Sandbox.
/ Where agents run code.
Compute sandboxes for AI agents — microVMs, containers, and snapshot architectures that let agents run code, browse the web, and persist state without crashing each other or the host.
◆46 vendors·Last update 2026-05-18
Trend · 04 of 07
$340M to $1.5M.
The revenue is bimodal too.
Estimated ARR for 10 funded sandbox vendors spans a 200× range. Vercel runs at $340M, Replit $265M — platform-extensions on mature products. The pure-plays sit two orders of magnitude lower: E2B at $1.5M, Daytona $3M, Northflank $2.1M. And then StackBlitz/Bolt went $0 → $40M in 5 months on a token-resale model. Funding shape predicts revenue shape.
Top ARR
$340M
Vercel · run-rate Feb 2026
Fastest growth
500×
StackBlitz · $80K → $40M, 5mo
Top revenue / FTE
$2.7M
StackBlitz · ~15 employees
Pure-play median
$2.1M
excl. platforms · n=4
Fig. 04 · Estimated ARR · 2026
The revenue dumbbell
Bars in √-scale · figures $M ARR · orange = platform play (sandbox bolted to mature product)
A · Hypergrowth
StackBlitz / Bolt
500×/ 5 mo
$80K›$4M›$20M›$40M
In-browser WebContainers · zero cloud-compute COGS · sells Anthropic tokens at markup.
B · Hypergrowth
Replit
35×/ 6 mo
$2.8M›$10M›$100M›$265M
Replit Agent · Firecracker microVMs · 1,556% YoY through 2025.
C · Enterprise
Chainguard
8×/ 24 mo
$5M›$40M
640% YoY · compliance · custom registries · government networks.
D · Steady
Vercel
3.4×/ 24 mo
$100M›$340M
84% YoY · operating with the discipline of a public entity · IPO-ready.
Fig. 05 · Revenue per employee
The AI-native efficiency gap
SaaS median · $167.5K / FTE · the top tier of AI-native vendors run 10–16× that. Ultra-lean teams, AI-leveraged automation.
Exceptional · $1M+
10–16×
median
Strong · $300–500K
2–3×
median
Medium · $150–250K
~1×
median
Early · < $150K
0.4–0.7×
median
Fig. 06 · Capital efficiency
ARR / cumulative funding · the burn ratio
Best-in-class: 1.0×+ (every dollar raised has turned into a dollar of ARR). StackBlitz at 0.30× looks low but is exceptional given they were near-shutdown 18 months ago. Pure-plays cluster at 0.05–0.10× — still in investment mode.
Bottom line for revenue
The revenue dumbbell mirrors the funding dumbbell — but with one wild card. Platform plays (Vercel, Replit) and token-resale models (StackBlitz/Bolt) are the only ways to scale past $40M ARR. Pure-play sandbox compute caps out under $5M ARR for now. The most efficient vendors run $1–2.7M revenue per FTE — that's the new bar for AI-native infra.
Compute is a cost line. The product is the surrounding ecosystem.