cd /news/ai-agents/show-hn-the-mainbrella-effect-ai-cod… · home › topics › ai-agents › article
[ARTICLE · art-145699] src=news.ycombinator.com ↗ pub= topic=ai-agents verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Show HN: The mainbrella effect – AI code / Agent machines

Andrew Arrow, founder of mainbrella co., released an open-source GPL 3.0 sandbox service for AI code and agent machines, inspired by Cloudflare's recently launched container sandbox service and positioned against e2b.dev and daytona.io. Mainbrella reports a fresh sandbox reaching a usable shell in 381 ms across 30 of 30 attempts, and 100 simultaneous sandbox starts averaging 680 ms with 100 of 100 successful and 100 distinct machines running at once. The service has no free plan, with a base builder plan at $5 per month, and users can run the code in their own Cloudflare account.

by read1 min views2 publishedOct 5, 2026

Hi, my name is Andrew and I'm the founder of mainbrella co. Just a few days ago Cloudflare launched their container sandbox service. That inspired me to see what I could build in terms of a better e2b.dev or daytona.io type system. It is all open source GPL 3.0 and we offer the same services as the other players. We have no free plan (our base builder plan is $5 a month) but you are welcome to run the code in your own Cloudflare account.

The numbers are pretty good in terms of startup speed. First test we ran was: Create a fresh sandbox, get a usable shell 381 ms, 30 out of 30 tries worked the same speed. Then 100 simultaneous sandbox starts 680 ms avg 100 / 100 successful 100 distinct machines running at once!

[https://github.com/mainbrella/backend](https://github.com/mainbrella/backend)

[https://github.com/mainbrella/web](https://github.com/mainbrella/web)

Looking for feedback, feature requests and yes our first paying customers who we will cherish!

Thank you HN! -Andrew Arrow

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49971503](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49971503)

Points: 1

── more in #ai-agents 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @mainbrella co. 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
→ Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host ✓
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/show-hn-the-mainbrel…] indexed:0 read:1min 2026-10-05 · —