace Linux Devboxes include Docker, and its Linux compute instances also have /dev/kvm. Islo runs Docker inside its microVMs with sudo, but documents no /dev/kvm. boat has Docker, systemd and /dev/kvm on every machine.
Do Namespace or Islo support computer use?
Only partly. Namespace has a screenshot and click API on macOS Devboxes, not on Linux ones. Islo sandboxes are headless, with a browser for testing and no computer-use API. boat streams a 60fps Linux desktop with Chromium and a computer-use API.
Where does my data run?
Namespace runs in several regions and lets you ask for a preferred one, with region-exclusive residency on its enterprise plan. Islo runs in US West, or in your own cloud account with BYOC. boat runs only in the EU (Germany, Finland and France), with EU data residency and a zero data retention option.
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