Top self-hostable alternatives to E2B for AI agents in 2026

Self-hostable alternatives to E2B give you infrastructure control for running AI agent code execution while meeting compliance requirements and managing costs at scale.

This guide compares the top self-hostable options to help you choose based on isolation technology, deployment complexity, and team capacity.

When your AI agents execute code generated by LLMs, where that code runs determines your compliance posture, cost structure, and operational control. E2B's managed service routes code execution through external infrastructure, which creates barriers for many production deployments.

• Data sovereignty and compliance requirements: Processing financial transactions, patient health records, or customer PII requires code execution within your own VPC. Third-party APIs introduce additional data processors into your compliance chain, complicating audits and potentially disqualifying you from enterprise contracts that mandate data residency.
• Cost predictability at scale: Managed services charge per execution or per compute minute. Running millions of code executions monthly makes per-unit costs accumulate quickly. Self-hosting lets you pay for underlying infrastructure directly with more predictable economics.
• Infrastructure control and customization: You need custom network policies, observability stack integration, or specific isolation technologies. Managed services don't offer the configuration flexibility your security policies require. Self-hosting gives you complete control over sandbox configuration.
• Latency requirements: Network round-trips to external sandbox APIs add latency to code execution. Self-hosting sandboxes on the same network as your LLM infrastructure reduces this overhead.

E2B does provide self-hosting through Terraform and Nomad, but this approach requires infrastructure expertise and ongoing operational management. Teams look for alternatives when they need simpler deployment models, different isolation technologies, or managed orchestration that handles Day 2 operations without requiring dedicated platform engineering resources.

Alternative approach: Platforms like Northflank offer BYOC deployment, which keeps data in your infrastructure while providing managed orchestration. This addresses self-hosting requirements without the operational complexity of managing sandbox infrastructure yourself.

When evaluating self-hostable E2B alternatives, you're choosing between different tradeoffs in isolation strength, deployment complexity, persistence models, and operational maturity. Here are the top self-hostable options.

Daytona is a development environment platform that focuses on persistent workspaces where AI agents can build up state over multiple sessions.

Key characteristics:

• Container-based isolation (Docker default, Kata optional)
• Persistent environments where dependencies and files remain across sessions
• Custom orchestration built specifically for AI agents

When to choose Daytona: Building AI agents that need persistent workspaces where state accumulates over time.

When to consider alternatives: Need microVM isolation or want managed orchestration for your infrastructure.

For more context, see our Daytona vs E2B comparison.

Microsandbox is an open-source project providing maximum security for untrusted code execution using libkrun microVMs.

Important: Microsandbox is explicitly marked as experimental software by its developers. Expect breaking changes, missing features, and rough edges.

Key characteristics:

• libkrun microVM isolation (hardware-level security)
• OCI-compatible (runs standard container images)
• Simple binary installation

When to choose Microsandbox: Security is your top priority, you have infrastructure engineering capacity, and you're comfortable working with experimental software.

When to consider alternatives: Need production-proven infrastructure with stability guarantees, enterprise support, and managed operations.

DifySandbox is the code execution engine built into the Dify AI framework.

Key characteristics:

• Seccomp filters and Linux namespaces for isolation
• Native integration with Dify framework
• Lightweight (no VM overhead)

When to choose DifySandbox: Already building with the Dify framework. Native integration makes it the natural choice within that ecosystem.

When to consider alternatives: Not using Dify, building standalone AI infrastructure, or need stronger isolation than namespaces provide.

Northflank Sandboxes lets you run untrusted code at scale with microVMs. The platform offers two deployment options: managed PaaS for teams wanting zero infrastructure management, and BYOC for teams requiring self-hosted control with data in their own cloud.

For self-hosting requirements, Northflank's BYOC option provides a different approach than traditional self-hostable alternatives. Rather than downloading software and managing it yourself, Northflank deploys into your infrastructure while handling orchestration, scaling, and operations.

What Northflank's BYOC deployment provides:

• Deployment flexibility: Self-serve BYOC deployment to AWS, GCP, Azure, Civo, Oracle Cloud, CoreWeave, or on-premise infrastructure. Northflank manages the orchestration layer while workloads run in your cloud account.
• Isolation technology: Kata Containers with Cloud Hypervisor, gVisor, or Firecracker microVMs based on your security requirements. All three provide stronger isolation than standard containers.
• Configurable persistence: Set session duration and state management based on your workflow needs. You're not locked into short-lived sessions or forced into permanent persistence.
• Managed Kubernetes orchestration: Northflank handles cluster management, scaling, updates, and Day 2 operations. You get Kubernetes' power without operating it yourself.
• Production track record: Northflank has been in production since 2021 across startups, public companies, and government deployments.
• Enterprise observability: Built-in monitoring, logging, and debugging capabilities without building your own observability stack.

Learn more about Northflank Sandboxes or read our guide on self-hosted AI sandboxes.

For more guidance on choosing sandbox platforms, see our analysis of the best code execution sandboxes for AI agents.

Microsandbox offers the simplest installation with a single binary, but you'll need to build monitoring and operational tooling around it. Northflank's BYOC provides the fastest path to production-ready sandboxes with managed orchestration already in place. DifySandbox is easiest if you're already using the Dify framework.

Microsandbox, E2B self-hosted, and Northflank BYOC all provide microVM-level isolation with dedicated kernels per sandbox. This is stronger than container-based isolation used by Daytona in default configuration. MicroVM isolation prevents kernel-level exploits from affecting other sandboxes or the host.

Yes, several do. Microsandbox uses libkrun microVMs, E2B self-hosted uses Firecracker, Northflank BYOC offers Kata Containers with Cloud Hypervisor, gVisor, or Firecracker. Daytona optionally supports Kata Containers. DifySandbox uses namespace-based isolation.

Self-hostable alternatives give you infrastructure control, data sovereignty, and cost predictability. E2B's managed service offers faster initial setup but your code executes on E2B's infrastructure. Self-hosted options require more operational work unless you choose BYOC platforms that handle orchestration while keeping data in your infrastructure.

Yes. Self-hosting keeps data in your VPC, which helps meet compliance requirements like HIPAA, SOC2, and GDPR. You maintain full control over data residency, security policies, and audit logging. BYOC platforms like Northflank simplify compliance by managing infrastructure operations while ensuring data never leaves your cloud account.

For more on sandbox security and compliance, see our guide on how to sandbox AI agents.

Self-hostable E2B alternatives give you infrastructure control, data sovereignty, and cost predictability for running AI agent code execution.

Your choice depends on team capacity, security requirements, and how much operational management you want to handle.