Kubi vs Boat
Boat and Kubi both sell full Linux VMs with a desktop at the lowest prices in the market. Boat is built for fleets of coding agents it runs inside the VM; Kubi is built for one desktop an outside agent drives and a person watches, at one address that never changes.
Where Kubi stands out
Three differences that decide most choices between Kubi and Boat.
Never stops on its own
A Boat sandbox stops 1 hour after create or resume unless you change it, and its IP changes at each resume. A Kubi screen runs until you stop it, at one address.
Take control, not just a stream
Boat streams its desktop at 60 fps for watching and recording. Kubi's live view adds Take control: the person gets the mouse and the agent's calls wait.
One API for outside agents
Screenshots, clicks, typing, commands and files through one API and a hosted MCP server, so Claude Code, claude.ai or ChatGPT on your side drive the screen.
The two products
Kubi
Kubi rents Linux desktops to AI agents. Each screen is its own virtual machine with 4 vCPU, 8 GB of memory and a 50 GB disk, Debian with a GNOME desktop and two browsers. An agent sees the screen, clicks, types, runs commands and moves files through one API, a TypeScript SDK or a hosted MCP server. A person watches live and takes control with one click. A persistent screen runs until you stop it, at one address with its disk kept, for $20 a month at the founding price. A disposable one runs by the minute for $0.035 an hour.
Boat
Boat gives AI agents full Linux VMs, built for agent factories: Ubuntu with SSH, Docker, a desktop and Chrome streamed at 1920x1080 and 60 fps, and fast forking from a disk snapshot. Seven coding agents come installed, and its own harnesses see the desktop through computer tools registered as an MCP server. It runs in Germany, Finland and France, and is backed by Y Combinator.
Side by side
What each offers for a 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine, from Boat's own pages on 2026-11-12.
| Kubi | Boat | |
|---|---|---|
| Machine | 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 50 GB disk, its own VM | Default 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 51 GB; up to 16 / 32 |
| Left on a month, 4 / 8 | $20 founding, $25 list, running or stopped | $26.28 (730 h at $0.036, from a $20 plan) |
| By the hour, 4 / 8 | $0.035 an hour by the minute; $0.003 stopped | $0.036 an hour by the second; stopped free |
| How long it runs | Runs until you stop it; no idle shutdown | Auto-stop after 1 h by default; off on a paid plan |
| Address | One address for the screen's life | IP changes at each resume |
| Desktop | GNOME desktop, Chromium and Firefox | Desktop and Chrome at 1920x1080, 60 fps |
| Computer-use API | Screenshot, act, exec and files over one API | Computer tools for its own harnesses (Cua Driver) |
| Take control | Live view and Take control; agent calls wait | Watch and record the stream |
| Coding agents inside | Install your own; Kubi runs none | Seven installed, with a prompt API |
| Starts | No per-start fee; a screen cap per account | $20 plan: 200 a day included, extra $0.03 to $0.07 |
| Region | EuropeAt launch | Germany, Finland, France |
| Free start | $5 of credit once, with a card | 7 days, 25 compute hours, card required |
At launch: built and tested on Kubi's lab, and promised once the production servers run.
What it costs
Four common jobs, each priced from the public price lists with the cheapest plan that runs it.
| Job | Kubi, a month | Boat, a month |
|---|---|---|
| One agent that never stops4 vCPU, 8 GB, running all month | $20Founding price; $25 list | $26.28Auto-stop off |
| One agent on workdays8 hours a day, 22 days, files kept | $20Persistent; disposable would be $7.82 | $20The plan minimum |
| Evals and short runs100 runs of 30 minutes a month | $1.75Disposable, by the minute | $20The plan minimum |
| Ten agents, always on10 machines of 4 / 8 all month | $200 | $262.80 |
Kubi. Persistent screens are $20 a month each at the founding price ($25 list), running or stopped. Disposable screens are $0.035 an hour while running, by the minute, and $0.003 an hour stopped: 50 hours is $1.75.
Boat. Boat's plans start at $20 a month, and the plan price comes back as VM time at $0.036 an hour for the default size, by the second. 730 hours is $26.28; 176 or 50 hours stay inside the $20 minimum. A stopped sandbox has no compute charge and keeps its disk for at least 14 days.
Limits to know
- At the $25 list price, Boat costs less than Kubi for any machine that runs under 694 of 730 hours; the founding $20 is never above Boat for one machine.
- Boat has no pause: after a stop its memory and processes go once the kept machine is released, about 10 minutes, and the disk stays at least 14 days.
- Boat's $20 plan includes 200 starts a day; create, fork and resume each count, and a start above the cap fails rather than queues.
- Kubi ships no coding agents inside the screen and has no GPU; Boat has no GPU either.
Which one should you use?
Use Boat when
you run fleets of coding agents inside VMs, fork them by the hundred, or want agents preinstalled.
- Agents included
Claude Code, Codex and five more come installed, prompted and steered through one API.
- Forks and bigger sizes
Fork a running sandbox from its last snapshot, with sizes up to 16 vCPU and 32 GB.
- A fast desktop stream
1920x1080 at 60 fps over WebRTC, which you can embed and record.
Use Kubi when
your own agent drives one desktop from outside, and a person needs to watch and take over.
- It stays where you left it
No auto-stop, no new IP after a resume, no 14-day disk clock.
- Take control
One click gives the person the mouse; the agent's calls get a clear answer until they hand it back.
- A desktop API for any agent
Screenshot, act, exec and files over one API, an SDK and a hosted MCP server.
Questions people ask
Is Kubi cheaper than Boat?
Does a Boat sandbox stay on?
Can a person take control on Boat?
Which agents can drive each one?
Where do the numbers on this page come from?
Sources
Read on 2026-11-12. Prices change: if a number here is out of date, write to support@trykubi.com and we fix it.
