Container Use vs Sculptor: Sandboxed Parallel Coding-Agent Environments Compared
A feature-by-feature comparison of Container Use and Sculptor, two open-source tools for running coding agents in parallel with isolated git worktrees.
Both Container Use and Sculptor solve the same core problem: letting AI coding agents work in isolation so several can run at once without stepping on each other. Container Use, from Dagger, gives each agent a sandboxed container on its own git branch. Sculptor, from Imbue, wraps parallel agents in a workspace UI where every agent gets its own worktree, terminal, and diff view.
They overlap heavily in intent but differ in shape — one leans on containers and a command-line git workflow, the other on a desktop workspace app with a plugin system. This comparison walks through how each is positioned, how they isolate work, how they integrate with agents, and what each one costs, drawing on the vendors' own documentation and repositories as observed on 2026-08-02.
At a glance
Both run coding agents in parallel using isolated git worktrees, and both are open source. Choose Container Use if you want a container-backed sandbox reviewed through ordinary git commands and terminal drop-in, with named integrations for Claude Code, Cursor, and VSCode. Choose Sculptor if you want a local desktop workspace that shows every agent's diff in one window, works with any model provider, and is extensible via JavaScript/TypeScript plugins — noting it is marked beta. Sculptor's page states it is free with no subscription beyond your model provider; Container Use's introduction page did not list a price as of 2026-08-02 (verify its LICENSE).
Head to head
Key differences side by side; the stronger option is tinted green.
| Feature | Container Use | Sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Sandboxed dev environments for coding agents (container-use.com, 2026-08-02) | Extensible, parallel coding workspace you own, marked beta (imbue.com, 2026-08-02) |
| Isolation model | Fresh container per agent on its own git branch, via Dagger + git worktrees | Isolated worktree per workspace with its own branch, terminal, and diff |
| Review workflow | Standard git: git checkout <branch> to review an agent's work | One window shows every active agent's diff; git fetch && git checkout from your repo |
| Primary interface | CLI + terminal drop-in for direct intervention | Desktop workspace app surfacing all agents in one view |
| Model/provider flexibility | Not covered on the pages we read (2026-08-02) | Works with any model or provider; switch models mid-session via Pi (imbue.com, 2026-08-02) |
| Extensibility / plugins | Not covered on the pages we read (2026-08-02) | Build plugins in JavaScript/TypeScript; swap harness with Pi Coding Agent (imbue.com, 2026-08-02) |
| Named agent integrations | Claude Code, Cursor, VSCode listed in Agent Integration docs (container-use.com, 2026-08-02) | Bring your own Claude plan or a supported open-source model (imbue.com, 2026-08-02) |
| GitHub stars (as of 2026-08-02) | 3.9k stars, 199 forks (dagger/container-use) | 212 stars, 13 forks (imbue-ai/sculptor) |
| Install methods | Homebrew, shell script, or build from source | Download from the product page; runs locally on your computer |
Feature matrix
| Feature | Container Use | Sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Git worktree isolationBoth isolate each agent on its own branch | ✓ | ✓ |
| Container-based sandboxContainer Use uses Dagger containers; Sculptor's page describes worktree/local isolation, not containers, as of 2026-08-02 | ✓ | ✗ |
| One-window multi-agent UISculptor surfaces all agents in one workspace; Container Use routes review through git/CLI | ✗ | ✓ |
| Plugin system (JS/TS)Not covered on the pages we read (2026-08-02) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Model/provider switchingNot covered on the pages we read (2026-08-02) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Open source on GitHubdagger/container-use and imbue-ai/sculptor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free with no subscriptionNot covered on the pages we read (2026-08-02) | △ | ✓ |
✓ full · △ partial/paid · ✗ not supported
Pricing
Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
- Distributed via GitHub (dagger/container-use)
- Install via Homebrew, shell script, or build from source
- Repository includes a LICENSE file — verify terms before commercial use
- Runs on your computer, not Imbue's servers
- Bring your own Claude plan or a supported open-source model
- Source available on GitHub (imbue-ai/sculptor)
- Marked beta on the product page
Pros & cons
- Container-per-agent sandbox via Dagger plus git worktrees for branch isolation
- Full command history and logs of what agents actually did
- Direct terminal drop-in to intervene when an agent gets stuck
- Review via standard git checkout, no special tooling
- Larger public GitHub following (3.9k stars as of 2026-08-02)
- Introduction page did not list pricing or license terms as of 2026-08-02 — check the repo's LICENSE
- Plugin system and model-switching not described on the pages we read
- Free, local, open source with no subscription beyond your model provider (as of 2026-08-02)
- Works with any model or provider; switch models mid-session via Pi
- Extensible with JavaScript/TypeScript plugins; swappable harness
- One window surfaces every active agent, terminal, and diff
- Runs locally so your code stays in your repo
- Marked beta on the product page as of 2026-08-02
- Smaller public GitHub following (212 stars as of 2026-08-02)
Container Use and Sculptor: the public release record on 2026-08-02
| Measured on 2026-08-02 | Container Use dagger/container-use | Sculptor imbue-ai/sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Latest release | v0.4.2, published 2025-08-19 | sculptor-v0.42.0, published 2026-07-10 |
| Commits, weekly average | 0.1 a week (1 commits in the 12 weeks to 2026-08-02) | 150.7 a week (1,808 commits in the 12 weeks to 2026-08-02) |
| Most recent commit | 2026-06-12 | 2026-08-01 |
As recorded on 2026-08-02 from each project's public source repository on GitHub, Container Use averaged 0.1 commits a week over the preceding 12 weeks, with its most recent commit dated 2026-06-12, while Sculptor averaged 150.7 commits a week over the same span, its latest commit dated 2026-08-01. Both figures are commit-activity counts pulled from the GitHub REST API — a measure of how often code was changed in each public repository, not a vendor's status page or a package registry's download tally. Taken at face value, they suggest that Sculptor was under active, near-daily development in mid-2026 whereas Container Use had gone largely quiet, a distinction worth weighing for anyone who values ongoing maintenance and responsiveness to new issues. What these numbers do not establish is which tool is more reliable, better supported, higher in product quality, or more widely used, since commit frequency speaks only to development pace and says nothing about outcomes or adoption.
