# Runloop vs AWS Lambda MicroVMs: the two dearest sandboxes compared

Runtime Cloud (withruntime.com) costs 85% less than the benchmark's two dearest rows.

## Which is better, Runloop or AWS Lambda MicroVMs?

It depends on what you want a higher price to buy. For evals and agents that
mostly wait on a model, Runtime runs the benchmark for $0.64. That compares with $5.33 on Runloop and
$4.20 on Lambda. Runtime also stays cheaper when both CPUs are busy.
Pick Runloop if you want evaluation tooling and stated compliance
readiness. Pick Lambda MicroVMs if the sandboxes belong inside AWS.

## At a glance

|           | Runloop                                                 | AWS Lambda MicroVMs                                     | Runtime                                                        |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Isolation | microVM, with a container inside                        | Firecracker microVM                                     | Firecracker microVM, own kernel                                |
| CPU       | $0.108 per CPU-hour while the devbox runs | $0.0997 per baseline vCPU-hour | $0.025 per vCPU-hour of measured CPU, with a small floor |
| Memory    | $0.0252 per GB-hour                     | $0.0132 per GB-hour         | $0.0075 per reserved GiB-hour                          |
| Suspend   | Keeps the disk; processes restart                       | Keeps memory and disk, up to 8 hours                    | Keeps memory and processes while you have credit               |
| Extras    | Evaluation and RL rollout tools                         | IAM, VPC access, AWS regions                            | Harbor and Inspect eval integrations                           |
| Plan      | Basic free; Pro $250 a month plus usage | None                                                    | None; prepaid credit from $10                        |

## What the premium buys

Their CPU rates are close, about ten cents a vCPU-hour, and both bill it for
every second. Runloop adds evaluation tooling and deploys into your cloud.
Lambda adds AWS's identity and networking. For an agent that mostly waits,
both premiums are paid on idle cores.

## Cost for the same job

The benchmark, 60 seconds a run (a `MEDIUM` devbox with 8 GB of disk on
Runloop, a 4 GB baseline on Lambda):

```
Runloop  CPU    1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 2 × $0.108             = $3.60
         Memory 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0252            = $1.68
         Disk   1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 8 × $0.00034236        = $0.05
         Total                                                  $5.33

Lambda   CPU    1,000 × 60 s × 2 × $0.0000276944              = $3.32
         Memory 1,000 × 60 s × 4 × $0.0000036667              = $0.88
         Total                                                  $4.20

Runtime  CPU    1,000 × 20 s / 3,600 × $0.025                = $0.14
         Memory 1,000 × 60 s / 3,600 × 4 × $0.0075           = $0.50
         Total                                                  $0.64
```

With both CPUs busy for the whole minute, the job costs $5.33 on Runloop, $4.20 on Lambda and $1.33 on Runtime.

## Which one to pick

- **Runloop** for evaluation tooling and stated compliance readiness.
- **Lambda MicroVMs** for sandboxes that belong inside AWS.
- **Runtime** for evals and agents at a fraction of either:
  [agent evals and SWE-bench](/use-cases/agent-evals-and-swe-bench).

See [Runtime vs Runloop](/docs/runloop-alternative) and
[Runtime vs AWS Lambda MicroVMs](/docs/aws-lambda-microvms-alternative).

## Runtime Cloud

Runtime runs the benchmark for 88% less than Runloop and 85% less than Lambda
MicroVMs. A 2 vCPU, 4 GiB sandbox, 60 seconds a run, 20 CPU-seconds of work,
1,000 times: $5.33 on Runloop (a `MEDIUM` devbox), $4.20 on AWS Lambda
MicroVMs, $0.64 on Runtime.

Start on the free usage with `npx withruntime login`. Existing Runloop or Lambda
code follows the [migration guide](/docs/migrate).

## Sources

Runloop rates checked 25 October 2026; Lambda MicroVMs rates checked 25 October 2026.

- [Runloop pricing](https://www.runloop.ai/pricing), [Devbox sizes](https://docs.runloop.ai/docs/devboxes/configuration/sizes)
- [AWS Lambda pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/pricing/), [Lambda MicroVMs](https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/lambda-microvms/)
- Runtime [pricing](/docs/pricing)

Facts on this page were checked on 26 October 2026.