> Documentation index: https://rift.sh/llms.txt

# Rift vs Daytona

Daytona runs long-lived sandboxes for agents. Rift syncs a folder between any machines, in a sandbox or out of one.

### What Daytona is

Daytona runs sandboxes for agents as containers or virtual machines, including Windows and GPU machines. A container sandbox can be stopped and archived. A Linux or Windows virtual machine sandbox can be stopped, paused or forked. One volume can be mounted into many sandboxes at once.

### How they differ

Daytona runs code and attaches storage to it. API access is by organization, and any API key valid for an organization can reach its running sandboxes. Rift keeps a folder in sync across every machine it runs on and grants one folder at a time.

- Identity
  - Daytona: The agent has none. It uses an organization API key.
  - Rift: A key that each machine and agent makes for itself. No account.

- Smallest share
  - Daytona: The organization for API access. One sandbox can be opened to someone else with an SSH token that expires, or a preview link. A volume can be mounted by subpath, chosen by whoever creates the sandbox.
  - Rift: A folder, a subfolder or one file, as read or write.

- Who checks access
  - Daytona: Daytona.
  - Rift: Each machine that receives a file checks the grant itself.

- Who can read your files
  - Daytona: Not established. Daytona's trust center lists encryption at rest. The pages we read do not say who holds the keys.
  - Rift: Only the machines you shared with. Rift Cloud holds ciphertext.

- When your machines are off
  - Daytona: A stopped sandbox has to be started before its files can be read.
  - Rift: Files stored in Rift Cloud stay available.

- When a run ends
  - Daytona: Stopping keeps the filesystem, and volumes outlive the sandbox.
  - Rift: Files the run wrote to a Rift folder are already on your other machines.

### Which to choose

Choose Daytona when

- You need sandboxes that live for days and keep their state.
- You need Windows or GPU machines.
- You want to fork a running virtual machine.

Choose Rift when

- Output should be on your own machines after the sandbox is gone.
- The same files should be in the sandbox and on your laptop.
- A person or agent outside your organization should receive one folder and nothing else.

### Using them together

Daytona runs the code and Rift keeps the files. Rift runs on Linux, which is what a Daytona Linux sandbox runs.

[Use Rift with Daytona](https://rift.sh/docs/use-with/daytona.md)

Based on Daytona's documentation, read in October 2026. Sources: [sandboxes](https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/sandboxes.md) , [API keys](https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/api-keys) , [SSH access](https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/ssh-access) , [network limits](https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/network-limits) , [trust center](https://trust.daytona.io/) , [volumes](https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/volumes).