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box by Simular vs Cua Spaces

box by Simular and Cua Spaces side by side: a hosted cloud computer for your agents, or shared desktops on machines you supply.

Cua Spaces lets you and your agents share desktops on computers you supply: your own Mac, PC or cloud account. box by Simular is a hosted cloud computer, so there is no machine to run or pay for separately.

The short answer: choose box by Simular if you want a computer for your agents without running one yourself; choose Cua Spaces if you want agents on your own machines, including a Mac.

box by Simular vs Cua Spaces, side by side

Capability	box by Simular	Cua Spaces
Full-stack computer	Hosted Ubuntu desktop with Chrome, files and terminal; 4 vCPU / 8 GB on the Small and Medium tiers, 2 vCPU / 4 GB on the Free tier; 20 GB disk	Cua doesn’t host compute; Spaces run on machines or cloud accounts you supply
Works with the agent you already use	One hosted MCP link for Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini; one install command for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Hermes, OpenClaw and VS Code; DeepSeek Harness and any other MCP client too	Local MCP and skills for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Hermes and others
One computer, many agents	Every agent you connect shares one box and picks up the others’ work, with the same files and logins	Shared Spaces with a cursor per agent
Keeps your setup and logins	Keeps programs, files and logins between sessions; on the Free and Small tiers the box sleeps when idle and wakes when your agent connects; on the Medium tier it never sleeps. On the Free tier, a box asleep 14 days in a row is deleted	Kept on your own machines
Built for computer use	Full-stack control, screenshots last; GUI plans and scripts for multi-step desktop work	Open-source driver with accessibility tree, step checks and replay
Speed and cost of computer use	Most direct route first, screenshots last, several steps in one call; saved tasks replay without model calls	Cua Driver records tool calls and replays them
Watch and take over	Live view, take control, time-limited share link (view-only, or let their AI use the box too)	Live desktop stream; step in and hand back
Price	Free tier: a 2 vCPU / 4 GB box with 5,000 credits once (about 50 box-hours, valid 90 days). Small tier, $19/month: a 4 vCPU / 8 GB box that sleeps when idle, with 5,000 credits a month. Medium tier, $39/month: a 4 vCPU / 8 GB box that never sleeps, with 10,000 credits a month. Annual billing: 2 months free	Free; Pro $18/month; Teams $30 per seat/month; you pay for your own compute

Competitor facts are from each company’s public site and docs, checked 12 November 2026. box by Simular facts are from its docs and plans as of November 2026.

Why your agents need a computer

Offload

Offload long tasks

Hand a long task to the box: your agent works on the box’s desktop while your own computer stays free.

Hand off

Agents that work together

Claude starts the job and ChatGPT picks it up. Files, logins and apps stay put when you switch.

Signed in

Logins already inside the box

Sites you’ve signed in to stay signed in on the box, ready for any agent you bring in. Logins stay in Chrome on the box.

Full stack

Control of the whole computer

Desktop apps, browsers, files, terminal and downloads, not just a browser tab.

Use cases

From your terminal

Any coding agent can use a computer now

Who: Users of DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and other coding agents
The ask: “Open my staging site in Chrome, sign up as a new user and tell me what breaks.”
What box does: With the box plugin added, DeepSeek Harness opens Chrome on the box, signs up with a test email and screenshots each failed step. DeepSeek Harness’s own computer use is experimental and runs on your machine; box gives it a separate cloud desktop.
The result: A list of broken steps with screenshots, from a real browser.

Running several agents

Multiple agents, one shared cloud desktop

Who: People running several agents a day across Claude, ChatGPT and more
The ask: “ChatGPT, put this week’s competitor prices into the sheet I left open. Claude, write the summary from that sheet.”
What box does: Both agents connect to the same box. The sheet, files and logins stay there, so each picks up the other’s work.
The result: One sheet and one summary, with no copy and paste between apps.

From your chat

Switch AI, keep your logins

Who: Claude or ChatGPT subscribers who mostly chat
The ask: “ChatGPT, use my box: check last month’s orders on the shopping sites I signed in with Claude, and tell me which haven’t shipped.”
What box does: ChatGPT opens Chrome on the box, where you signed in once while using Claude. Same browser, same logins, so nothing needs setting up again. You take control if a site asks for a code.
The result: A list of late orders back in your chat, with no new sign-ins after switching AI.

What box by Simular gives you

Built on computer-use research. box takes the most direct route first, uses screenshots only as a last resort, runs several steps in one call and replays saved tasks without model calls. Faster, cheaper, reliable computer use. Read the research.
Watch or take over. Live view at any time. Step in to sign in. box’s own agent never enters payment details; it hands that step to you, and agents you connect are told to do the same.
One box for every agent. All your agents share the same box and pick up each other’s work. Your own AI keeps using its own plan. Credits pay for the Free box’s time, extra boxes, residential IP and box’s own model calls: 5,000 once on the Free tier (valid 90 days), and 5,000 or 10,000 a month on Small and Medium tiers.