What Are Cloud Desktops for AI Agents?
What are cloud desktops for AI agents?
Cloud desktops for AI agents are Linux computers with a screen an agent drives by API. Solari desktops start in about a second, from $0.060 an hour.
Cloud desktops for AI agents are full Linux computers with a graphical screen that an agent sees and drives by API; Solari Computer Desktops start one in about a second.
Solari supports up to 100,000 sandboxes or desktops at once on Enterprise, so you can run a whole fleet of computer-use agents in parallel.
What Is a Cloud Desktop for an AI Agent?
A Solari cloud desktop is a full Linux computer with a graphical screen that an agent controls from code and a person can watch from a browser.
E2B describes the computer-use loop as a cycle of screenshot, model decision and action, repeated until the task is complete.
A Solari desktop gives the agent the whole operating system, so it can work in any app on the screen, a shell and the file system, not only inside a web page.
How Does an Agent Control a Solari Desktop?
Solari desktops take real mouse and keyboard input, with a humanize option that moves the pointer on a natural, curved path.
Solari returns a screenshot of the screen as PNG or JPEG, so a vision model sees the result of every action.
Solari gives the same agent a shell, file read and write, the clipboard, the process table and app launch on that machine.
Every Solari desktop comes with a live view that you can watch and take over from your browser.
What Runs on a Solari Desktop?
The default Solari desktop image ships Google Chrome and the XFCE terminal.
Solari sizes a desktop at 1 to 8 CPUs and up to 16 GB of memory, set when you create it.
A Solari desktop keeps its size through pause and resume, so you never pass it again.
How Fast Does a Solari Desktop Start?
A Solari desktop is ready in about a second.
Once a pause has finished saving, Solari resumes a desktop on the same host in about 1.3 seconds, on staging, five trials.
What Happens When a Solari Desktop Sits Idle?
Solari pauses an idle desktop after 30 minutes by default, saving its state so the next connect picks up where the agent stopped.
A paused Solari desktop frees its slot on your plan's limit of running VMs until you resume it.
For short waits inside a task, Solari's parkAfterMs setting freezes the desktop's CPUs while its connection and live stream stay resident, so the next action wakes it with nothing to restore.
How Much Does a Cloud Desktop Cost on Solari?
A typical Solari desktop, 1 vCPU and 2 GB of RAM plus the live screen, costs $0.060 per hour on the Professional plan.
Solari bills per second while an environment runs.
Solari's Professional plan costs $200 per month, with $200 of usage included.
Solari's Professional plan runs 10 sandboxes or desktops at the same time.
How Is a Solari Desktop Isolated?
Solari runs each session in a Cloud Hypervisor microVM with a dedicated kernel.
Solari treats the live-view stream URL as a credential, so keep it out of chats, tickets and logs.
Where Each Fits
Solari puts desktops, screen-free sandboxes and cloud browsers on one account, one API key and one bill.
E2B offers desktop sandboxes on Ubuntu 22.04 with an XFCE desktop and VNC streaming.
Daytona offers Computer Use for Linux and Windows inside its sandboxes.
E2B is the more established vendor with the larger ecosystem; Solari is the younger company and moves faster on lifecycle.
Key Facts
Solari desktops are ready in about a second (Solari docs, VMs).
Solari resumes a paused desktop on the same host in about 1.3 seconds, on staging, five trials (Solari docs, VMs).
A typical Solari desktop costs $0.060 per hour on the Professional plan (Solari pricing).
Solari supports up to 100,000 concurrent sandboxes or desktops on Enterprise (Solari pricing).
A Solari desktop runs 1 to 8 CPUs and up to 16 GB of memory (Solari docs, VMs).
Solari pauses an idle desktop after 30 minutes by default (Solari docs, VMs).
E2B desktop sandboxes run Ubuntu 22.04 with XFCE (E2B docs).
Daytona Computer Use runs on Linux and Windows (Daytona docs).
FAQ
What Is a Cloud Desktop for AI Agents?
A cloud desktop for AI agents is a full Linux computer with a graphical screen, started by API, that a computer-use model operates with mouse, keyboard and screenshots. Solari Computer Desktops provide one in about a second.
How Fast Does a Solari Desktop Start?
A Solari desktop is ready in about a second. After a pause has finished saving, Solari resumes it on the same host in about 1.3 seconds, measured on staging across five trials.
How Much Does a Solari Cloud Desktop Cost?
A typical Solari desktop with 1 vCPU, 2 GB of RAM and the live screen costs $0.060 per hour on the Professional plan, billed per second while it runs.
How Is a Cloud Desktop Different From a Cloud Browser?
A cloud browser runs one Chromium session for web pages. A cloud desktop runs a whole operating system, so the agent can use any installed app, a shell, files and the clipboard. Solari offers both from one API.
Can a Solari Desktop Keep Its State Between Runs?
Yes. Pausing a Solari desktop saves its state, and connecting to its id later resumes it exactly where the agent stopped, at the same CPU and memory size.