microsandbox vs Windows Sandbox
microsandbox
microsandbox.devWindows Sandbox
learn.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | microsandbox | Windows Sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $49/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 4 | 1 |
| Spec score · Sandbox Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.4 (#17) |
| Isolation | Each sandbox is a microVM with its own Linux kernel, filesystem, and network boundary, rather than a container sharing the host kernel. | It uses hardware-based virtualization and the Microsoft hypervisor to run a separate kernel isolated from the host. |
Plans
microsandbox
- FreeFree
- Builder$49 a month
- Teams$299 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
microsandbox
Microsandbox runs untrusted workloads inside microVMs, each with its own Linux kernel, filesystem, and network boundary rather than sharing the host kernel. It can run AI agents, user code, plugins, CI jobs, scrapers, and automation. The local runtime starts on a user's machine without a daemon, root service, or account; it can also run on personal servers or clusters, and its cloud platform can be deployed in the user's infrastructure. Microsandbox offers SDKs for TypeScript, Rust, Python, Go, and Ruby, plus a CLI and MCP workflows, and accepts OCI images from container registries. By default, sandboxes can reach the public internet, while private, host-local, link-local, and metadata destinations are blocked; egress can be allowlisted or disabled. The runtime is open source under Apache 2.0. The Free plan is $0 per month, while paid plans start at $49 per month. Microsandbox Cloud is in private beta and requires an access request.
Windows Sandbox
Windows Sandbox has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.