froog vs Modal
Modal is a serverless platform for Python and GPU workloads, and its Sandboxes run untrusted code inside it. froog is only sandboxes: a persistent VM per agent, with no time limit and a much lower price for machines that stay on.
froog and Modal side by side
| froog | Modal | |
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Full KVM virtual machine, own kernel | gVisor container runtime, or VMs with their own kernel |
| Largest sandbox | Up to 8 vCPU, 16 GB memory, 111 GB disk | Set per sandbox; VM root disk fixed at 512 GiB |
| How long it runs | No limit: runs until you stop it, or until its auto-stop timer runs out (an hour by default, up to 30 days, or never) | 5 minutes by default, up to 24 hours |
| Snapshots and forks | Hourly automatic snapshots, named snapshots as templates, fork into many copies, restore in place (disk); warm resume with programs running for 10 min after a stop | Filesystem snapshots (30 days), many sandboxes from one; memory snapshots experimental |
| Access | SSH, root (passwordless sudo), Docker, Chrome, a desktop in the browser (XFCE; Hyprland and Chromium on Omarchy), /dev/kvm, HTTPS URL for any port | Python SDK; tunnels for public URLs; Docker with the VM runtime |
| GPUs | No | Yes (gVisor runtime) |
| Price | $0.0274 an hour for 4 vCPU / 8 GB, billed per second while running | $0.00003942 per physical core-second (2 vCPU) + $0.00000667 per GiB-second, charged on max(request, actual) |
| 4 vCPU / 8 GB, all month | $20 | $347 |
Modal figures are from its own pages, checked on November 12, 2026: modal.com/pricing, modal.com/docs/guide/sandbox, modal.com/docs/guide/sandbox-snapshots. The monthly line is 730 hours at list prices with the machine fully used, plan fees and credits not counted. Prices change; tell us if one is out of date. More providers on the pricing page.
When to pick which
Pick Modal if
- You need GPUs inside the sandbox, or you already run your workloads on Modal.
- Thousands of short, bursty sandboxes from Python code.
Pick froog if
- Agents that run longer than 24 hours, or that you want to come back to: froog sandboxes have no time limit and keep their disk.
- SSH, a desktop, Chrome and seven coding agents ready at boot, not just a code runner.
- Cost: about $20 a month for a 4 vCPU / 8 GB machine, against about $347 at Modal's sandbox rates.
Try froog in a minute
curl -fsSL https://froog.tech/install | sh
froog login
froog new my-box # ready when SSH works, about a minute
froog exec my-box -- uname -a
froog prompt my-box "write a hello world web server and run it on port 3000"
froog host my-box 3000 # an HTTPS URL for itQuestions
Is froog cheaper than Modal Sandboxes?
For machines that stay on, yes: a 4 vCPU / 8 GB froog VM is $20 a month, and the same at Modal's sandbox rates (3x its list price) is about $347.
Does froog have GPUs?
No. froog sandboxes are CPU-only. If you need GPUs in the sandbox, Modal offers them.
How long can a froog sandbox run?
As long as you like. Modal sandboxes stop after 5 minutes by default and 24 hours at most; a froog sandbox runs until you stop it, or until its auto-stop timer runs out (an hour by default, up to 30 days, or never).
7 days free: 25 hours of running time, 2 sandboxes at once. Then from $0.0137 an hour, billed per second.