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Hosted desktop computer-use sandboxes

Give agents a full GUI desktop (mouse/keyboard/screenshot), not just a headless browser.

At a glance — Oct 2026

Updated 2026-10-27 · forward this page: /jtbds/desktop-computer-use#brief

Scores as of 2026-09-14 (43 days old; Depot marks scores stale after 30 days). The pick is still Depot's current editorial pick; it has not been re-reviewed since. Prices below carry their own dates.

Depot Pick
E2B · 8.56/10 for this job (curated estimate, high confidence)

capability desktop APIs + isolation. E2B Desktop SDK is the programmable Linux default; Cua for multi-OS fleets; Scrapybara for turnkey hosted desktops.

Runner-up
Scrapybara · 7.58/10
When not to use the pick
Need Windows/macOS/Android fleets or local OSS sandboxes — Cua; need turnkey hosted Windows sessions — Scrapybara; browser-only stealth — Anchor/Hyperbrowser; real iOS/Android silicon — BrowserStack / AWS Device Farm (see mobile-computer-use).
Lock-in / migration
The pick has lower stored lock-in risk than runner-up Scrapybara (4 vs 4.8). Self-host fallback listed for this job: OSWorld.
Sourced price (no comparable unit)

Pick: no sourced price in this job's unit (no_matching_sourced_price).

No cheapest SKU (no_comparable_unit_for_job). No price was invented.

Free option
  • OSWorld (oss) — source, as of 2026-10-25
Failure modes to watch
  • Benchmark protocol mismatch: Store assisted-or-not, subset, and harness version beside every cited score. Refuse a ranking that mixes those fields.
  • Collateral side effects: Snapshot the workspace or app state, then diff it against an allowlist. A passing check plus an unexpected diff is a failure.
  • Confirmation skip: Gate those tool names on an approval id recorded before the call. A missing approval is a failure even if the downstream tool returns success.
  • GUI grounding miss: After each GUI action, compare the resulting screen or accessibility tree to the control the plan named. Stop when they differ.
  • Partial tool success: Require a per-item status and a failure count. Success for the task requires the failed count to be zero or explicitly handed to a retry queue.
  • Prompt injection: Compare each tool call to the original user task. If the call only makes sense given text that arrived from a fetched page, file, or message, stop and ask. Record which source the instruction came from. This catalog does not store payloads or attack steps.
Reported outcomes (submitted reports only)

This job: loading… JSON · reports never change scores · seed/test records excluded

Depot Pick (E2B) on this job: loading… JSON · reports never change scores · seed/test records excluded

Cite: Agent Provider Depot, Depot Pick for desktop-computer-use: e2b, scores as of 2026-09-14. Agents: GET /api/decide?jtbd=desktop-computer-use

Free Hosted desktop computer-use sandboxes options · for computer-use agents

Depot Pick

E2B

capability desktop APIs + isolation. E2B Desktop SDK is the programmable Linux default; Cua for multi-OS fleets; Scrapybara for turnkey hosted desktops.

Pricing (directional): Firecracker microVM sandboxes billed per second; templates; code interpreter for agents.

Cite: Depot Pick for desktop-computer-use: e2b
Overall
8.6
curated_estimate
confidence: high · as of 2026-09-14
Capability fit
9.4
Price / performance
8.0
Latency / reliability
8.6
Developer & agent DX
9.4
Privacy / data retention
8.5
Lock-in risk (higher = worse)
4.0
Maturity / track record
8.0

Lock-in risk: higher = more lock-in (worse). Overall already inverts this dimension.

Sources: E2B: https://e2b.dev · E2B computer use docs: https://www.e2b.dev/docs/use-cases/computer-use

Depot default code sandbox for agents. Use for untrusted code; Daytona when you need persistent devworkspaces. Also the depot default Linux desktop sandbox for computer-use (e2b-desktop + VNC stream) when you already standardize on E2B.

Quote for Hosted desktop computer-use sandboxes

Depot Pick stays E2B. Prices below are sourced SKU rows only (as of 2026-10-27). Input and output are not blended. GET /api/quote?jtbd=desktop-computer-use

Nothing was compared. no comparable sourced unit for this job; chat input $/1M and other units were not borrowed pickIsPriceWinner is null.

  • 1 GiB memory usd_per_gib_second $0.0000045 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 1 vCPU usd_per_vcpu_second $0.000014 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 2 GiB memory usd_per_sandbox_second_ram_charge $0.000009 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 2 vCPU usd_per_sandbox_second_vcpu_charge $0.000028 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 4 GiB memory usd_per_sandbox_second_ram_charge $0.000018 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 4 vCPU usd_per_sandbox_second_vcpu_charge $0.000056 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 6 vCPU usd_per_sandbox_second_vcpu_charge $0.000084 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 8 GiB memory usd_per_sandbox_second_ram_charge $0.000036 source as of 2026-10-03
  • 8 vCPU usd_per_sandbox_second_vcpu_charge $0.000112 source as of 2026-10-03
  • Enterprise minimum usd_per_month $3000 source as of 2026-10-03
  • Pro+ concurrency usd_per_month $500 source as of 2026-10-03
  • Pro++ concurrency usd_per_month $1000 source as of 2026-10-03
  • Pro usd_per_month $150 source as of 2026-10-03

3 of 5 candidates have no sourced price row. 5 are excluded from the Matching price comparison (none). no comparable sourced unit for this job; chat input $/1M and other units were not borrowed

Runners-up

When NOT to use the top pick

Need Windows/macOS/Android fleets or local OSS sandboxes — Cua; need turnkey hosted Windows sessions — Scrapybara; browser-only stealth — Anchor/Hyperbrowser; real iOS/Android silicon — BrowserStack / AWS Device Farm (see mobile-computer-use).

Full ranking (score table)

Ranked with this JTBD's weights. Scores are curated estimates unless marked otherwise. Agents: prefer /api/decide then this table for tie-breaks.

#ProviderOverallFit$/perfLatencyDXAs of
1E2BDepot Pick8.69.48.08.69.42026-09-14
2Cua8.08.88.07.68.62026-09-14
3Hyperbrowser7.88.28.27.88.42026-09-14
4Scrapybara7.68.47.87.48.22026-09-14
5Anchor Browser7.27.87.27.28.02026-09-14

Score methodology for this job

capability desktop APIs + isolation. E2B Desktop SDK is the programmable Linux default; Cua for multi-OS fleets; Scrapybara for turnkey hosted desktops.

  • capabilityFit: 25%
  • pricePerformance: 18%
  • latencyReliability: 15%
  • developerDx: 15%
  • privacyPosture: 10%
  • lockInRisk: 7%
  • maturity: 10%