Open source alternative to E2B
Last verified
Run autonomous AI agents in kernel-isolated sandboxes with declarative YAML policies for files, network access, and credentials.
Run Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex, or GitHub Copilot CLI with constrained file and network access, so an agent can work in a repository without reaching the rest of your machine.
You only run agents on disposable cloud machines that hold no secrets or private code.
Grant selected sandboxes access to self-hosted or private model endpoints while keeping sensitive context under your control.
You already send all model traffic to a public provider and have no data residency requirement.
Treat policy YAML as version-controlled security controls that reviewers can read, diff, and audit alongside application code.
Your security reviews happen outside version control and cannot consume policy files.
Autonomous agents need real access to be useful: files to read, packages to install, APIs to call, and credentials to authenticate with. Giving them that access on a developer machine or shared server creates risk. An agent can upload source code to an unauthorized endpoint, read local secrets such as SSH keys or cloud credentials, send data to an unapproved model provider, or attempt privilege escalation with sudo or dangerous syscalls. Hosted sandbox services reduce that risk by moving execution elsewhere, but then your code and context run on someone else's infrastructure. OpenShell keeps the agent capable while enforcing explicit, reviewable limits on what it can reach, on hardware you control.
Each agent runs in its own sandbox. Kernel controls confine which files it can access and which system calls it can make, using Landlock for filesystem limits and seccomp restrictions with an unprivileged process identity to block escalation.
Filesystem, network, and process rules live in policy files. Filesystem and process rules are locked at sandbox creation, and network rules are hot-reloadable at runtime. Because policies are plain YAML, they can be version-controlled and audited.
Agents never see real credentials. Provider profiles resolve opaque placeholders only at authorized endpoints, so a leaked prompt or file cannot expose a working secret. Attachments, rotation, and revocation update at runtime.
Before a policy change is approved, OpenShell uses formal verification to flag risky new access, such as reaching a new host with credentials or calling a new API method. Those changes wait for human review.
Python, TypeScript, Go, and Rust SDKs connect applications to a gateway. Middleware, gateway interceptors, and compute drivers let you extend the runtime, and it ships OCSF JSON log export for observability.
E2B is the paid product OpenShell is linked to as an alternative. The two overlap on one job: giving an AI agent an isolated place to run code.
OpenShell runs on infrastructure you control. The installer sets up a local gateway, and a Helm chart deploys the gateway to Kubernetes. With a commercial hosted sandbox service, code and context run on the vendor's infrastructure. If your agents touch private repositories or internal model endpoints, keeping execution in-house is the main reason to pick OpenShell.
OpenShell is built around a declarative YAML policy covering filesystem, network, and process rules, with credentials injected only at approved endpoints. Network rules can be changed at runtime, and risky policy changes are flagged for human review. Check the current documentation of any paid tool you compare against for how it exposes similar controls.
OpenShell is free under Apache-2.0, but you run, upgrade, and monitor it yourself, and it is still at v0.1.2. A paid hosted service trades money for less operational work. Choose OpenShell when data control and auditable policy matter more than avoiding that work.
Setup needs Docker, Podman, or host virtualization; the installer adds the CLI and a local gateway.
```bash
curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NVIDIA/OpenShell/main/install.sh | sh
openshell sandbox create --name demo
```Yes. The repository is licensed under Apache-2.0, and you can run it on your own machines or in your own Kubernetes cluster.
The docs name Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex, and GitHub Copilot CLI. The default sandbox image is minimal Ubuntu with no agent installed, so you install the agent you want or bring your own container image.
Linux, macOS on Apple Silicon, or Windows with WSL 2 (experimental), plus Docker, Podman, or host virtualization. The install script sets up the CLI and a local gateway.
Agents never see real credentials. OpenShell adds them only to requests bound for endpoints approved by a provider profile, and attachments, rotation, and revocation update at runtime.
Alternative to
E2B
Kubernetes-native sandbox runtime for AI agent execution
Alternative to
RevEng.AI
AI-powered reverse engineering for binaries, apps, and assemblies.
Alternative toClaude Managed Agents
Open-source agent deployment API. Self-host or use Omnara Cloud.
Alternative to
Kong Konnect
Unified API keys, gateways, and observability for developers.
Alternative to
Zenity
Self-hosted AI agent auditing across 60 trust and safety inspections.
Alternative to
iCloud Drive
Your GitHub repos as a native drive in macOS Finder
Run OpenShell on your own server
Self-host OpenShell on a Hostinger VPS.
Deploy on HostingerFeatured
Alternative toClaude Managed Agents
Open-source agent deployment API. Self-host or use Omnara Cloud.
Alternative to
Superhuman
AI email assistant that drafts replies and clears your inbox
Alternative to
Grok Bot
AI teammates you own: your keys, your model, your machine.
The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.
Claude Code to 
OpenCode
Jira to 
Windshift
Notion to 
AppFlowy
Slack to 
Mattermost
Linear to 
GitLab
Wispr Flow to 
Handy
CapCut to 
Concat
Grok Bot to 
rakazo
Superhuman to 
Inbox Zero
Airtable to 
AITable
Muse to 
OpenClaw
GitHub Copilot to 
Cline
Datadog to 
Netdata
Microsoft Teams to 
Rocket.Chat
Pinecone to 
Qdrant
Zapier to 
n8n
Devin AI to 
OpenHands
Firebase to 
Supabase
1Password to 
KeePassXCConfluence to 
Docmost
Contentful to 
Strapi
Adobe Premiere Pro to 
Shotcut
ChatGPT to 
AnythingLLM
LangSmith to 
Langfuse
