CodeSandbox Sandboxes
Sandboxes are the ideal environment for rapid web development. CodeSandbox provides two types of sandboxes: cloud sandboxes (which run in a microVM) and browser sandboxes (which run using browser resources).
To create a new sandbox, you can clone a template from our "Create Sandbox" (opens in a new tab) modal. When clicking on a template, we create a fork (a copy) of the template and open the newly created sandbox in our web editor.
By default, we recommend using cloud sandboxes, which provide all the tooling needed for building prototypes. Browser sandboxes are mostly useful as a playground for basic front-end JavaScript projects.
Difference between Cloud & Browser Sandboxes
What is a Cloud Sandbox?
Unlike Browser Sandboxes that run on your browser, Cloud Sandboxes run on our microVMs.
Cloud Sandboxes are great for prototyping any type of project. They can run both backend and front-end services. You can learn more about the editor and the unique functionalities of the cloud developer environment in Repositories.
Like Browser Sandboxes, Cloud Sandboxes are free to use.
Cloud Sandboxes run on microVMs, which brings two features that make them great for prototyping:
- Fast cloning. You can fork a sandbox within 2 seconds (opens in a new tab) and continue with an exact clone of the microVM. This way, you can quickly test multiple approaches to your prototype.
- Instant resume. When you connect to a Cloud Sandbox, it will wake up within 1 second and continue with your running dev server. This way, you can quickly continue prototyping.
Cloud Sandboxes and Repositories run on the same infrastructure and use the same editor. The main distinction between the two is that Sandboxes are built for prototyping while Repositories are built for full-scale development. Once you scale a Sandbox to a Repository, you will have:
- Branching
- Git tooling
- Full integration with GitHub
To configure a Cloud Sandbox, you can read more about tasks (opens in a new tab) and Docker (opens in a new tab).