# boat

> Persistent Ubuntu cloud sandboxes with browsers for running AI agents

boat provides full, persistent Ubuntu virtual machines tailored for running AI agents and automated workflows. Each VM includes Docker, systemd, pre-installed dev tools, and a virtual desktop with Chrome, billed strictly by the second when running and free while paused. It is designed as a fast, cost-effective infrastructure layer for large-scale agent tasks, coding agents, and headless browser scraping fleets.

Website: https://boat.dev/

## What it is for

- Run autonomous AI coding agents like Claude Code or Codex inside dedicated VMs
- Deploy fleets of persistent browser sandboxes for high-volume web scraping
- Host multi-user developer sandboxes that isolate code execution securely
- Stream a 60fps remote desktop to visually inspect and debug running agent workflows

## Features

- Full Ubuntu environment with Docker, systemd, SSH, and SCP access
- Integrated 60fps virtual desktop and pre-configured Chrome browser
- Instant disk-level snapshotting, pausing, and forking to branch VM states
- Per-second billing that automatically pauses compute charges when stopped
- CLI, HTTP REST API, and SDKs for programmatic agent orchestration
- Pre-installed runtimes and tools including Node.js, Bun, Rust, and GitHub CLI
- Public HTTPS port forwarding to host artifacts and web previews

## Pricing

Freemium. 7-day free trial (25 compute hours), then plans start at $20/month with per-second usage billing

## Details

- Type: Web app
- Category: [Development](https://xiry.app/topics/development.md)
- Open source: no
- Platforms: Web, Command line, API, Linux, macOS, Windows
- For: Developers and AI engineers building agentic workflows, autonomous coding pipelines, or web scraping fleets
- Alternative to: E2B, Browserbase, Modal, Daytona, Vercel Sandbox
- Tags: sandboxes, ai agents, cloud vms, scraping, docker, developer tools

## Why it was saved

- [@AniC_dev, 4 October 2026](https://x.com/AniC_dev/status/2106602714490683853): Positioned as a much cheaper alternative to Browserbase-style cloud browsers: full VMs (SSH, Docker, nftables for custom proxies), anti-bot-resilient Chrome, session save/fork, computer-use API, artifact generation and hosting, persistent files between runs.

## Compare

- [Alternatives to Browserbase](https://xiry.app/alternatives/browserbase.md)

## Related

- [Firecrawl](https://xiry.app/resources/firecrawl-1984): Turn websites and documents into clean, LLM-ready markdown or structured data. (Website, Freemium)
- [Skills.sh](https://xiry.app/resources/skills-sh): Open directory and CLI for discovering and installing AI agent skills (Web app, Free)
- [agency-agents](https://xiry.app/resources/agency-agents): Curated library of specialized AI agent personas and workflows for Claude Code (GitHub repo, Open source)
- [Browser Use Cloud](https://xiry.app/resources/browser-use-cloud): Cloud-hosted stealth browser infrastructure and execution platform for AI agents. (Web app, Freemium)
- [Hyperbrowser](https://xiry.app/resources/hyperbrowser): Cloud browser infrastructure and automation agents designed for AI applications. (Web app, Freemium)
- [PinchTab](https://xiry.app/resources/pinchtab-2375): Lightweight Go binary exposing an HTTP API to control Chrome browsers (GitHub repo, Open source)

Updated 10 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/boat

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