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Shellbox

Instant Linux Boxes via SSH

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I built a service that gives you instant Linux boxes using only SSH. No accounts, no CLI tools, no browser – just: ssh shellbox.dev Your SSH key is your identity. First connection creates your account.Commands work over SSH: ssh shellbox.dev create mybox ssh -t shellbox.dev connect mybox ssh shellbox.dev listEach box gets a public HTTPS URL for serving apps or webhooks.Pricing: $0.05/hr running, $0.005/hr paused. Boxes auto-pause on disconnect and resume where you left off.Even billing stays in the terminal – run `ssh shellbox.dev funds 10` and you get a QR code right in your shell. Scan it, pay via Paddle, done. No account dashboards.Specs: 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 50GB SSD per box.I wanted something I could spin up from any machine with just a terminal. No installs, no OAuth flows, no "please verify your email." Works great for quick experiments, running Claude Code in isolation, or giving demos a public URL.Would love feedback. What's missing?

HN · launched Jan 12, 2026 · 5 upvotes (top 90%) · 0 views

Niche: code execution sandboxes · 37 launches, 1 in the last 7 days · Explore this niche →

Category and tags
  • Horizontal
  • Dev tools
  • Developer
  • Not AI
  • Commercial product

Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗

More like this: all 37 launches in code execution sandboxes →

Could you build this?

Partial A custom SSH entrypoint server is straightforward to prototype, but securely provisioning, isolating, networking, and orchestrating multi-tenant ephemeral Linux containers/VMs safely requires strong systems infrastructure skills.

What it would actually take: The architecture relies on a custom SSH server (in Go using crypto/ssh or Rust using russh) that authenticates users via public keys and dynamically spins up Firecracker microVMs or isolated containerd namespaces. A control plane orchestrates storage volumes, CPU/memory limits, IP allocation via CNI, and strict multi-tenant network sandboxing. Deep knowledge of Linux cgroups, eBPF/iptables, and virtualization is necessary to prevent host escapes and abuse.

Discussion

No comments on this launch.

Competitors

Other products that read as similar to this one : 270 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.

Attention rank: #263 of 271 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).

Launched 74 days after the earliest competitor.

  • BranchShell · ph · 2026-10-31 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.48
  • Skipbox · ph · 2026-11-11 · 72 upvotes · similarity 0.48
  • natbox.io · ph · 2026-10-31 · 3 upvotes · similarity 0.47
  • ShellDash · hn · 2025-11-12 · 6 upvotes · similarity 0.47
  • GateShell - SSH Client & Server · ph · 2026-09-16 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.47
  • Confible · ph · 2026-10-30 · 4 upvotes · similarity 0.47
  • Easy SSH · ph · 2026-10-16 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.47
  • SSHL · ph · 2026-11-13 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.46

Related data

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