Tangle vs Fly.io Sprites: which sandbox for coding agents?
Pick Fly.io Sprites for hardware-isolated Linux VMs that suspend with memory frozen, automatic filesystem checkpoints, and connectors that keep credentials out of the VM. Pick Tangle when your coding agent should need no model key, return its result, usage and cost from one prompt call, and stop at a fleet budget you set in dollars.
Last checked November 10, 2026: each Fly.io Sprites fact links the page it came from, read that day.
Pick Fly.io Sprites when
- You need agent processes to survive idle: a warm Sprite suspends the VM with everything in memory frozen in place. (docs.fly.io/sprites/concepts/lifecycle.md)
- You need hardware-level isolation with a persistent disk: Sprites are hardware-isolated Linux VMs, billed by the second and free when idle. (docs.fly.io/sprites)
- You need agents to call GitHub, Slack or model APIs without holding the key: Sprites use connectors. (fly.io/sprites)
- You need quick rollbacks: Sprites checkpoint the whole filesystem in about a second. (fly.io/sprites)
Pick Tangle when
- You want Pi, Hermes, OpenClaw, Kimi Code and Prime Agent preinstalled in every sandbox, next to Claude Code and Codex. (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)
- 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)
Fly.io Sprites and Tangle, row by row
| Feature | Fly.io Sprites | Tangle |
|---|---|---|
| Coding agents | Claude CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex and Cursor preinstalled on Ubuntu (docs.fly.io/sprites/working-with-sprites.md) | Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Pi, Hermes, OpenClaw, Kimi Code and Prime Agent installed in every sandbox (tangle.tools) |
| Model calls | Reaches models through an OpenRouter connector (fly.io/sprites) | Tangle Router by default, billed to the same Tangle balance as the sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/cloud-agents) |
| Isolation | Hardware-isolated Linux VMs (docs.fly.io/sprites) | A container or a Firecracker microVM, chosen per sandbox (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/security) |
| Stop and resume | Warm pause freezes memory and resumes processes; a cold wake keeps the disk but restarts processes (docs.fly.io/sprites/concepts/lifecycle.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 | Live, copy-on-write filesystem checkpoints with restore (fly.io/sprites) | Snapshot, revert, and split a running sandbox into copies (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/snapshots) |
| MCP | A hosted MCP server that manages Sprites, runs commands and changes network policy (docs.fly.io/sprites/integrations/remote-mcp.md) | A local stdio MCP server for one sandbox, plus the hosted computer-use endpoint (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/agents-mcp) |
| Secrets | Connectors reach external services without the credential entering the Sprite (fly.io/sprites) | Stored once; you choose whether the sandbox can read a secret or only the network proxy can (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/secrets) |
| Network | Opt-in DNS-based egress allowlist network policy; outbound is open by default (docs.fly.io/sprites/concepts/networking.md) | Open, a strict allowlist, or blocked, changeable while the sandbox runs (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/egress) |
| Getting a shell | An interactive console with detachable TTY sessions (docs.fly.io/sprites/working-with-sprites.md) | SSH, a PTY or a browser terminal (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/terminals) |
| SDKs | A JavaScript and TypeScript SDK; Python, Go and Elixir SDKs are listed beside it, plus an OpenAPI spec (fly.io/llms.txt) | TypeScript, Python (tangle-sandbox on PyPI) and the tangle CLI (docs.tangle.tools/sandbox/sdk-python) |
| Free start | A free trial with no credit card (fly.io/pricing.md) | A Free plan with no included credit (tangle.tools#pricing) |
| Compliance | Lists SOC 2 Type II on the Fly.io pricing page; the same page also lists a HIPAA package and a pre-signed BAA (fly.io/pricing.md) | 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.
- Fly states "Snapshot the whole filesystem in about a second." (fly.io/sprites)
- Fly states of a warm Sprite "The next request resumes it in 100–500ms, and processes pick up mid-thought, exactly where they were." (docs.fly.io/sprites/concepts/lifecycle.md)
- Fly states of a cold Sprite "The next wake takes 1–2s and starts processes fresh." (docs.fly.io/sprites/concepts/lifecycle.md)
These are different tests, and we have not run Fly.io Sprites through our benchmark.
Prices are on each pricing page
Tangle: plans and the rate card. Fly.io Sprites: fly.io/pricing.