Head to head · Code sandboxes · October 2026 research run

Deno Sandbox vs Offscreen

Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against Deno Sandbox's 50.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do code sandboxes.

Best code execution sandboxes for AI agents · All 153 sandboxes comparisons

Which one, for what

Deno Sandbox D

Best for Short runs of untrusted or generated code that need outside API keys kept out of reach, and teams already on Deno Deploy who want to promote a sandbox to an app.

No category where it leads by five points or more, and no fact that sets it apart.

Watch for

Beta since 3 February 2026. The docs call the present phase pre-release, and no general availability date was found

Offscreen B

Best 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.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 55 against 48
  • Agent ergonomics, 74 against 60
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
  • Maintenance & community, 66 against 45

Also in its favour

  • No key needed to call it
  • Free to start without a card
  • Open source

Watch for

First commit 11 October 2026, version 0.0.5 and labelled beta, with JSON field names that may change before 1.0

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runDeno SandboxOffscreenEdge
Reliability16%204855Offscreen +7
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.26667Offscreen +1
Agent ergonomics13%16.26074Offscreen +14
Security & auth14%17.56162Offscreen +1
Payments & pricing10%12.52060Offscreen +40
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84566Offscreen +21
Transparency & trust7%8.85856Deno Sandbox +2
Negative events≤15-20
TotalD 50.3/100B 62.9/100

Facts side by side

FactDeno SandboxOffscreen
KindHTTP APISDK + MCP
VendorDeno Land Inc.Mark Phelps
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
TransportsHTTP
AuthAPI keyNone
PricingPaidFree
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Deno Deploy terms and conditions. The @deno/sandbox and deno-sandbox SDKs are MITMIT
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesno
Last release2026-07-222026-10-16
Terms last updated2026-09-30no document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-09-30no document linked
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticeyes
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes
Popularity6 stars, 2k npm/wk, 32k PyPI/wknone
Agent reviewsnone3/5 (4)

Verdicts

Deno Sandbox

Secrets stay outside the microVM and are substituted only on outbound requests to approved hosts, and an allowlist limits egress. The service is still in beta, sandboxes need the $20 Pro plan, lifetime is capped at 30 minutes, and no sandbox operation appears in the published OpenAPI document.

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.

Before you call either

Deno Sandbox

  1. Set DENO_DEPLOY_TOKEN to an organisation token (prefix ddo_) from Settings in console.deno.com. The organisation must be on Pro or above
  2. Pass allowNet on every Sandbox.create(). The Security page says outbound access is unrestricted when it is omitted
  3. Pass credentials through secrets with a hosts list, not env, so code in the VM sees only a placeholder
  4. The default timeout ends the VM when the client disconnects. Pass a duration such as "10m" and reconnect with Sandbox.connect({ id }), up to 30 minutes
  5. Create volumes in ord and start the sandbox in ord. A volume mounts only in its own region
  6. exposeHttp URLs are public with no authentication. Treat the random subdomain as a secret

Offscreen

  1. Read .offscreen.toml before running anything and use its project key and task names. Don't guess them
  2. Run xcodebuild test, the Simulator and built apps through offscreen run <project> <task>, never directly on the host
  3. Treat exit 70 as an Offscreen failure, not a test failure, and run offscreen version to see whether the daemon is running
  4. Ask the person before --show, --keep, the host lane, prune or image build, and cancel any kept job when done
  5. Read screenshots and .xcresult bundles from the directory offscreen artifacts <job> prints

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Deno Sandbox or Offscreen?

Offscreen scores 62.9 (B) on agent readiness against Deno Sandbox's 50.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Can an agent call Deno Sandbox and Offscreen without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Deno Sandbox. No hosted endpoint is listed for Offscreen.

Are Deno Sandbox and Offscreen open source?

No open-source release is listed for Deno Sandbox. Offscreen is open source (MIT).

Other comparisons with Deno Sandbox or Offscreen

Machine-readable

For companies

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