Browser, Sandbox or Desktop: Which Environment Does My Agent Need?
Should my AI agent use a browser, a sandbox or a desktop?
Use a cloud browser when the task lives on websites, a sandbox when the agent runs code or tools, and a desktop when the software has no API. Solari offers all three from one API, so an agent can use whichever each task needs.
The short answer
Match the environment to where the work happens. Websites and web apps: a cloud browser. Code, scripts, data processing and tool execution: a sandbox. Desktop software, ERP and CRM clients, anything with a window but no API: a desktop. With Solari the three share one API key, one SDK and one bill, so the choice is per task rather than per vendor.
When to use a cloud browser
Scraping, research, form filling, checkout flows, portal work and any task that needs to log in and click. Solari browsers start in about 8 ms, run stealth with residential proxies, solve captchas automatically, keep profiles between runs and record every session.
When to use a sandbox
Running generated code, installing packages, building and testing, processing files, and anything that should never touch your own systems. Solari sandboxes are hardware-isolated microVMs that start in about 90 ms, scale from 1 to 16 vCPUs, and can be snapshotted and forked.
When to use a desktop
Software that only exists as a GUI: practice-management systems, EHR clients, spreadsheets, internal tools and legacy apps. Solari desktops are full Linux desktops with real mouse and keyboard input and a live stream, and they pause when idle so you only pay while the agent is working.
Combining them
A typical agent might research in a browser, process what it found in a sandbox, and enter the result into a desktop application. Because all three run on Solari, the same authentication, session management and recording apply to each step.
Frequently asked questions
Can one agent use more than one environment at once?
Yes. Concurrency limits are per plan: the Free plan allows 3 browsers and 1 sandbox or desktop, Professional allows 150 browsers and 10 sandboxes or desktops, and Team and Enterprise go higher.