boxes.dev vs Tembo

At a glance

As of September 2026.

A VM for each session, or a lasting copy of your environment

Tembo gives each session a VM that ends with it, and boxes.dev gives each task a full copy of your running environment that stays until you delete it.

Each Tembo session runs on a dedicated Linux VM with common languages and Docker installed. A session can pause, resume, and be shared, and you or the agent can keep its VM running longer. Tembo's docs say the sandbox is destroyed when the session is done, and no code or working state persists afterward. Projects carry setup forward instead, preparing repositories, dependencies, and a setup script that new sessions start from. Model usage through Tembo Gateway and VM time, billed by the second, draw from one dollar allowance, and your own subscriptions or API keys add no Tembo charge.

boxes.dev first sets up your full development environment on a cloud machine called the Template box, with the tools, databases, services, and data your app needs, so an agent can run the app and test its changes end to end. A setup agent can port the environment from your laptop, including the files, local data, agent settings, and skills you choose to upload, or build it from a GitHub repository. boxes.dev then saves the Template box as a snapshot, and every task runs on its own devbox, a full, isolated copy of that machine. A maintenance script can keep the Template box current as your code changes, running on a schedule or when files such as a lockfile change, and each successful run saves a new snapshot.

You'd never let an engineer ship code they hadn't run, and a full environment holds the agent to the same standard. On a boxes.dev devbox, the agent runs your whole app, with its databases, services, and data, and tests its changes in the browser as it builds. It reproduces bugs in the real app to find the root cause instead of guessing from the code, so it writes better code and makes fewer mistakes. It can also take screenshots and record video for you to review, so you can hand it most repetitive manual testing.

A boxes.dev devbox sleeps when idle, keeping its files and memory, and stays until you delete it.

Reaching the running app

In both products, you and the agent can use the app running in the cloud, and boxes.dev also brings it to your laptop and gives your project one address that you can move between devboxes.

A Tembo session's Computer preview streams a desktop with Chromium, VS Code, and terminal apps, and you can copy a link to share the live view. In the session, tembo service --port exposes a running HTTP service at a public preview link.

Each boxes.dev devbox runs a browser that you and the agent share, so you can watch the agent test the app, click through it yourself, or comment on page elements to show the agent what to change. Ports forwards the app to the same localhost port on your laptop, a public link shares it with anyone, and a Project URL gives your project one stable public address that you can point at any devbox, for OAuth callbacks and webhooks.

Working with your team

Both take requests from Slack and share sessions with teammates, and boxes.dev also lets teammates you allow start work in your project with your environment and access.

Tembo lets teammates see what's running, inspect sessions, and pick up where someone left off. Mentioning @tembo in Slack or Microsoft Teams starts a session, and in Slack you can keep mentioning @tembo in the same thread to give feedback. A macro such as @tembo !review sends a request to a saved agent.

Each boxes.dev devbox belongs to one person and works with their access, such as their GitHub login and cloud credentials. Anyone who can prompt its agent could act with that access, so in the app, teammates get read-only access to your work. You can share a thread as a link, and a team admin can let teammates read every thread that isn't marked private and browse each other's projects in a Team workbench. Teammates can't send prompts, open your terminal, or control your devbox.

In Slack, mentioning @boxes.dev in a thread starts Codex or Claude Code on a new devbox, and later mentions in that thread send follow-ups to the same conversation. A named command such as @boxes.dev !bugfix runs a saved automation. By default, only you can start work in your project from Slack or follow up on it. If you allow teammates, they can also start work there with @boxes.dev @YourName and send follow-ups, and their requests run with your access and usage. boxes.dev sends you a DM with links to each task a teammate starts, and commits can link to the thread that produced them. Team Templates let an admin prepare one starting environment for everyone on the team, while each member's own credentials go only to that member's project.

What comes with every boxes.dev devbox

The boxes.dev desktop app opens the same set of tools for whichever devbox you select:

• Terminal, with tabs that keep running after you close the app.
• Files, a file browser and editor with search across the workspace.
• Git/Review, for branch history and diffs, where comments on changed lines go to the agent together as one message.
• Browser, the browser on the devbox that you and the agent share.
• Ports, for forwarding to your laptop, stable .localhost addresses, and public links.
• Activity, which shows the processes using the machine's CPU and memory.

Agents can start other agents on new or existing devboxes, message each other, read earlier threads, and leave notes in a shared /project folder, and you can branch a conversation onto a new devbox with the current files, including uncommitted work.

Where Tembo shines

• Seven agents on one platform. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Amp, Pi, and fx, and switching an agent's harness or model is a dropdown.
• Event triggers from many tools. GitHub events, Sentry errors, HubSpot records, and other integrations can start agents, and @tembo also works in GitHub and Microsoft Teams.
• Pull request reviews. Tembo Review gives guided tours of each change, answers questions about the code, and can send Tembo back to make, test, and push the changes you ask for.
• A ready integration catalog. Dozens of ready MCP integrations, such as Datadog, PostHog, and Stripe, sit alongside your own MCP servers.

Pricing

As of September 2026.

A box-hour is one default devbox awake for an hour, and sleeping devboxes don't use any. On Starter, 40 box-hours works out to about two hours of devbox time each working day, and Pro's 250 to about twelve, spread across as many as ten devboxes at once. Your Claude or ChatGPT plan covers the agents' usage. See Plans, seats, and box-hours.

Tembo bills VMs by the second at $0.2652 an hour for a Medium VM with 4 CPUs and 8 GB. With your own subscription or API keys, Pro's $60 covers about 226 hours of Medium VMs a month, shared by up to five users, and Max's $200 about 750 hours. Pro VMs go up to Medium, and Max VMs up to 16 CPUs and 32 GB. See Tembo's pricing.

Using both

Tembo and boxes.dev can work on the same repositories and pull requests. You can keep Tembo for event-driven agents and pull request reviews, and use boxes.dev when a task needs a lasting copy of your full environment.

Frequently asked questions

Does a Tembo session's machine stay after the work is done?

No. The sandbox is destroyed when the session is done, and Projects keep prepared repositories and dependencies for later sessions. A boxes.dev devbox stays until you delete it.

Can I use my Claude and ChatGPT subscriptions with both?

Yes. Tembo connects a Claude subscription for Claude Code and a ChatGPT subscription for Codex, OpenCode, or Pi. boxes.dev runs Claude Code with your Claude plan and Codex with your ChatGPT plan, or with an API key.

Can I open a devbox in my own editor?

Yes. dvb ide opens a devbox in VS Code or a JetBrains IDE over SSH. See Install and use the CLI.

Sources

• Tembo: home, overview, sandboxes, built-in tools, Projects, agents, models, mentioning Tembo, Slack, Microsoft Teams, integrations, MCP, Tailscale, AWS, Raycast, environment variables, PWA, API, pricing, Review, SDK, download, and changelog.
• boxes.dev: How boxes.dev works, Update your Template box and snapshots, Startup, teardown, and maintenance, Sleep, wake, and recover a devbox, Review a page with your agent, Preview your app, Project URLs, Create and publish a Team Template, Connect Codex and Claude, Environment files and secrets, Add MCP servers, Install agent plugins, Organize and share threads, Team access and roles, Branch a conversation, Shared project storage, Commit, push, and open a pull request, Install and use the CLI, Work from Slack, Work from Linear, Create an automation, Use boxes.dev on your phone, and Plans, seats, and box-hours.