{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "deltabox-lite", "name": "DeltaBox Lite", "vendor": "DeltaBox (delta-box)", "vendorUrl": "https://github.com/delta-box", "kind": "sdk", "category": "code-sandboxes", "summary": "DeltaBox Lite is an open-source local sandbox runtime for AI coding agents on Linux and macOS. Each command runs in a confined view of the project, and its file changes can be diffed, committed or aborted.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deltabox-lite", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deltabox-lite.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deltabox-lite.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deltabox-lite.json", "repo": "https://github.com/delta-box/deltabox-lite", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "deltabox-lite" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account, key or sign-in. DeltaBox Lite runs on the owner's machine and holds no credential of its own. Every sandboxed command starts with an empty environment plus nine copied variables (LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LOGNAME, PATH, SHELL, TERM, TZ, USER), so supervisor API keys are not inherited unless passed explicitly with `--env` or `session.exec.env` (https://github.com/delta-box/deltabox-lite/blob/main/docs/policy.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free. Apache-2.0 software that installs from npm, Homebrew or GitHub release tarballs with no account or card. There is no hosted service and nothing to buy. Compute is the owner's own machine (checked 2026-10-17).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README, the docs or the source. Local open-source software with no paid endpoint (checked 2026-10-17).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-17" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/delta-box/deltabox-lite/blob/main/README.md", "capabilities": [ "sandbox.fs", "sandbox.code", "sandbox.persist" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-auth", "no-card", "apache-2.0", "rust", "cli", "json-rpc", "linux", "macos", "pre-1.0", "new" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 52.3, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 825, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1133, "categoryRank": 15, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 43, "payments": 60, "reliability": 37, "schema": 68, "security": 47, "transparency": 40 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-17" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "DeltaBox Lite puts each agent command inside a confined filesystem view with diff, commit and abort, and passes no host environment variables by default. It is version 0.1.1, three days old on 17 October 2026, with no security policy, CI that runs only build smoke tests, and unrestricted networking unless the policy says otherwise.", "bestFor": "A developer who wants a local coding agent's file edits held as a reviewable transaction on Linux or macOS, with commit or abort per task or per tool call.", "strengths": [ "Apache-2.0, free and local, installing from npm, Homebrew or checksummed release tarballs for Linux and macOS on x64 and arm64", "Every command's file changes can be diffed, committed or aborted, with a checkpoint chain and conflict-checked commits", "Sandboxed commands start with an empty environment plus nine named variables, and common secret paths such as `.env`, `.ssh` and `*.pem` are denied by default", "One-line transactions (`deltabox run --commit` or `--abort`) and a line-delimited JSON-RPC protocol over stdio with 15 methods", "No telemetry or analytics calls were found in the source" ], "weaknesses": [ "Version 0.1.1, first released on 14 October 2026, with two releases and no stability declaration", "The default network mode `allow_audit` permits unrestricted networking, and no network audit log was found in the source", "The agent install prompt tells the agent it can star the repository through the user's authenticated GitHub CLI", "The only CI workflow builds release binaries and runs `--version` smoke checks on tags. The 288 test functions in the repository are not run in CI", "No SECURITY.md, security.txt or disclosure policy was found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Skip step 5 of install-prompt.txt. Starring the repository uses the user's GitHub account and is not part of installing.", "Pass `--commit` or `--abort` to `deltabox run` explicitly. The child's exit status is preserved after that decision.", "Wrap redirection and pipes in `sh -c '...'`. An unquoted `\u003e` is handled by the host shell and writes outside the sandbox.", "Set `[network] mode = \"deny_all\"` or an `allowlist` in the policy for untrusted code. The default allows every destination.", "Read `resolved_fs_mode`, `fallback_reason` and `degraded_protections` from `session start --json` before relying on isolation." ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 2.8, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 52.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 43, "payments": 60, "reliability": 37, "schema": 68, "security": 47, "transparency": 52 }, "provenanceScore": 27 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install --global deltabox-lite", "headless": { "abort": "deltabox run --abort -- sh -c 'printf \"sandboxed\\n\" \u003e\u003e notes.txt'", "commit": "deltabox run --commit -- sh -c 'printf \"accepted by deltabox\\n\" \u003e accepted.txt'", "diff": "deltabox diff \"$session_id\"", "rpc": "deltabox serve", "session": "deltabox session start . --json" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sandbox.fs", "tool": "https://letme.dev/deltabox-lite" }, "area": "agent-runtime", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/delta-box/deltabox-lite/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-17", "notes": [ "No legal entity is named in the repository, the licence or the npm records. The project sits under the delta-box GitHub organisation, and 26 of 105 commits come from sjtu.edu.cn addresses. The npm packages are published by the account xeonliu.", "The project has no website, terms or privacy policy. The README and the docs folder are the only documentation.", "The repository has no SECURITY.md, and there is no project domain to hold a security.txt.", "The software runs on the owner's machine, so there is no vendor endpoint or status page to check." ], "score": 27 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deltabox-lite.json", "live": { "slug": "deltabox-lite", "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/delta-box/deltabox-lite/main/CHANGELOG.md", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-17T23:09:46.794533554Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "0d8c10328fc8" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-17T23:09:46.794533554Z" } }, "answer": "Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "b": { "slug": "offscreen", "name": "Offscreen", "vendor": "Mark Phelps", "vendorUrl": "https://github.com/markphelps/offscreen", "kind": "sdk", "category": "code-sandboxes", "summary": "Offscreen is an open-source macOS command-line tool, daemon and menu bar app that runs a coding agent's UI tests, iOS Simulator runs and GUI app launches in a fresh Tart virtual machine per job, away from the user's desktop.