Ready out of the box
Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Hermes preinstalled and signed in; type claude.
Machines · coding agents
QuickSilver Machines vs AWS
Agents ready out of the box. One unified bill. Zero friction.
Compare a ready-to-use agent workspace with standard Linux Lightsail and EC2 instances.
One unified bill
Box + models share one balance, versus separate cloud + Anthropic/OpenAI bills.
Zero friction
No API keys or config; Running in ~30 s in our latest test.
At a glance
| Topic | QuickSilver Machines | Lightsail Linux | EC2 Linux t3.medium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agents + models connected | Preinstalled, signed in | Install and authenticate | Install and authenticate |
| Comparable size | 2 vCPU / 4 GB | 2 vCPU / 4 GB | 2 vCPU / 4 GiB |
| Price per running hour | $0.02 | $0.03225; $24 monthly cap | $0.0416 + storage/IP |
| When stopped/paused | Free within retention | Bills until deleted | Storage/IP can bill |
| Free trial / card | $0.05 credit; no card | AWS eligibility varies | Usually card-free; verification exceptions |
| Browser desktop | Included | SSH; desktop needs setup | SSH; desktop needs setup |
Setup to first agent task
QuickSilver
- Create a machine.
- Open the browser terminal; load your project.
- Type
claudeand submit a task.
AWS
- Create an AWS account; verify if required.
- Choose image, region and instance size.
- Configure storage, network and access.
- Connect through browser SSH when supported.
- Install your agent; authenticate with its provider.
- Load your project and submit a task.
Cost example: 2 h/day × 22 days
| Retained workspace | Infrastructure total |
|---|---|
| QuickSilver, paused between sessions | $0.88 |
| Lightsail, retained all month | $23.22 |
| EC2, stopped between sessions | $2.05 + EBS |
30-day month, no credits; EC2 includes running-only IPv4, excludes surplus CPU credits; all totals exclude AI, tax and extras.
When AWS is the better choice
- You need AWS permissions and service integrations.
- You need more instance sizes or infrastructure control.
- Your workload exceeds QuickSilver’s beta session limits.
FAQ
Is AWS always more expensive?
No: eligible credits can cover usage, and existing AWS infrastructure may make it a better fit. The example uses paid list rates.
Is a stopped AWS instance free?
EC2 compute stops billing, but retained storage and public addresses can still cost money. Standard Lightsail bills until deletion.
Must I use API keys on AWS?
Supported account sign-in can avoid API keys, and prepared images can preinstall agents. A plain VM still needs agent installation and authentication.
Can I try QuickSilver without a card?
Yes: the $0.05 signup credit starts a trial without a card or $1 balance, and covers machine time plus AI usage. After trial, starting requires $1 available; card top-ups start at $5.
Sources & methodology
Comparison scope: standard Linux Lightsail and On-Demand EC2 in US East (N. Virginia), without commitments or promotional credits. Lightsail’s selected bundle includes 80 GB SSD and IPv4; EC2 storage is additional. W1, W3, W4
Cost basis: 44 × $0.02 = $0.88 for QuickSilver; 720 × $0.03225 = $23.22 for retained Lightsail (below its $24 cap); 44 × ($0.0416 compute + $0.005 IPv4) = $2.0504 for EC2, plus EBS. EC2 assumes an automatically assigned IPv4 released on stop; retained addresses and T3 surplus CPU credits can add costs. Q1, W1, W2, W3, W4, W6, W7
Browser access and setup: Lightsail browser SSH and EC2 Instance Connect are terminals; graphical Linux desktops require additional configuration, and Instance Connect has prerequisites. EC2 idle-stop alarms require configuration. W8, W9, W10
Eligible new AWS customers receive $100 immediately and can earn up to $100 more; the Free plan lasts up to six months or credit exhaustion with a limited service catalog. Most can start without a card, with verification exceptions; do not assume every configuration qualifies. W5, W11, W12
Shared setup and billing
QuickSilver supplies Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Hermes signed in to QuickSilver Pro models; one balance covers machine time and separately metered AI. On plain vendor environments, arrange agent installation, provider authentication and separate cloud and Anthropic/OpenAI billing; prepared images/scripts/dev containers can automate this. Native installers can avoid Node, and supported sign-in can avoid API keys. Q1, Q2, A1, A2, A3, A4
The latest measured trial reached Running about 32 seconds after Create, not necessarily completion of an agent task. This is one observation, not a guarantee or competitor benchmark; an earlier rollout observation took about 14 minutes. No competitor setup time was measured. Q2
New accounts can start on $0.05 signup credit, without a card or $1 balance: about 2.5 running hours only if none is spent on AI. After trial, $1.00 available balance is required to start; card top-ups have a $5 minimum. Q1, Q2
QuickSilver limits and retention
QuickSilver Machines is a beta with no backup or durability guarantee. It has one size: 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM and a 20 GB home disk. Each session stops after 8 continuous hours; the account cap is 200 running hours/month. Trial accounts get 1 machine; paid accounts can have 2 running together. Trial machines are deleted 24 hours after last use, paid machines after 30 days. Paid owners receive deletion warnings 7 days and 1 day beforehand. Deletion is permanent; operational recovery copies are purged within 7 days and are unavailable for requested restoration. Idle auto-pause is documented, but no timeout duration is published. Machines, FAQ and terms
Pause checkpoints last up to 24 hours; checkpoint failure can restart applications, while home files remain. The newest 3 named disk snapshots are retained. Keep important work elsewhere. Setup report
Research and price audit
All external sources linked on this page were fetched on 2026-11-04. Prices are USD list rates; examples exclude tax, AI inference/subscriptions, optional backups, paid software and transfer overages. Computed totals are editorial arithmetic, not vendor quotes. Similar CPU/RAM labels do not establish equal performance.
QuickSilver product details: Machines, FAQ and terms, cloud dev-box report and model/service reference. Setup timing and trial entry terms reflect the 2026-11-04 measurement and current trial path described above.
AWS price-data audit: W4 was fetched directly from the official AWS pricing JSON feed; matching rate code NN4EGUUQRWVYP98C.JRTCKXETXF.6YS6EN2CT7 identifies Linux t3.medium, US East (N. Virginia). W2 was fetched directly from AWS's regional public offer JSON; SKU 5EPB2V8S2JCDVZF9, USE1-BundleUsage:4GB, lists $0.03225/hour including IPv4. Marketing pages do not always render hourly prices in fetched HTML, so the official data feeds establish these rates. All arithmetic above uses those fetched rates.
Source index: W1; W2; W3; W4; W5; W6; W7; W8; W9; W10; W11; W12; Q1; Q2; Q3; Q4; A1; A2; A3; A4.