---
title: E2B
slug: e2b
url: "https://toolweight.com/tools/e2b"
homepage: "https://e2b.dev"
categories: sandbox-providers
last_verified: 2026-11-06
dataset_version: 0738be72
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# E2B

> Open-source Firecracker sandboxes with Python and TypeScript SDKs for AI agents.

- First company to sell sandboxes specifically for AI agents, still the reference implementation
- Firecracker microVMs defined by a Dockerfile-based template system
- First-class Python and TypeScript SDKs
- Apache-licensed and self-hostable, the only major option here with a credible exit path

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | E2B |
| Company | E2B |
| One-liner | Open-source Firecracker sandboxes with Python and TypeScript SDKs for AI agents. |
| Site | https://e2b.dev |
| Docs | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| Repo | https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Funding | Series A |
| Open source | Yes |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [Sandbox providers](https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers)
Ranked **#7 of 19** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | Permalink |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cold start | 400ms | Inferred | - | - | Estimate for create-to-first-output from a client in the same region. The vendor times VM boot alone; the SDK round trip adds most of the rest. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--cold_start_measured |
| Cold start (claimed) | 200ms | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | Marketed as roughly 150-200 ms to start a sandbox. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--cold_start_claimed |
| Isolation | microvm | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | Firecracker. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--isolation_tech |
| Root in guest | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--root_access |
| Egress control | open | Inferred | - | - | Full outbound by default; no documented per-sandbox allowlist. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--egress_control |
| Max runtime | 24h | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://docs.e2b.dev/sandbox | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--max_runtime |
| Persistent FS | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Filesystem survives pause/resume; there is no durable volume to reattach to a fresh sandbox. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--persistent_fs |
| Snapshot & fork | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Pause and resume are stable; forking a paused sandbox is newer. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--snapshot_fork |
| Custom images | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs/sandbox-template | Templates are Dockerfiles built by the E2B CLI. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--custom_images |
| GPU | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--gpu |
| Runtimes | python, javascript-typescript, bash, any-oci-image | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--language_runtimes |
| Preview URLs | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | getHost(port) returns a public hostname. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--preview_urls |
| Browser inside | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://github.com/e2b-dev/desktop | The E2B Desktop SDK ships a Chromium image with a stream. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--browser_in_sandbox |
| File up/download | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--file_transfer_api |
| Sydney region | ○ | Inferred | - | - | US and EU regions only. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--sydney_region |
| Concurrent limit | 100 sandboxes | Inferred | - | - | Approximate paid-tier default; the free tier is far lower and enterprise is negotiable. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--max_concurrency |
| MCP server | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | Several community MCP servers wrap the SDK; no single canonical first-party one. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--mcp_server |
| SDKs | python, typescript, cli | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--sdk_languages |
| Streaming output | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--streaming_stdout |
| Price / hour | $0.17/hr | Inferred | - | - | Approximate: 2 vCPU + 4 GB at published per-second vCPU and RAM rates. Paid tiers also carry a monthly base fee. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--price_per_hour |
| Meter | per-second | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-06 | https://e2b.dev/pricing | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--billing_granularity |
| Idle cost | storage-only | Inferred | - | - | Paused sandboxes bill snapshot storage. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--idle_billing |
| GitHub stars | 15,000 | Community-reported | 2026-11-06 | https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--github_stars |
| Funding | series-a | Community-reported | 2026-07-23 | https://www.insightpartners.com/ideas/e2b-raises-a-21m-series-a-to-offer-cloud-for-ai-agents-to-fortune-100/ | $21M Series A led by Insight Partners, announced July 2025. Announced by the lead investor rather than E2B, hence community rather than vendor-claimed. | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--funding_stage |
| Shipped | 2023 | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--launched |
| Positioning | Open-source infrastructure for running AI-generated code. | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/sandbox-providers#e2b--positioning |

**Verdict.** The safest default: complete SDKs, Dockerfile templates and an Apache licence, though no longer fastest and weak at hobby scale.

## Alternatives

- [Blaxel](https://toolweight.com/tools/blaxel), Agent-first cloud claiming ~25 ms microVM boots from snapshots.
- [boat](https://toolweight.com/tools/boat), Persistent Ubuntu VMs for agents with SSH, Docker and disk-level fork, billed per second.
- [Cloudflare Sandbox](https://toolweight.com/tools/cloudflare-sandbox), Container sandboxes driven from a Worker, addressed through Durable Objects.
- [CodeSandbox SDK](https://toolweight.com/tools/codesandbox-sdk), Firecracker VMs with memory snapshots, from the online IDE, now owned by Together AI.
- [Daytona](https://toolweight.com/tools/daytona), Sub-second container sandboxes for agent workloads, from a team that built a dev-env manager.
- [Self-hosted Firecracker](https://toolweight.com/tools/diy-firecracker), The baseline: Firecracker on your own metal, plus every hard part you now own.
- [exe.dev](https://toolweight.com/tools/exe-dev), Persistent VMs you SSH into, with root, apt and systemd, on a flat monthly plan.
- [Fly.io Machines](https://toolweight.com/tools/fly-machines), Raw Firecracker microVMs with a REST API, durable volumes and 35+ regions.
- [Freestyle](https://toolweight.com/tools/freestyle), Run untrusted JavaScript and full dev servers, with git hosting and domains built in.
- [GitHub Codespaces](https://toolweight.com/tools/github-codespaces), Devcontainer-backed cloud VMs built for humans, occasionally repurposed for agents.
- [Islo](https://toolweight.com/tools/islo), Per-agent isolated cloud sandboxes with enterprise policy controls, from Incredibuild.
- [Modal](https://toolweight.com/tools/modal), Serverless Python compute with a Sandbox API bolted onto a GPU-first platform.

## Licence and attribution

Data from Toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/tools/e2b
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/tools/e2b.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- Toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements.