Shellbox
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 12 cloud sandboxes by recommenders
Instant Linux VMs over SSH that suspend when disconnected and bill only for running time, useful as sandboxes for coding agents. Critics say the website lacks clear information and sign-up steps.
Instant Linux VMs over SSH that suspend when disconnected and bill only for running time, useful as sandboxes for coding agents. Critics say the website lacks clear information and sign-up steps.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: 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 carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Pay only for active running time
“There are linux boxes that stip and resume like a lambda, but really linux. And you pay only for what you use.”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “99% of My Website Traffic Is Bots” “it snapshots memory, processes. And you pay only for actual running time per minute”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “Launch HN: machine0 (YC S26) – Persistent CPU and GPU VMs from the CLI” “Can be significantly cheaper on a vm that wakes up only when yhe agebt works”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: I put an AI agent on a $7/month VPS with IRC as its transport layer” - Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud”
- Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Linux boxes via SSH: suspended when disconected”
- Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: How do you keep up with HN these days?”
- Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: Eve – Managed OpenClaw for Work”
- Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “My Agent Setup”
Cheaper than alternatives
“a less expensive solution, real linux boxes that sping up in seconds and suspend resume as needed”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Fly.io CEO Kurt Mackey is stepping down” “It is much cheaper, no subscription is needed, supports nested virt, docker, custom images”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Run isolated sandboxes with full lifecycle control: AWS introduces MicroVMs” “boxes can be stopped, they are snapshotted to disk then cost just $0.5/month”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Run isolated sandboxes with full lifecycle control: AWS introduces MicroVMs” - Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “How We Run Firecracker VMs Inside EC2 and Start Browsers in <1s”
- Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “How We Run Firecracker VMs Inside EC2 and Start Browsers in <1s”
- Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “I built a tool to deploy small AI apps. Am I solving a real problem?”
- Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Needle2: 14MB agentic LLM for phones, wearables, smart home and robots”
Real Linux that boots in seconds
“There are linux boxes that stip and resume like a lambda, but really linux. And you pay only for what you use.”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “99% of My Website Traffic Is Bots” “a less expensive solution, real linux boxes that sping up in seconds and suspend resume as needed”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “Fly.io CEO Kurt Mackey is stepping down” “Sub-second boot, full Linux environment, SSH-only interface.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Euro firms must ditch Uncle Sam's clouds and go EU-native” - Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “How We Run Firecracker VMs Inside EC2 and Start Browsers in <1s”
- Comment from 10 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (May 2026)”
- Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Needle2: 14MB agentic LLM for phones, wearables, smart home and robots”
Simple SSH-only interface
“I use shellbox.dev to create sandboxes through ssh, without ever leaving the terminal”
Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Coding Agent VMs on NixOS with Microvm.nix” “Sub-second boot, full Linux environment, SSH-only interface.”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “Euro firms must ditch Uncle Sam's clouds and go EU-native” “you can do pretty much the same, automating it all bia ssh”
Comment from 6 Apr 2026 in “Launch HN: Freestyle: Sandboxes for AI Coding Agents” - Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Fly's Sprites.dev addresses dev environment sandboxes and API sandboxes together”
- Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Running Claude Code dangerously (safely)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Website unclear on info and sign-up
“Website doesn't provide enough information for me to trust any workloads to it.”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud” “You need a page with less text, less scrolling and more specifics.”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud” “Clearly I have to register first, but there's no clue as to how.”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Linux boxes via SSH: suspended when disconected”
Other cloud sandboxes people recommend
The four most recommended other cloud sandboxes, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprites | 58 | 30 | 66% | 11 | 3 mo4 owners | — |
| E2B | 23 | 4 | 85% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Deno Sandbox | 21 | 9 | 70% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Freestyle Sandboxes | 20 | 8 | 71% | 2 | — | — |
| ShellboxThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 8 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 47 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it snapshots memory, processes. And you pay only for actual running time per minute”
“the box is up for a couple of minutes and im not paying for the rest”
“There are more creative ones. Check out https://shellbox.dev”
“you pay per minute only for what you use”
“Real linux, and very affordable”
“doesn't get any easier/cheaper that this”
“There are linux boxes that stip and resume like a lambda, but really linux. And you pay only for what you use.”
“Shellbox looks really cool!”
“Shellbox is so sick!!! I'm going to look into implementing it into a project I'm working on.”
“my own https://shellbox.dev”
“a less expensive solution, real linux boxes that sping up in seconds and suspend resume as needed”
“boxes can be stopped, they are snapshotted to disk then cost just $0.5/month”
“It is much cheaper, no subscription is needed, supports nested virt, docker, custom images”
“Cheaper by a factor of 2-5 depending on your usage.”
“boxes are up in a couple of seconds, and it is way cheaper”
“Even supports post quantum encryption”
“Instant linux boxes via ssh that suspend on disconnect”
“maybe swinging too far though?”
“You need a page with less text, less scrolling and more specifics.”
“This is pretty cool, I turned a NUC at home into this, and would probably rather use you guys instead.”
“Love the website and how you have implemented payments”
“Website doesn't provide enough information for me to trust any workloads to it.”
“gives you instant vms via ssh where unlike exe you pay only for what you use”
“billed only for the time openclaw actually runs in”
“you can do pretty much the same, automating it all bia ssh”
“Can be significantly cheaper on a vm that wakes up only when yhe agebt works”
“use something like https://shellbox.dev”
“I use shellbox.dev to create sandboxes through ssh, without ever leaving the terminal”
“SSH in, it resumes where you left off, auto-suspends on disconnect.”
“Right idea but the reason people don't do this in practice is friction.”
“Sub-second boot, full Linux environment, SSH-only interface.”
“very simple and quick to setup”
“they're great to prevent Claude from breaking a machine, but there's no pervasive sandbox for third party services”
“they give you a sandbox machine where it's likely safe to run coding agents in dangerous mode”
“the key idea I like about shellbox is that I can see this one service on which I can build a product”
“I am probably throwing my full weight behind shellbox.dev”
“Shellbox.dev aims to be frictionless in that regard”
“Clearly I have to register first, but there's no clue as to how.”
“In Shellbox.dev you have funds and pay very little when not connected”
“I like it better as it uses pure ssh”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.