Cube vs boat.dev
boat.dev is built for agent factories: many persistent VMs you fork and stop. Cube is built for a developer and their agents, on one computer.
Updated
The short version
boat.dev, from ASCII, sells persistent Ubuntu VMs you drive from a CLI, with Docker, VS Code, Chrome and the GitHub CLI preinstalled and a virtual desktop (boat desktop). boat fork clones a VM’s disk, boat stop snapshots and pauses it, and you pay per second while it runs. It’s aimed at running many agents as a fleet.
Cube is an always-on Linux computer in the cloud for your coding agents, with an app for your Mac and the web, GitHub sign-in, a worktree per task and phone check-ins.
Side by side
| boat.dev | Cube | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Many VMs; fork and stop | One computer for your agents |
| Default size | 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, 50 GB disk | Pick the machine that suits you |
| Billing | Per second while running, $20/month minimum | Per second while running, no minimum; $25 of free credit to start |
| Parallel attempts | Fork the VM | A worktree per task |
| Interface | CLI, SSH and a virtual desktop | Mac app, any browser, phone, and SSH |
| Stopping | boat stop snapshots and pauses billing | Runs until you pause it; files stay when paused |
When to choose boat.dev
- You run agents as a fleet and want a VM per attempt.
- Per-second billing and stopping machines between runs fits your usage.
When to choose Cube
- You want your agents to keep running without starting and stopping machines.
- You want an app with every repo, worktree and session in one place, on your Mac, in the browser or on your phone.
- You want to check in from your phone.
Questions
How is boat.dev billed?
As of October 2026, per second while a VM runs, with a $20 monthly minimum that buys 2,000,000 VM-seconds, about 555 hours. The default 4 vCPU, 8 GB sandbox is listed at $0.036 an hour, and there’s a 7-day trial with 25 compute hours.
What happens when I stop a boat.dev VM?
boat stop snapshots the VM and pauses billing. Files, installed packages and enabled services persist.
When should I choose boat.dev?
When you need many VMs, want to fork a machine’s disk for parallel attempts, and prefer a CLI with per-second billing.