Cube vs kosa8
kosa8 locks each agent inside its own VM on hardware you run, with rewind. Cube gives your agents a computer in the cloud that keeps working when your laptop is closed.
Published
The short version
kosa8, launched on Product Hunt in October 2026, runs each agent in its own sealed machine: a real VM with its own kernel, on Apple’s Virtualization framework or KVM. Only one folder is visible to the agent, the network is closed except for hosts you allow, enforced outside the VM, and your API keys stay on your computer while kosa8 brokers them to the provider. You can rewind a whole machine, running processes included, in about a second, or fork it into live copies and keep the one that worked. It runs on your own Apple silicon Mac or x86-64 Linux machine, or fully offline.
Cube is a persistent Linux computer in the cloud for your coding agents, sized for your work and on around the clock. You run it from an app on your Mac, any browser or your phone, and your agents use your own subscriptions.
Side by side
| kosa8 | Cube | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your own Mac or Linux machine, your cloud, or air-gapped | Cube’s cloud |
| Shape | A sealed VM per agent | One computer for all your agents |
| Network | Closed by default; allow-listed hosts, enforced on the host | Open internet, like any computer |
| API keys | Stay on your machine; brokered into the VM | Agents sign in with your own accounts on the machine |
| Undo | Rewind the whole machine, processes included; fork into live copies | Back up or reset from the Machine app; Git worktrees per task |
| When your laptop sleeps | Depends on the host you run it on | Keeps running |
| Agents | Claude Code, Codex, Gemini and others, through kits | Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode preinstalled; 18 more in one click |
| Price | $29 to $199 a month by plan, plus your own hardware | By the minute while running; about $20.50/month for 2 CPUs and 8 GB running 24/7; $25 of free credit |
| Interface | CLI and Mac app | Mac app, any browser, phone, and SSH |
When to choose kosa8
- Containment comes first: you want each agent sealed off, with a network you control and keys it never sees.
- You want to rewind a bad run, processes and all, or fork a machine to try several ideas from the same state.
- Your code can’t leave your hardware, or you need to run with no network at all.
- You already have a capable Mac or Linux box to run it on.
When to choose Cube
- You want your agents to keep working when your laptop is closed, without keeping a machine of your own on.
- You want to check in and steer from any browser or your phone.
- You want a ready machine in about two minutes, with your GitHub repos, a worktree per task and apps from Market.
- You’d rather pay for cloud time by the minute than a monthly licence plus hardware.
Questions
Where do kosa8 VMs run?
On machines you provide: an Apple silicon Mac (Apple’s Virtualization framework), x86-64 Linux with KVM, or Windows 11 through WSL2 in preview. Other computers drive one of those as a worker. As of October 2026, kosa8 doesn’t list a hosted cloud of its own.
How much does kosa8 cost?
As of October 2026, Solo is $29 a month and Pro $89 a month; Team is $169 and Scale $199 per person a month. Plans cap how many copies run at once and how large a sandbox can be. There’s a 14-day trial with every feature and no card, and no free tier. The hardware is yours.
When should I choose kosa8?
When the priority is containing an agent: a closed network you allow-list, keys that never enter the VM, and the ability to rewind or fork the whole machine. Or when you need to run fully offline.