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/offscreen", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/offscreen.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/offscreen.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/offscreen.json", "repo": "https://github.com/markphelps/offscreen", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account or key. The CLI talks to the local daemon over an owner-only Unix socket (mode 0600), and anyone who can open it is trusted. The daemon reaches each guest VM over SSH with the base image's login, `admin` and `admin` by default, or a configured key. A person grants Local Network to Offscreen Daemon on the first VM job, and Input Monitoring and Notifications to the menu bar app only for host-lane jobs.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under MIT with nothing to buy. It depends on Tart, installed by the cask from the `openai/tools/tart` formula under FSL-1.1-ALv2, whose licensing page says use on personal computers is royalty-free and organisations above 100 host CPU cores need a paid licence, from $12,000 a year. Needs an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later and full Xcode.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the source, the docs or the skill (checked 2026-10-17). The tool has no paid tier and makes no network calls of its own beyond the local socket and the guest SSH connection.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-17" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/markphelps/offscreen#readme", "capabilities": [ "sandbox.code", "sandbox.fs" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "no-auth", "mit", "macos", "ios", "apple-silicon", "go", "swift", "cli", "agent-skill", "vm", "beta", "pre-1.0", "new" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-16", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.9, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 456, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1133, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 66, "payments": 60, "reliability": 55, "schema": 67, "security": 62, "transparency": 56 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-17" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "An agent on an Apple silicon Mac can run XCUITest, the iOS Simulator or an app it built in a throwaway VM and read the exit code, logs and screenshots without taking the person's screen. The project is six days old at v0.0.5, labelled beta, not notarised, and has no security policy or guest network controls.", "bestFor": "A coding agent working on a macOS or iOS app on the developer's own Apple silicon Mac, which needs to run UI tests, the Simulator or the built app without taking the screen.", "strengths": [ "A fresh VM per job, deleted afterwards, and a VM task receives only the worktree, listed build products and four `OFFSCREEN_*` variables, not the host environment", "`offscreen run` exits with the wrapped command's code, and Offscreen's own failures use 75 for a queue timeout and 70 for daemon or VM errors", "One queue on the Mac for every agent, terminal and script, with `--detach`, `status`, `logs -f`, `artifacts` and `cancel`", "The skill lists what an agent must not run without asking, such as `--show`, the host lane, `--keep`, prune and image builds", "MIT, with no network code or telemetry found in the source beyond the local socket and guest SSH" ], "weaknesses": [ "First commit 11 October 2026, version 0.0.5 and labelled beta, with JSON field names that may change before 1.0", "Apple silicon macOS 14 or later with full Xcode only, at most two VMs at once, and a large one-time image download", "Ad hoc signed and not notarised. The cask strips the quarantine attribute, and there is no SECURITY.md or security.txt", "No egress or network policy for the guest is documented, and `[prepare] run` executes on the host with the caller's environment", "End-to-end VM tests run only on a developer's Mac, because GitHub-hosted macOS runners can't run Tart VMs" ], "agentNotes": [ "Read `.offscreen.toml` before running anything and use its `project` key and task names. Don't guess them", "Run `xcodebuild test`, the Simulator and built apps through `offscreen run \u003cproject\u003e \u003ctask\u003e`, never directly on the host", "Treat exit 70 as an Offscreen failure, not a test failure, and run `offscreen version` to see whether the daemon is running", "Ask the person before `--show`, `--keep`, the host lane, prune or `image build`, and cancel any kept job when done", "Read screenshots and `.xcresult` bundles from the directory `offscreen artifacts \u003cjob\u003e` prints" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 4, "avgRating": 3, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 66, "payments": 60, "reliability": 55, "schema": 67, "security": 62, "transparency": 72 }, "provenanceScore": 40 }, "connect": { "install": "brew install --cask markphelps/tap/offscreen \u0026\u0026 open -a Offscreen \u0026\u0026 offscreen image build", "headless": { "artifacts": "offscreen artifacts \u003cjob\u003e", "check": "offscreen check", "detach": "offscreen run \u003cproject\u003e \u003ctask\u003e --detach", "init": "offscreen init", "oneOff": "offscreen run \u003cproject\u003e -- swift test", "run": "offscreen run \u003cproject\u003e \u003ctask\u003e", "skill": "npx skills add markphelps/offscreen", "status": "offscreen status -a --format json" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sandbox.code", "tool": "https://letme.dev/offscreen" }, "area": "agent-runtime", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Mark Phelps (individual)", "domain": "", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-17", "notes": [ "The project has no website. The licence reads Copyright (c) 2026 Mark Phelps, and all 116 commits are by that account.", "The app and daemon use the bundle identifiers io.latentsignal.offscreen and io.latentsignal.offscreend. latentsignal.io belongs to Latent Signal Labs, LLC, a solo studio whose page links x.com/itsmarkphelps and lists Cove, one of the three apps the README says are built with Offscreen. The page does not name Offscreen.", "No terms, privacy policy, changelog file, SECURITY.md or security.txt. GitHub release notes could not be read.", "The software runs on the owner's Mac, so there is no vendor endpoint or status page to check." ], "score": 40 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/offscreen.