Understand the differences between BoxLite and other sandboxing technologies
BoxLite vs Docker: Docker shares the host kernel (container escape risk); BoxLite uses hardware VMs (near-zero escape risk). Use Docker for trusted code, BoxLite for untrusted code.
BoxLite vs Firecracker: Both use micro-VMs. Firecracker is a minimal hypervisor requiring orchestration; BoxLite is an embeddable library with built-in OCI support.
BoxLite vs gVisor: gVisor intercepts syscalls in userspace; BoxLite runs a real kernel in a VM. gVisor is lighter but has syscall compatibility limits; BoxLite runs anything Linux runs.
Hardware-isolated micro-VMs vs kernel-level container isolation. Learn when to use each.
Two micro-VM approaches compared: embeddable library vs minimal hypervisor.
Hardware virtualization vs userspace kernel. Different approaches to sandboxing.
| Feature | BoxLite | Docker | Firecracker | gVisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolation Level | Hardware VM | Kernel namespaces | Hardware VM | Userspace kernel |
| Escape Risk | Near zero | Container escapes exist | Near zero | Very low |
| Boot Time | <1 second | <100ms | <125ms | <200ms |
| Daemon Required | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (runsc) |
| OCI Images | Native | Native | Requires setup | Via Docker |
| Embeddable | Yes (library) | No (CLI/API) | Partial | No |
| Best For | AI agents, untrusted code | Trusted workloads | Serverless at scale | Container hardening |