Their infrastructure should too. Blaxel keeps the full working state ready through standby, resumes it in 25ms, and drops active-compute cost to $0 while the agent waits.
Up to $200 in credits · No credit card required
Teams building with Blaxel
Blaxel vs. Modal
Modal is built for serverless functions, batch compute, GPU inference, and training. Blaxel is designed around agents that pause, resume, and continue in the same working environment.
Best fit
Blaxel
Agents that do real work
Agents that execute code, call tools, pause for input, and return to the same working environment.
Modal
High-throughput serverless compute
GPU inference, model training, Python functions, and batch jobs that run as serverless compute.
While the agent waits
Blaxel
Keep the state without active compute
The sandbox enters standby automatically. Active-compute cost drops to $0 while the full working state stays ready. Snapshot storage still applies.
Modal
Keep it active, or restore it later
Keep the sandbox running and continue paying for its active lifetime, or stop it and restore a snapshot into a new sandbox later.
When work resumes
Blaxel
Continue in the same environment
The same filesystem, memory, and running processes resume in 25ms, with no standby duration limit. Use a Volume only when data must outlive the sandbox.
Modal
Restore into a new sandbox
Filesystem snapshots default to 30 days and can be kept indefinitely. Alpha memory snapshots expire after 7 days. Both restore into a new sandbox.
Isolation boundary
Blaxel
A dedicated microVM by default
Every Blaxel sandbox runs inside its own Firecracker microVM with a separate kernel and hardware-enforced tenant isolation.
Modal
gVisor standard; beta VM option
Modal Sandboxes use gVisor by default. An opt-in beta VM runtime provides a real Linux kernel for Docker and similar workloads; it is currently CPU-only and does not support memory snapshots.
Where it runs
Blaxel
Choose the execution boundary
Run on Blaxel's managed cloud, connect privately to your VPC, or run the sandbox runtime in your own cloud.
Modal
Modal-managed cloud
Modal manages the runtime, networking, and application resources in its cloud.
Run the full agent lifecycle with a real workload.
Up to $200 in credits · No credit card required
Agents work, wait, then work again
Blaxel moves the sandbox into standby between actions. Files, memory, and processes stay ready, active-compute cost drops to $0, and the same environment resumes in 25ms. Snapshot storage charges still apply.
Perpetual standby
When the agent waits for a person, CI run, or external system, the sandbox enters standby without discarding the environment it already built.
25ms resume with full state
Resume the same filesystem, memory, and processes in 25ms. The next action starts with dependencies loaded and the working environment intact.
Credentials and network access
Use domain filtering and proxy secret injection in public preview. Attach a dedicated egress IP in private preview when downstream systems require an allowlisted source.
Live runtime visibility
Stream output, watch filesystem and process activity, and open a controlled preview before the agent finishes or enters standby.
Keep the agent code and framework
Keep Python, TypeScript, or Go and the agent framework you already use. Host the agent, sandbox, MCP servers, batch jobs, and model access on Blaxel through an SDK or REST API.
First-class sandbox provider
Keep OpenAI agent logic while Blaxel provides persistent code execution, file transfer, streaming, and application previews.
Agent framework compatibility
Run Claude Agent SDK or Claude Code with an isolated computer that preserves the working environment between interactions.
Run the pause test with OpenAI or Claude.
Up to $200 in credits · No credit card required
Blaxel and Modal
Blaxel is the better fit for agents that work in bursts and must resume the same filesystem, memory, and running processes. Modal is the better fit for GPU inference, training, fine-tuning, and workloads centered on its broader serverless compute platform.
Blaxel standby preserves the filesystem, memory, and running processes, then resumes the same working state in 25ms. Modal filesystem snapshots expire after 30 days by default, although that can be changed or removed. Modal's Alpha memory snapshots expire after 7 days and restore into a new Sandbox.
No. Blaxel stops active-compute billing while the sandbox is in standby. Snapshot storage that preserves memory and filesystem state still incurs storage charges, and attached volumes are billed separately.
Choose Modal for GPU inference, training, fine-tuning, or high-throughput parallel compute. Choose Blaxel for CPU-focused agents that execute code, use tools, pause between actions, and must continue from the same live working state.
Yes. Blaxel provides first-class SDKs for TypeScript, Python, and Go, plus a REST API. You can keep the language and agent framework that fit your application.
Keep the agent's core logic, replace Modal-specific lifecycle, image, storage, and networking calls with the Blaxel SDK or REST API, then validate the workload against its real session and access requirements.
Blaxel vs. Modal
Run one coding, research, or data-analysis workload. Let it work, enter standby, then reconnect. Verify that the same files, memory, and processes continue in 25ms, with $0 active-compute cost during the wait. Snapshot storage charges apply.
