Boxes.dev
Ranked 3 of 3 cloud dev environments by recommenders
Recommended for running Claude Code and Codex in isolated cloud boxes that don't charge while asleep. Critics dislike cloud-only hosting and the Mac-only client.
Recommended for running Claude Code and Codex in isolated cloud boxes that don't charge while asleep. Critics dislike cloud-only hosting and the Mac-only client.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 64%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs Claude Code and Codex sessions
“Big reason we built https://boxes.dev around the model harnesses (Codex + Claude Code), so you can bring your own subscriptions.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Our decision on Cursor following its acquisition by SpaceX” “a workspace for launching and managing claude + codex sessions, each running in its own cloud devbox”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Mitchellh starts a new company: Superlogical” No charge while boxes sleep
“I really like the pricing model and focus on not shafting people by auto-sleeping when an agent is done working.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “We don't charge for sleeping boxes (neither does our infra provider) so this keeps costs down for everyone.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” Mobile app and clean design
“Nice design. I love the added mobile app.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “The mobile angle is the smart bit here”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” Parallel isolated agent threads
“we spawn an exact copy of the main box for each agent thread, so it's totally isolated”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “The main wins were around parallelization and autonomy”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Runs only in its cloud
“The fact that you have decided that this platform should only live in your own custom cloud is unappealing to me.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “telling me to ditch my fast, instant-response laptop which I own and can peg the CPU of 24/7 for $0”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “I like to own my hardware, not rent it.”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” Works only on Macs
“It feels somehow weird to see a cloud tool usable only from Macs.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud” “their long post doesn't mention it's Mac only”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud”
Other cloud dev environments people recommend
The two most recommended other cloud dev environments, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Codespaces | 13 | 8 | 62% | 10 | — | — |
| Coder | 12 | 8 | 60% | 7 | — | — |
| Boxes.devThis page | 9 | 5 | 64% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
22 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“we're very early but building for this exact use case”
“Big reason we built https://boxes.dev around the model harnesses (Codex + Claude Code), so you can bring your own subscriptions.”
“a workspace for launching and managing claude + codex sessions, each running in its own cloud devbox”
“We don't charge for sleeping boxes (neither does our infra provider) so this keeps costs down for everyone.”
“The mobile angle is the smart bit here”
“The main wins were around parallelization and autonomy”
“I like to own my hardware, not rent it.”
“telling me to ditch my fast, instant-response laptop which I own and can peg the CPU of 24/7 for $0”
“coding agents do a pretty good job at finding your dependencies locally, installing them on the remote”
“we spawn an exact copy of the main box for each agent thread, so it's totally isolated”
“I think the product is quite good but still needs a bit of polishing.”
“we think add up to a much better UX”
“Nice design. I love the added mobile app.”
“their long post doesn't mention it's Mac only”
“It feels somehow weird to see a cloud tool usable only from Macs.”
“The orchestration layer and product experience ticks all the boxes for me”
“keeps things nice and responsive”
“There aren't many sandbox providers that do that well for running a full app and development environment”
“much more likely to be bug free at the end of the day”
“the problem needs a team fully focused on that”
“I really like the pricing model and focus on not shafting people by auto-sleeping when an agent is done working.”
“The fact that you have decided that this platform should only live in your own custom cloud is unappealing to me.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.