# Microsoft Execution Containers vs Sprites

> Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Sprites's 58.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do sandbox code. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- Updated: 2026-10-09

Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Sprites's 58.3 (C), and leads in every scored category. Both do sandbox code.

- Microsoft Execution Containers: grade BB, 76.3/100, rank #35 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-execution-containers.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-execution-containers.json
- Sprites: grade C, 58.3/100, rank #528 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sprites.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/sprites.json

## Which one, for what

### 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 55
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 74
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 68
- Security & auth, 69 against 59
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 92 against 80
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 59

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- Open source

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

### Sprites (C)

Good for: Agents that need a long-lived machine with installed tools and files kept between sessions, and rollback by checkpoint.

Watch for: Four Sprites incidents on the status page in 90 days, including a partial outage of 7 hours 28 minutes on 23 September 2026 and failed creates outside Europe for 28 minutes on 8 October


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Microsoft Execution Containers | Sprites | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 81 | 55 | Microsoft Execution Containers +26 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 74 | Microsoft Execution Containers +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 68 | Microsoft Execution Containers +6 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 59 | Microsoft Execution Containers +10 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | Microsoft Execution Containers +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 92 | 80 | Microsoft Execution Containers +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 59 | Microsoft Execution Containers +24 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **76.3 · BB** | **58.3 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Microsoft Execution Containers | Sprites |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | SDK + MCP | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Fly.io |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  | HTTP |
| Auth | None | API key |
| Pricing | Free | Pay per use |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under the Fly.io Terms of Service. The JavaScript, Go, Python and Elixir SDKs are MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-04-29 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-09-24 |
| Customer content may train models |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access |  | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 1.5k stars, 472k npm/wk | 158k npm/wk, 59k PyPI/wk |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Sprites.** A Sprite keeps a 100 GB ext4 disk between runs, bills compute only while active and can be checkpointed and restored through a published OpenAPI contract. The status page records four Sprites incidents in the last 90 days, one lasting over seven hours, and outbound network access is unrestricted until a policy is set.

## Before you call either

### 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.

### Sprites

1. Create a token at sprites.dev/account after a browser signup, and send it as `Authorization: Bearer <token>` to `https://api.sprites.dev`
2. Follow the OpenAPI document, not the product page example. Create with `POST /v1/sprites` and a JSON `name`, and run commands with `POST /v1/sprites/{name}/exec` using `cmd` query parameters
3. Set a network policy with `POST /v1/sprites/{name}/policy/network` before running untrusted code. Egress is open until one is set
4. Processes started by exec stop on a cold wake. Define a Service for anything that must answer the request that wakes the Sprite
5. Create a checkpoint before a restore. Restoring replaces the filesystem, ends active sessions and keeps no copy of the replaced state
6. Sprite creation is limited to 10 a minute on pay-as-you-go. The Go SDK reads `Retry-After` and the error code `sprite_creation_rate_limited` on a 429
7. Delete Sprites you no longer need. An idle Sprite still bills cold storage for the bytes it holds

## Questions

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

Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Sprites's 58.3 (C), and leads in every scored category.

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Microsoft Execution Containers. No hosted endpoint is listed for Sprites.

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

Microsoft Execution Containers is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Sprites.


## For agents

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

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