Tangle vs boat.dev: which sandbox for coding agents?
Pick boat.dev for a full Linux VM per sandbox with its own kernel, a built-in desktop, seven coding agents installed, and 100 to 2,000 sandboxes at once by plan. Pick Tangle when your coding agent should need no model key of your own, when you want Hermes or OpenClaw, or when you need a GPU next to the agent or a US region.
Last checked November 10, 2026: each boat.dev fact links the page it came from, read that day.
Pick boat.dev when
- You need a real VM per agent with its own kernel: boat gives every sandbox its own virtual machine. (docs.boat.dev/security.md)
- You need a desktop and browser for the agent: boat ships a 60fps virtual desktop in every sandbox. (boat.dev)
- You need coding agents ready in every sandbox: boat installs seven, Claude Code, Codex, pi, OpenCode, Prime Agent, Kimi Code and Mistral Vibe, and runs them with boat prompt. (docs.boat.dev/integrated-agents.md)
- You need many VMs at once: boat runs 100 to 2,000 sandboxes at once, by plan. (boat.dev)
Pick Tangle when
- You want Hermes or OpenClaw installed in every sandbox, next to Claude Code, Codex and the rest. (tangle.tools)
- Your coding agent needs no model key: Tangle Router is the default, billed to your Tangle balance. (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/cloud-agents)
- You need a GPU next to the agent: Tangle attaches a GPU lease while a command needs it, with a spend cap and a time cap. (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/gpu-leases)
- You run in the US: Tangle runs sandboxes in us1 as well as eu1. (tangle.tools/benchmarks)
- You keep boat as well: agent-runtime runs the same agent code on boat (in preview) and on Tangle. (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/other-providers)
boat.dev and Tangle, row by row
| Feature | boat.dev | Tangle |
|---|---|---|
| Coding agents | Seven coding agents installed in every sandbox: Claude Code, Codex, pi, OpenCode, Prime Agent, Kimi Code and Mistral Vibe (docs.boat.dev/integrated-agents.md) | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, Hermes, OpenClaw, Kimi Code and Prime Agent installed in every sandbox (tangle.tools) |
| Model calls | You connect a Claude or ChatGPT subscription or an API key; an optional proxy keeps the real key out of the sandbox (docs.boat.dev/ai-credentials.md) | Tangle Router by default, billed to the same Tangle balance as the sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/cloud-agents) |
| Isolation | Each sandbox is its own virtual machine with its own kernel (docs.boat.dev/security.md) | A container or a Firecracker microVM, chosen per sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/security) |
| Stop and resume | boat states there is no pause; a stop removes the machine and keeps the disk (docs.boat.dev/faq.md) | Timers you set stop a sandbox; a stopped sandbox keeps its files until you delete it or its delete timer passes (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/migrate-e2b) |
| Snapshots and forks | Disk-level snapshots with fork from a snapshot (boat.dev) | Snapshot, revert, and split a running sandbox into copies (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/snapshots) |
| Desktop | A virtual desktop at 60fps in every sandbox (boat.dev) | A desktop the coding agent controls through a hosted computer-use endpoint (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-mcp) |
| GPUs | boat states no size has a GPU (boat.dev) | A GPU lease from a GPU cloud provider, attached while a command needs it, with a spend cap and a time cap (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/gpu-leases) |
| MCP | A docs MCP server lets your coding agent drive boat; boat also lists MCP servers as customizable on a sandbox (docs.boat.dev/llms.txt) | A local stdio MCP server for one sandbox, plus the hosted computer-use endpoint (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-mcp) |
| Secrets | Environment variables and secret files, set for all sandboxes or one (docs.boat.dev/environments/secrets.md) | Stored once; you choose whether the sandbox can read a secret or only the network proxy can (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/secrets) |
| Network | Add firewall rules inside the sandbox to limit outbound traffic (docs.boat.dev/faq.md) | Open, a strict allowlist, or blocked, changeable while the sandbox runs (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/egress) |
| Getting a shell | SSH and SCP access to each sandbox (boat.dev) | SSH, a PTY or a browser terminal (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/terminals) |
| Regions | Germany, Finland and France (boat.dev) | eu1 and us1 (tangle.tools/benchmarks) |
| SDKs | Python and TypeScript SDKs, plus an HTTP API and CLI (boat.dev) | TypeScript, Python (tangle-sandbox on PyPI) and the tangle CLI (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/sdk-python) |
| Free start | A free trial; a card is required (boat.dev) | A Free plan with no included credit (tangle.tools#pricing) |
Start times: our measurements, their published claims
| Tangle, measured | p50 | p95 | Runs | Failed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New sandbox, ready to use | 1.5s | 12s | 393 | 56 of 425 |
| Create, then run a first command | 1.7s | 8s | 74 | 3 of 77 |
| Claude Code's first reply, from create | 3.4s | 12s | 45 | 3 of 48 |
| Codex's first reply, from create | 3.3s | 18s | 44 | 3 of 47 |
Production runs from 2026-11-02 to 2026-11-09, the same rows tangle.tools/benchmarks draws.
- boat states "Run up to 2,000 cloud computers at once for your agents, with a browser and files that stay." (boat.dev)
- boat states "Get a VM in seconds, scale with your plan". (boat.dev)
- boat states "Resume takes seconds, but each resume counts as a start." (docs.boat.dev/faq.md)
- On its home page boat reports, for a V8 benchmark in StarSling's run of 3 October 2026, "boat: 28.06 runs per second, second fastest." boat notes providers ran on different hardware in different regions. (boat.dev)
These are different tests, and we have not run boat.dev through our benchmark.