Daytona vs E2B vs Modal: AI Agent Sandbox Cold-Start Benchmarks — Daytona Hits 27ms, E2B at 150ms, and When to Choose Each for Agent Loops

Superagent·medium signal

Multiple 2026 benchmarks compare agent sandboxing platforms. Daytona uses Docker containers with sub-90ms cold starts (optimized: 27ms) while E2B uses Firecracker microVMs (150ms, dedicated kernel per session). For agent loops that spin up a fresh sandbox per turn, the cold-start tax compounds across iterations — Daytona saves ~60ms/turn. Pick E2B when you need kernel-level isolation between untrusted users. Both price at $0.0504/vCPU-hour. Daytona offers $200 free credits vs E2B's $100.