Kubi vs Daytona
Both can give an agent a Linux desktop with mouse, keyboard and screenshots. Daytona is a wide sandbox platform (containers, VMs, Windows, macOS and GPUs, billed by the second); Kubi does one thing, a desktop an agent keeps, and costs a fraction of Daytona to leave on.
Where Kubi stands out
Three differences that decide most choices between Kubi and Daytona.
$20 a month against $242
Daytona charges $0.0504 per vCPU-hour and $0.0162 per GiB-hour: a 4 vCPU, 8 GiB sandbox left on is $242.17 a month. A persistent Kubi screen is $20 at the founding price.
No auto-stop to fight
A Daytona sandbox stops after 15 minutes without outside activity by default, even with processes running, unless you set auto-stop to 0. A Kubi screen never stops on its own.
A 50 GB disk and a person in the loop
Daytona's default organization caps a sandbox at 10 GB of disk. Kubi screens have 50 GB and a live view with Take control.
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.
Daytona
Daytona sells sandboxes for AI agents: Linux containers by default, plus Linux VMs, Windows, macOS on Apple hardware and GPU sandboxes, with SDKs in Python, TypeScript, Ruby, Go and Java and an MCP server. Its Computer Use starts Xvfb, XFCE, x11vnc and noVNC in a sandbox and adds mouse, keyboard, accessibility, screenshot and screen recording calls. It runs in the US and the EU.
Side by side
What each offers for a 4 vCPU, 8 GB machine, from Daytona's own pages on 2026-11-12.
| Kubi | Daytona | |
|---|---|---|
| Machine | 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 50 GB disk, its own VM | Up to 4 vCPU, 8 GB, 10 GB disk by default |
| Left on a month, 4 / 8 | $20 founding, $25 list, running or stopped | $242.17 (730 h at $0.3317) |
| By the hour, 4 / 8 | $0.035 an hour by the minute; $0.003 stopped | $0.33 an hour by the second |
| How long it runs | Runs until you stop it; no idle shutdown | Stops after 15 min idle by default; 0 turns it off |
| Desktop | GNOME desktop, Chromium and Firefox | XFCE over VNC; Linux and Windows |
| Computer-use API | Screenshot, act, exec and files over one API | Mouse, keyboard, accessibility tree, screenshots |
| MCP | Hosted MCP server with sign-in per screen | MCP server in its agent tools |
| Take control | Live view and Take control; agent calls wait | VNC access for people; no lock with the agent |
| History | Every call with its screenshot, 30 daysAt launch | Audit logs and screen recording |
| Other systems | Linux only; no GPU | Windows, macOS and GPU sandboxes |
| Region | EuropeAt launch | US and EU |
| Free start | $5 of credit once, with a card | $200 of compute, no card |
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 | Daytona, a month |
|---|---|---|
| One agent that never stops4 vCPU, 8 GB, running all month | $20 | $242.17Auto-stop set to 0; 10 GB disk |
| One agent on workdays8 hours a day, 22 days, files kept | $20Persistent; disposable would be $7.82 | $58.69 |
| Evals and short runs100 runs of 30 minutes a month | $1.75Disposable, by the minute | $16.59Covered at first by the $200 credit |
| Ten agents, always on10 machines of 4 / 8 all month | $200 | $2,421.70Needs Tier 2 (a card and a $25 top-up) |
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: 176 hours running and 554 stopped is $7.82; 50 hours is $1.75.
Daytona. Daytona bills $0.0504 per vCPU-hour, $0.0162 per GiB-hour of memory and $0.000108 per GiB-hour of disk after 5 GiB free, by the second. 4 vCPU, 8 GiB and 10 GiB of disk is $0.3317 an hour: $242.17 for 730 hours, $58.39 for 176 hours plus about $0.30 of disk while stopped, $16.59 for 50 hours.
Limits to know
- Daytona's default organization limit is 4 vCPU, 8 GB and 10 GB of disk per sandbox; Tier 1 pools 10 vCPU and 10 GiB of memory, so ten machines need Tier 2.
- Daytona's auto-stop counts only outside activity (previews, SSH, toolbox calls); a long task with no outside call can stop mid-run unless auto-stop is 0.
- Stopped container sandboxes archive after 7 days by default.
- Kubi runs Linux only: no Windows, macOS or GPU.
Which one should you use?
Use Daytona when
you need Windows, macOS or GPUs, many short sandboxes from code, or a US region.
- Every kind of machine
Containers, Linux VMs, Windows, macOS and NVIDIA or AMD GPUs from one API.
- Fast containers
Default sandboxes are containers built for quick starts and short code runs.
- A large free credit
$200 of compute with no card, and up to $50,000 for startups.
Use Kubi when
your agent works on one desktop that stays on for weeks, and a person needs to watch and step in.
- A flat $20 a month
One price per screen, running or stopped, with no meter running in the background.
- Never stops on its own
No inactivity timer, no archive: the screen keeps its address, disk and open windows.
- Take control
A live view with one-click control, so a person can step in mid-task.
Questions people ask
Is Kubi cheaper than Daytona?
Does a Daytona sandbox stop by itself?
Can Daytona run Windows or macOS?
How big is a Daytona sandbox?
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.