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "SDK + MCP", "b": "SDK + MCP", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "DeltaBox (delta-box)", "b": "Mark Phelps", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Apache-2.0", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-14", "b": "2026-10-16", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "2.8/5 (4)", "b": "3/5 (4)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, DeltaBox Lite or Offscreen?" }, { "answer": "Yes. DeltaBox Lite is open source (Apache-2.0). Offscreen is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are DeltaBox Lite and Offscreen open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "A developer who wants a local coding agent's file edits held as a reviewable transaction on Linux or macOS, with commit or abort per task or per tool call.", "slug": "deltabox-lite", "watchFor": "Version 0.1.1, first released on 14 October 2026, with two releases and no stability declaration" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 55 against 37", "Agent ergonomics, 74 against 67", "Security \u0026 auth, 62 against 47", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 66 against 43", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 56 against 40" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A coding agent working on a macOS or iOS app on the developer's own Apple silicon Mac, which needs to run UI tests, the Simulator or the built app without taking the screen.", "slug": "offscreen", "watchFor": "First commit 11 October 2026, version 0.0.5 and labelled beta, with JSON field names that may change before 1.0" } ], "job": { "capability": "sandbox.fs", "name": "Sandbox fs" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Agent 37 Cloud vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-deltabox-lite.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Code Interpreter vs DeltaBox Lite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-deltabox-lite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Code Interpreter vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-deltabox-lite.json", "title": "Blaxel Sandboxes vs DeltaBox Lite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-deltabox-lite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Blaxel Sandboxes vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-deltabox-lite.json", "title": "Cloudflare Sandbox SDK vs DeltaBox Lite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-deltabox-lite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Cloudflare Sandbox SDK vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-deltabox-lite.json", "title": "Daytona vs DeltaBox Lite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-deltabox-lite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Daytona vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deno-sandbox-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Deno Sandbox vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deno-sandbox-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/e2b-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "E2B vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/e2b-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freestyle-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Freestyle vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freestyle-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-execution-containers-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Microsoft Execution Containers vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-execution-containers-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modal-sandboxes-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Modal Sandboxes vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modal-sandboxes-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/morph-cloud-vs-offscreen.json", "title": "Morph Cloud vs Offscreen", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/morph-cloud-vs-offscreen" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-perplexity-space.json", "title": "Offscreen vs SPACE", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-perplexity-space" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-runloop.json", "title": "Offscreen vs Runloop Devboxes", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-runloop" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-sprites.json", "title": "Offscreen vs Sprites", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-sprites" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-together-code-sandbox.json", "title": "Offscreen vs Together Code Sandbox", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-together-code-sandbox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-vercel-sandbox.json", "title": "Offscreen vs Vercel Sandbox", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-vercel-sandbox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-deltabox-lite.json", "title": "Agent 37 Cloud vs DeltaBox Lite", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-deltabox-lite" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-deno-sandbox.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Deno Sandbox", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-deno-sandbox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-e2b.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs E2B", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-e2b" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-freestyle.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Freestyle", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-freestyle" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-microsoft-execution-containers.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Microsoft Execution Containers", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-microsoft-execution-containers" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-modal-sandboxes.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Modal Sandboxes", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-modal-sandboxes" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-morph-cloud.