Tangle vs Beam: which sandbox for coding agents?
Pick Beam for VMs that pause with RAM and processes intact, a browser desktop, sandboxes that fork from snapshots, GPUs on the same SDK, and your own cloud. Pick Tangle when you want coding agents installed in every sandbox and one prompt call that returns the result, usage and cost.
Last checked November 10, 2026: each Beam fact links the page it came from, read that day.
Pick Beam when
- You need a machine that pauses and resumes mid-task: Beam VMs keep disk, RAM and processes on pause. (docs.beam.cloud/v2/getting-started/add-to-cursor-claude.md)
- You need a GPU next to the sandbox: Beam lets you attach a GPU to a sandbox. (beam.cloud)
- You need a desktop for computer-use agents: Beam VMs include a browser desktop you can automate from Python or JavaScript. (docs.beam.cloud/v2/vm/desktop.md)
- You need to run in your own cloud: Beam manages the control plane while compute runs in your AWS, GCP or Azure account. (beam.cloud/pricing)
Pick Tangle when
- You want the coding agent already there: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, Hermes, OpenClaw, Kimi Code and Prime Agent are installed in every sandbox. (tangle.tools)
- One prompt call gives the agent its task and returns the result, token usage and cost. (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/cloud-agents)
- A fleet runs many agents under one budget, set in dollars, and the platform refuses any charge past it. (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-fleet)
Beam and Tangle, row by row
| Feature | Beam | Tangle |
|---|---|---|
| Model calls | Hosts model inference: an Endpoints catalog of hosted models you can discover and call (docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt) | Tangle Router by default, billed to the same Tangle balance as the sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/cloud-agents) |
| Isolation | VMs run as microVMs with their own kernel; sandboxes run in isolated containers, optionally in a microVM (beam.cloud/pricing) | A container or a Firecracker microVM, chosen per sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/security) |
| Stop and resume | Pausing a VM keeps its disk, RAM and running processes; stopping keeps only the disk (docs.beam.cloud/v2/getting-started/add-to-cursor-claude.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 | Sandboxes fork from snapshots (docs.beam.cloud/v2/vm/desktop.md) | Snapshot, revert, and split a running sandbox into copies (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/snapshots) |
| Desktop | VMs include a browser Linux desktop that can be automated from Python or JavaScript (docs.beam.cloud/v2/vm/desktop.md) | A desktop the coding agent controls through a hosted computer-use endpoint (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-mcp) |
| GPUs | GPUs, including whole H100 machines and serverless GPUs; attachable to a sandbox (beam.cloud) | 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 Beam MCP server connects coding agents to Beam (docs.beam.cloud/v2/getting-started/add-to-cursor-claude.md) | A local stdio MCP server for one sandbox, plus the hosted computer-use endpoint (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-mcp) |
| Secrets | Bind workspace secrets to VMs, scope credential hosts, and rotate values without restarting (docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt) | Stored once; you choose whether the sandbox can read a secret or only the network proxy can (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/secrets) |
| Network | Restrict sandbox outbound access by hostname, IP or CIDR, or block outbound traffic entirely (docs.beam.cloud/v2/sandbox/networking.md) | Open, a strict allowlist, or blocked, changeable while the sandbox runs (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/egress) |
| Getting a shell | SSH into VMs, plus command execution and file sync from the CLI (docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt) | SSH, a PTY or a browser terminal (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/terminals) |
| Run records | Historical logs, followed output, and resource and request metrics (docs.beam.cloud/llms.txt) | Every agent turn is traced, and an Intelligence report summarizes what the agent did (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/observability) |
| Your own cloud | Workloads in your own cloud, including AWS, GCP and Azure, plus a self-hosted product that runs in your own environment (beam.cloud/pricing) | Tangle hosts the sandboxes; on-premises hosting is planned. agent-runtime runs the same agent code on E2B, Daytona or any ComputeSDK cloud (tangle.tools/what-is-tangle) |
| SDKs | Python and JavaScript SDKs and a CLI (docs.beam.cloud/v2/vm/desktop.md) | TypeScript, Python (tangle-sandbox on PyPI) and the tangle CLI (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/sdk-python) |
| Compliance | Lists SOC 2 Type II (beam.cloud) | A SOC 2 Type II examination covering June 14 to September 14, 2026; the report is in issuance (tangle.tools/security) |
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.
- Beam states "Each sandbox starts in about half a second with its own filesystem and networking." (beam.cloud)
- Beam states "New sandbox, 100 launched at once" takes 0.55s. (beam.cloud)
- Beam states a paused VM resumes with "RAM intact" in about 1s. (beam.cloud)
- Beam states "New VM from a cached image" takes about 2.5s. (beam.cloud)
These are different tests, and we have not run Beam through our benchmark.
Prices are on each pricing page
Tangle: plans and the rate card. Beam: beam.cloud/pricing.