# Microsoft Execution Containers vs Vercel Sandbox

> Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Vercel Sandbox's 69.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Vercel Sandbox leads on security & auth. 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 Vercel Sandbox's 69.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Vercel Sandbox leads on security & auth. Both do sandbox code.

- 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
- Vercel Sandbox: grade B, 69.6/100, rank #144 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/vercel-sandbox.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/vercel-sandbox.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 70
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 65
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
- Maintenance & community, 92 against 80
- Transparency & trust, 83 against 75

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

### Vercel Sandbox (B)

Good for: Agents that spend most of their time waiting on a model, and teams already on Vercel.

Ahead on:
- Security & auth, 80 against 69

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

Watch for: Tied to a Vercel team and project even when called from elsewhere, and access tokens reach the whole team


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Microsoft Execution Containers | Vercel Sandbox | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 81 | 70 | Microsoft Execution Containers +11 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 77 | Microsoft Execution Containers +4 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 65 | Microsoft Execution Containers +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 69 | 80 | Vercel Sandbox +11 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 40 | Microsoft Execution Containers +20 |
| 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 | 75 | Microsoft Execution Containers +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **76.3 · BB** | **69.6 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Microsoft Execution Containers | Vercel Sandbox |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | SDK + MCP | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | Vercel |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | `https://api.vercel.com/v1/sandboxes` |
| Transports |  | HTTP |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-06 | 2026-09-11 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-06-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-06-01 |
| Customer content may train models |  | yes, with an opt-out |
| 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 |  | yes |
| Popularity | 1.5k stars, 472k npm/wk | 168 stars, 6.5M npm/wk, 462k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3.5/5 (2) |

## 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.

**Vercel Sandbox.** Active CPU billing, so waiting on model responses costs only memory. Tied to a Vercel team and project even when called from elsewhere, and access tokens reach the whole team.

## 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.

### Vercel Sandbox

1. Call `sandbox.stop()` when the task is done. Memory bills until the session ends
2. Use `Sandbox.getOrCreate` with a name so retries land in the same sandbox
3. Set `networkPolicy` to `deny-all` for untrusted code. The default is allow-all
4. Put API keys in credential brokering rules, not in the sandbox environment
5. Pass `persistent: false` for one-off runs so no snapshot is stored or billed

## Questions

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

Microsoft Execution Containers scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Vercel Sandbox's 69.6 (B), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Vercel Sandbox leads on security & auth.

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Microsoft Execution Containers. Vercel Sandbox has a hosted endpoint at https://api.vercel.com/v1/sandboxes.

### Are Microsoft Execution Containers and Vercel Sandbox open source?

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


## For agents

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

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