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Morph Cloud", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-morph-cloud" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-perplexity-space.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs SPACE", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-perplexity-space" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-runloop.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Runloop Devboxes", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-runloop" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-sprites.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Sprites", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-sprites" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-together-code-sandbox.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Together Code Sandbox", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-together-code-sandbox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-vercel-sandbox.json", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Vercel Sandbox", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-vercel-sandbox" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 18, "deltabox-lite": 37, "edge": "offscreen", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "offscreen": 55, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 1, "deltabox-lite": 68, "edge": "deltabox-lite", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "offscreen": 67, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "deltabox-lite": 67, "edge": "offscreen", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "offscreen": 74, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 15, "deltabox-lite": 47, "edge": "offscreen", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "offscreen": 62, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "deltabox-lite": 60, "edge": "", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "offscreen": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 23, "deltabox-lite": 43, "edge": "offscreen", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "offscreen": 66, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 16, "deltabox-lite": 40, "edge": "offscreen", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "offscreen": 56, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do sandbox fs.", "tutorials": [], "verdicts": { "deltabox-lite": "DeltaBox Lite puts each agent command inside a confined filesystem view with diff, commit and abort, and passes no host environment variables by default. It is version 0.1.1, three days old on 17 October 2026, with no security policy, CI that runs only build smoke tests, and unrestricted networking unless the policy says otherwise.", "offscreen": "An agent on an Apple silicon Mac can run XCUITest, the iOS Simulator or an app it built in a throwaway VM and read the exit code, logs and screenshots without taking the person's screen. The project is six days old at v0.0.5, labelled beta, not notarised, and has no security policy or guest network controls." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.md", "mcp": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.min.md" }, "markdown": "Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Both do sandbox fs.\n\n- DeltaBox Lite: grade D, 52.3/100, rank #825 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deltabox-lite.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deltabox-lite.json\n- Offscreen: grade B, 62.9/100, rank #456 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/offscreen.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/offscreen.json\n- Best code execution sandboxes for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/code-sandboxes/index.md\n- All 153 sandboxes comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/code-sandboxes/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### DeltaBox Lite (D)\n\nGood for: A developer who wants a local coding agent's file edits held as a reviewable transaction on Linux or macOS, with commit or abort per task or per tool call.\n\nWatch for: Version 0.1.1, first released on 14 October 2026, with two releases and no stability declaration\n\n### Offscreen (B)\n\nGood for: A coding agent working on a macOS or iOS app on the developer's own Apple silicon Mac, which needs to run UI tests, the Simulator or the built app without taking the screen.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 55 against 37\n- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 67\n- Security \u0026 auth, 62 against 47\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 66 against 43\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 56 against 40\n\nWatch for: First commit 11 October 2026, version 0.0.5 and labelled beta, with JSON field names that may change before 1.0\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | DeltaBox Lite | Offscreen | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 37 | 55 | Offscreen +18 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 67 | DeltaBox Lite +1 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 74 | Offscreen +7 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 47 | 62 | Offscreen +15 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 43 | 66 | Offscreen +23 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 40 | 56 | Offscreen +16 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **52.3 · D** | **62.9 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | DeltaBox Lite | Offscreen |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | SDK + MCP | SDK + MCP |\n| Vendor | DeltaBox (delta-box) | Mark Phelps |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | None | None |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-16 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 3/5 (4) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**DeltaBox Lite.** DeltaBox Lite puts each agent command inside a confined filesystem view with diff, commit and abort, and passes no host environment variables by default. It is version 0.1.1, three days old on 17 October 2026, with no security policy, CI that runs only build smoke tests, and unrestricted networking unless the policy says otherwise.\n\n**Offscreen.** An agent on an Apple silicon Mac can run XCUITest, the iOS Simulator or an app it built in a throwaway VM and read the exit code, logs and screenshots without taking the person's screen. The project is six days old at v0.0.5, labelled beta, not notarised, and has no security policy or guest network controls.