# E2B vs Microsoft Execution Containers

> Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against E2B's 68.3 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. E2B leads on schema & documentation. Both do sandbox code. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-08

Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against E2B's 68.3 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. E2B leads on schema & documentation. Both do sandbox code.

- E2B: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #174 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/e2b.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/e2b.json
- Microsoft Execution Containers: grade BB, 76.3/100, rank #34 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-execution-containers.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-execution-containers.json

## Which one, for what

### E2B (B)

Good for: Code interpreters and agent workspaces that pause and resume with memory, and teams that may want to self-host later.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 92 against 81

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for: Two major incidents over an hour in September 2026, on sandbox creation and on creating from snapshots

### Microsoft Execution Containers (BB)

Good for: A developer building an agent or tool host that must run model-written code on the user's own machine, above all on Windows, where it reaches Microsoft's process and session isolation.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 81 against 60
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 65
- Security & auth, 69 against 62
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 68

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it

Watch for: 1.0.0 shipped on 6 October 2026, and the Node changelog still lists the V1 changes under Unreleased


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | E2B | Microsoft Execution Containers | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 81 | Microsoft Execution Containers +21 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 92 | 81 | E2B +11 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 65 | 74 | Microsoft Execution Containers +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 62 | 69 | Microsoft Execution Containers +7 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | Microsoft Execution Containers +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 88 | 92 | Microsoft Execution Containers +4 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 83 | Microsoft Execution Containers +15 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **68.3 · B** | **76.3 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | E2B | Microsoft Execution Containers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | E2B | Microsoft |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.e2b.app` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP |  |
| Auth | API key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | 2024-12-04 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2024-04-08 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 13k stars, 2.2M npm/wk, 1.4M PyPI/wk | 1.5k stars, 472k npm/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | none |

## Verdicts

**E2B.** Firecracker microVM with its own kernel per sandbox. Two major incidents over an hour in September 2026, on sandbox creation and on creating from snapshots.

**Microsoft Execution Containers.** MXC puts nine operating-system sandbox backends behind one typed request, with network access denied by default and a JSON Schema for the stable 1.0.0 contract. Version 1.0.0 is two days old as of 8 October 2026. Enforcement varies by backend, and `isolation_session` cannot restrict networking at all.

## Before you call either

### E2B

1. Set a timeout when you create a sandbox. The default is 5 minutes
2. Pause rather than kill when you'll come back. Resume takes about a second and nothing is billed while paused
3. Use `Secret.fill` in network transforms instead of passing API keys into the sandbox environment
4. Pace sandbox creation. Hobby allows 1 a second and 20 running at once
5. Move to the v2 sandbox endpoints. SDK 2.51.0 and later use them by default

### Microsoft Execution Containers

1. Import from `@microsoft/mxc-sdk/v1`. The package root exports nothing.
2. Call `getPlatformSupport()` first and stop if `isSupported` is false. `getAvailableBackends()` is advisory and launch-time validation still applies.
3. Set `network.egress.default` to `allow` only when the task needs it. Omitted network policy resolves to deny in every direction.
4. Never pass `--audit` to an executor for untrusted code. It turns off all sandbox security for the workload.
5. Read `ExecutionResult.warnings` after each run. Security warnings arrive there and are not written to stdout or stderr.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, E2B or Microsoft Execution Containers?

Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against E2B's 68.3 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. E2B leads on schema & documentation.

### Can an agent call E2B and Microsoft Execution Containers without installing anything?

E2B has a hosted endpoint at https://api.e2b.app. No hosted endpoint is listed for Microsoft Execution Containers.

### Are E2B and Microsoft Execution Containers open source?

Yes. E2B is open source (Apache-2.0). Microsoft Execution Containers is open source (MIT).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/e2b-vs-microsoft-execution-containers.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/e2b-vs-microsoft-execution-containers.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "e2b", "b": "microsoft-execution-containers"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare e2b microsoft-execution-containers`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/e2b.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-execution-containers.json

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