---
title: E2B vs Modal
slug: e2b-vs-modal
url: "https://toolweight.dev/vs/e2b-vs-modal"
category: sandbox-providers
last_verified: 2026-07-23
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# E2B vs Modal

> Compared on the Sandbox providers field registry — 26 fields, all sourced.

## Where they differ

| Field | E2B | Modal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cold start (ms) | 400 ms | 1.5 s |
| Cold start (claimed) (ms) | 200 ms | 1 s |
| Isolation | microvm | gvisor |
| Egress control | open | proxy-logged |
| Persistent FS | ◐ | ● |
| GPU | ○ | ● |
| Browser inside | ● | ◐ |
| SDKs | python, typescript, cli | python, cli |
| Price / hour (/hr) | $0.17 /hr | $0.238 /hr |
| Idle cost | storage-only | active-cpu-only |
| GitHub stars | 9,000 | — |
| Funding | series-a | series-b |
| Shipped | 2023 | 2024 |
| Positioning | Open-source infrastructure for running AI-generated code. | Serverless compute for AI teams, with sandboxes as one primitive. |

## Every field

| Field | E2B | Modal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cold start (ms) | 400 ms | 1.5 s |
| Cold start (claimed) (ms) | 200 ms | 1 s |
| Isolation | microvm | gvisor |
| Root in guest | ● | ● |
| Egress control | open | proxy-logged |
| Max runtime (ms) | 1440 min | 1440 min |
| Persistent FS | ◐ | ● |
| Snapshot & fork | ◐ | ◐ |
| Custom images | ● | ● |
| GPU | ○ | ● |
| Runtimes | python, javascript-typescript, bash, any-oci-image | python, javascript-typescript, bash, any-oci-image |
| Preview URLs | ● | ● |
| Browser inside | ● | ◐ |
| File up/download | ● | ● |
| Sydney region | ○ | ○ |
| Concurrent limit (sandboxes) | 100 sandboxes | 100 sandboxes |
| MCP server | ◐ | ◐ |
| SDKs | python, typescript, cli | python, cli |
| Streaming output | ● | ● |
| Price / hour (/hr) | $0.17 /hr | $0.238 /hr |
| Meter | per-second | per-second |
| Idle cost | storage-only | active-cpu-only |
| GitHub stars | 9,000 | — |
| Funding | series-a | series-b |
| Shipped | 2023 | 2024 |
| Positioning | Open-source infrastructure for running AI-generated code. | Serverless compute for AI teams, with sandboxes as one primitive. |

## Each option

### E2B — 74.4 / 100
Open-source Firecracker sandboxes with Python and TypeScript SDKs for AI agents.

Still the safest default: the SDKs are the most complete, templates are just Dockerfiles, and the Apache licence means a bad pricing decision by E2B is an inconvenience rather than a migration. It is no longer the fastest, and the monthly base fee makes it a poor fit for hobby-scale traffic.
- You want the category default with a real self-host escape hatch
- Your environments are already Dockerfiles
- Python code-interpreter workloads at steady volume

### Modal — 77.5 / 100
Serverless Python compute with a Sandbox API bolted onto a GPU-first platform.

Buy Modal for the GPU story and the Python ergonomics, not for boot time — it is a serverless compute platform that grew a Sandbox API, and it shows. If your agent needs to run inference next to the code it just generated, nothing else here is close.
- The sandbox needs a GPU on a self-serve plan
- Your team is Python-first and already writes Modal functions
- One platform for batch ML and untrusted execution

## Sources

| Tool | Field | Confidence | Verified | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E2B | Cold start (claimed) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Isolation | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Root in guest | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Max runtime | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs/sandbox |
| E2B | Custom images | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs/sandbox-template |
| E2B | Preview URLs | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Browser inside | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://github.com/e2b-dev/desktop |
| E2B | File up/download | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Streaming output | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/docs |
| E2B | Meter | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://e2b.dev/pricing |
| E2B | Funding | 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/ |
| Modal | Cold start (claimed) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs/guide/cold-start |
| Modal | Isolation | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs/guide/security |
| Modal | Max runtime | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs/guide/timeouts |
| Modal | Persistent FS | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs/guide/volumes |
| Modal | Custom images | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs/guide/images |
| Modal | GPU | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/pricing |
| Modal | Preview URLs | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs |
| Modal | File up/download | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs |
| Modal | Streaming output | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/docs |
| Modal | Price / hour | Inferred | 2026-07-23 | https://modal.com/pricing |
| Modal | Meter | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://modal.com/pricing |

See the full roster: [Sandbox providers](https://toolweight.dev/compare/sandbox-providers) — 20 tools.

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