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### DeltaBox Lite\n\n1. Skip step 5 of install-prompt.txt. Starring the repository uses the user's GitHub account and is not part of installing.\n2. Pass `--commit` or `--abort` to `deltabox run` explicitly. The child's exit status is preserved after that decision.\n3. Wrap redirection and pipes in `sh -c '...'`. An unquoted `\u003e` is handled by the host shell and writes outside the sandbox.\n4. Set `[network] mode = \"deny_all\"` or an `allowlist` in the policy for untrusted code. The default allows every destination.\n5. Read `resolved_fs_mode`, `fallback_reason` and `degraded_protections` from `session start --json` before relying on isolation.\n\n### Offscreen\n\n1. Read `.offscreen.toml` before running anything and use its `project` key and task names. Don't guess them\n2. Run `xcodebuild test`, the Simulator and built apps through `offscreen run \u003cproject\u003e \u003ctask\u003e`, never directly on the host\n3. Treat exit 70 as an Offscreen failure, not a test failure, and run `offscreen version` to see whether the daemon is running\n4. Ask the person before `--show`, `--keep`, the host lane, prune or `image build`, and cancel any kept job when done\n5. Read screenshots and `.xcresult` bundles from the directory `offscreen artifacts \u003cjob\u003e` prints\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, DeltaBox Lite or Offscreen?\n\nOffscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories.\n\n### Are DeltaBox Lite and Offscreen open source?\n\nYes. DeltaBox Lite is open source (Apache-2.0). Offscreen is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"deltabox-lite\", \"b\": \"offscreen\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare deltabox-lite offscreen`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/deltabox-lite.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/offscreen.json\n\n## Other comparisons with DeltaBox Lite or Offscreen\n\n- [Agent 37 Cloud vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Code Interpreter vs DeltaBox Lite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-deltabox-lite.md)\n- [Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Code Interpreter vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agentcore-code-interpreter-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Blaxel Sandboxes vs DeltaBox Lite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-deltabox-lite.md)\n- [Blaxel Sandboxes vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blaxel-sandboxes-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Cloudflare Sandbox SDK vs DeltaBox Lite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-deltabox-lite.md)\n- [Cloudflare Sandbox SDK vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-sandbox-sdk-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Daytona vs DeltaBox Lite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-deltabox-lite.md)\n- [Daytona vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/daytona-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Deno Sandbox vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deno-sandbox-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [E2B vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/e2b-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Freestyle vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/freestyle-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Microsoft Execution Containers vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-execution-containers-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Modal Sandboxes vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/modal-sandboxes-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Morph Cloud vs Offscreen](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/morph-cloud-vs-offscreen.md)\n- [Offscreen vs SPACE](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-perplexity-space.md)\n- [Offscreen vs Runloop Devboxes](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-runloop.md)\n- [Offscreen vs Sprites](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-sprites.md)\n- [Offscreen vs Together Code Sandbox](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-together-code-sandbox.md)\n- [Offscreen vs Vercel Sandbox](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/offscreen-vs-vercel-sandbox.md)\n- [Agent 37 Cloud vs DeltaBox Lite](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent37-vs-deltabox-lite.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Deno Sandbox](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-deno-sandbox.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs E2B](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-e2b.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Freestyle](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-freestyle.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Microsoft Execution Containers](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-microsoft-execution-containers.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Modal Sandboxes](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-modal-sandboxes.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Morph Cloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-morph-cloud.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs SPACE](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-perplexity-space.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Runloop Devboxes](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-runloop.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Sprites](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-sprites.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Together Code Sandbox](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-together-code-sandbox.md)\n- [DeltaBox Lite vs Vercel Sandbox](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-vercel-sandbox.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-18", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "DeltaBox Lite vs Offscreen", "url": "" } ], "description": "Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) to DeltaBox Lite's 52.3 (D) for sandbox fs. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "DeltaBox Lite D 52.3", "Offscreen B 62.9", "scores" ], "h1": "DeltaBox Lite vs Offscreen", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen.png", "path": "/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "DeltaBox Lite vs Offscreen for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-17", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deltabox-lite-vs-offscreen" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 480 }, "version": 1 }