{"rid":"compute/vercel-sandbox","card":{"rid":"compute/vercel-sandbox","eid":"vercel","topic":"compute","slug":"vercel-sandbox","provider":"Vercel Sandbox","url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","domain":"vercel.com","category":"container and VM sandbox","tier":"Hobby","verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","confidence":"documented","binding":"volume-quota","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":0,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest,cli","egress_metered":1,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-24T01:52:56.000Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-10-25","stale_on":"2026-11-24","n_evidence":5,"usd_month":61.9,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"'Sandbox is free for Hobby users within the usage quotas': 'Sandbox Active CPU | 5 hours/month', 'Sandbox Provisioned Memory | 420 GB-hours/month', 'Sandbox ...","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":0},"record":{"topic":"compute","per_object_cap":{"stated":"'You can provision 1 or an even number of vCPUs between 2 and 32 depending on your plan ... The default is 2 vCPUs' and 'Each vCPU includes 2 GB of memory'.","bytes":null,"source_url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","notes":"Default 2 vCPU / 4 GB, which is the shape used in the arithmetic."},"interface":["rest","cli"],"interface_detail":"SDK and REST; persistent sandboxes and snapshots","tooling":"Vercel SDK, CLI, snapshots and drives","chaining":"active-CPU billing makes an idle agent nearly free here, and the 45-minute session cap is what stops it being a host","limits_note":"Active CPU is billed only while code runs, but provisioned memory is billed for the whole time the sandbox exists, so an idle box is not free.","reliability_note":"A sandbox that reaches 45 minutes is stopped by the platform, and its state is only preserved if a snapshot was taken.","confidence":"documented","verified_at":"2026-10-24T01:52:56.000Z","price_per_tb_month":null,"slug":"vercel-sandbox","provider":"Vercel Sandbox","url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","category":"container and VM sandbox","free_tier":{"stated":"'Sandbox is free for Hobby users within the usage quotas': 'Sandbox Active CPU | 5 hours/month', 'Sandbox Provisioned Memory | 420 GB-hours/month', 'Sandbox Creations | 5,000/month', 'Sandbox Data Transfer | 20 GB/month', 'Snapshot Storage | 15 GB (lifetime)'. 'Max Session Duration | 45 minutes' on Hobby.","unit":"mixed","metered_on":"wall-clock","source_url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","read_on":"2026-10-24","notes":"No cash credit on Hobby; the Pro plan's USD 20 monthly credit is a plan credit."},"retention":{"stated":"Snapshot storage is 15 GB lifetime on Hobby; Drive storage 15 GB lifetime. Sandboxes themselves are ephemeral.","days":null,"source_url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"},"egress":{"terms":"'Data your sandbox sends to the internet, plus all traffic to and from exposed ports, is billable and measured in GB'; downloads into the sandbox are free. Hobby includes 20 GB a month, then USD 0.15/GB.","metered":true,"free_allowance":"20 GB a month","price_per_tb":"USD 150 per TB","source_url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"},"limits":[{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"5 hours of active CPU and 420 GB-hours of provisioned memory a month on Hobby","source":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"},{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"45-minute maximum session on Hobby; 24 hours on Pro","source":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"},{"kind":"volume-quota","value":"20 GB of data transfer a month on Hobby","source":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"}],"identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":"A Hobby account needs only a Vercel login; no card is required for the free sandbox quota. No hold exists at that tier.","country":null},"evidence":[{"url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"Hobby: 5 hours active CPU and 420 GB-hours memory a month, 45-minute maximum session, 10 concurrent sandboxes"},{"url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"active CPU is time actually using the CPU; waiting on I/O does not count"},{"url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"Hobby: max 4 vCPU, 8 GB memory, 64 GB disk, 15 open ports; over the included limit, creation pauses until the next cycle"},{"url":"https://boat.dev/compare","date":"2026-10-22","proved":"a competitor's comparison table lists Vercel Sandbox at USD 0.682 per hour for a 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 50 GB machine, with list prices dated 2026-09-26; this is a reported rate about a third party and not a reading of the vendor's own page"},{"url":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing","date":"2026-10-24","proved":"quoted: 'Sandbox Active CPU | 5 hours/month | $0.128/hour', 'Sandbox Provisioned Memory | 420 GB-hours/month | $0.0212/GB-hour', 'Max Session Duration | 45 minutes' on Hobby and '24 hours' on Pro, 'Sandbox is free for Hobby users within the usage quotas', 'Each vCPU includes 2 GB of memory'."}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","notes":"Even setting the 45-minute cap aside, the allowance cannot hold a box up: 730 hours of a 2 vCPU / 4 GB sandbox needs 2,920 GB-hours of provisioned memory against 420 included, and 730 hours of active CPU against 5. The Pro plan's USD 20 monthly credit would buy 154 hours of memory alone. This row is for batch jobs.","extras":{"shape":{"vcpu":2,"ram_gib":4,"disk_gib":null,"gpu_class":null,"gpu_count":null},"billing_model":"per-hour on active CPU plus provisioned memory","granularity":{"min_billed_s":60,"rounding_s":60},"session_cap":{"wall_clock_min":45,"idle_reap_s":null,"restart_required":true,"note":"45 minutes on Hobby, 24 hours on Pro"},"keep_rate":{"value":0,"basis":"only active CPU and provisioned memory while running are billed","source":"https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/pricing"},"persistent_storage":{"included_gib":64,"price_gib_month":"snapshot storage USD 0.08 per GB-month on Pro","durability":"ephemeral NVMe; snapshots are separate","survives_stop":false,"survives_destroy":false,"max_retention":"a snapshot persists until deleted"},"network_out":{"allow_outbound":true,"allow_inbound_listen":true,"ports":"exposed ports","static_ip":null,"ipv6":null,"per_session_bytes":null},"free_tier_kind":"monthly-allowance","m10h_usd":null,"m24h_usd":61.9,"price_arithmetic":"4 GB x 730 h = 2920 GB-h x 0.0212 = 61.90 for memory; active CPU at 5% of a 2 vCPU box = 36.5 CPU-h x 0.128 = 4.67; total about 66.57 a month if CPU is near idle","price_note":"2 vCPU and 4 GiB billed as active CPU plus provisioned memory, at 100 per cent CPU. At 50 per cent CPU the same shape is USD 63.84 for 300 hours. The two seed figures are the two utilizations and neither is wrong.","price_basis":"10 h/day x 30 = 300 h; 24/7 x 30 = 730 h","burst_x":1,"burst_bill":"$6e-07 per start","crosscheck":{"boat_compare_2026-09-26":"USD 0.682/h at 4 vCPU / 8 GB"},"term":"monthly allowance","credit_usd":0,"credit_months_at_shape":0.144,"credit_hours_at_shape":105,"credit_expiry":"resets monthly"},"binding":"volume-quota","binding_note":"The 45-minute session cap is the first wall; 5 hours of active CPU a month is the second, and neither reaches a day of uptime, let alone a month.","tier":"Hobby","confidence_note":"Quotas, the session cap, the vCPU rule and the transfer terms are on the pricing doc read today."},"claims":[{"path":"$.extras.m24h_usd","kind":"price","num":61.9,"unit":null,"per":"month","currency":"USD","usd":61.9,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":5,"unit":"hours","per":"month","currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":5,"unit":"hours","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[1].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":24,"unit":"hours","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[2].value","kind":"limit:volume-quota","num":20,"unit":"GB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"}],"unknown":[],"history":[],"drift":[]}