Where these numbers come from: on 2026-08-02 (2026-08-02T00:00:18Z) we called the public endpoints listed below and recorded what they returned. Nothing here is taken from either vendor's marketing pages, and anyone can repeat the same calls. Repository figures describe the named repository — for a closed-source platform that is its official CLI or SDK, not the platform itself. What these figures do not tell you: Commit counts include merges, dependency bumps and documentation changes, and a monorepo will always show more commits than a single-purpose repository, so this measures how busy the named repository is — not progress, quality, or how much of it reaches the product. The commit date says the repository is being worked on, nothing about what changed. None of them measures reliability, support or how either product feels to use.
- Container Use — GitHub REST API · GitHub releases API · Dagger's own repository for the project
- Sculptor — GitHub REST API · GitHub releases API · Imbue's own repository for the project
What each tool is
Container Use describes itself as "sandboxed dev environments for coding agents," built to let agents "run safely in parallel without requiring babysitting" (Container Use documentation, container-use.com, as of 2026-08-02). Under the hood it leverages Dagger for containerized workflows and Git worktrees for branching. Each agent gets a fresh container in its own git branch, so you can run multiple agents without conflicts, experiment, and discard failures. The project also emphasizes visibility — a complete command history and logs of what agents actually did — and direct intervention, letting you drop into an agent's terminal and take control.
Sculptor is presented as an "extensible, parallel coding workspace you own" and is marked beta on Imbue's product page (imbue.com/product/sculptor, as of 2026-08-02). It is an open-source app for running coding agents in parallel that runs on your computer rather than Imbue's servers. Its pitch centers on three ideas: it is free and local, it is extensible (you can build plugins in JavaScript or TypeScript and swap the agent harness with Pi Coding Agent), and it works with any model or provider with no lock-in.
How they isolate parallel work
The two tools converge on git worktrees as the isolation primitive, but frame it differently.
Container Use pairs Dagger-based containers with git worktrees: "Each agent gets a fresh container in its own git branch," and review happens through a standard git workflow — "just git checkout <branch_name> to review any agent's work" (container-use.com, as of 2026-08-02). The emphasis is on a container-per-agent sandbox plus branch-based review from your normal terminal.
Sculptor centers the same idea in a UI. "Each workspace is an isolated worktree with its own branch, terminal, and diff view," and the product page states you can "run 5+ agents on 5+ tickets at the same time. Nothing bleeds between" (imbue.com/product/sculptor, as of 2026-08-02). Sculptor also keeps out of your editor: agents push to a local git remote and you "git fetch && git checkout from your normal repo." The difference in feel is that Sculptor surfaces every active agent in one window with visible diffs, while Container Use routes review through git commands and terminal drop-in.
Agent and model integration
Container Use documents an Agent Integration step for configuring it with a coding agent, naming Claude Code, Cursor, and VSCode as examples (container-use.com, as of 2026-08-02). Installation is available via Homebrew, a shell script, or building from source.
Sculptor states it "works with any model, any provider" with "no model lock-in," and lets you "enable Pi and choose any provider or switch models mid-session" (imbue.com/product/sculptor, as of 2026-08-02). It also describes bringing your own Claude plan or a supported open-source model. On extensibility, Sculptor's page says you can build plugins in JavaScript or TypeScript and "swap the agent harness entirely with Pi Coding Agent," and that skills "run as full agents with their own tools," able to read your codebase and spawn parallel subagents.
Container Use's introduction page did not list a plugin system or model-provider switching as of 2026-08-02; if that matters to your decision, confirm it against the project's own documentation, since the introduction is only one page of a larger docs set.
Project maturity and community
As of 2026-08-02, the Container Use repository (dagger/container-use on GitHub) showed 3.9k stars and 199 forks, with 324 commits and open issues and pull requests visible on the repo. Sculptor's product page reported 212 GitHub stars and 8 contributors, and the imbue-ai/sculptor repository showed 212 stars and 13 forks (GitHub, as of 2026-08-02). By these public counts, Container Use has the larger star and fork base, while Sculptor is explicitly labeled beta on its product page.
Both projects are open source and hosted on GitHub, with Container Use offering Discord, GitHub, and a YouTube playlist for community support, and Sculptor pointing users to review its source and contribute on GitHub.
Which to choose
Pick based on the surface you want to work from. If you prefer a command-line, container-backed sandbox where you review agent output through ordinary git commands and drop into terminals when needed, Container Use fits that workflow and its Agent Integration docs name Claude Code, Cursor, and VSCode. If you want a desktop workspace that shows every active agent, diff, and terminal in one window and lets you extend it with JavaScript/TypeScript plugins or swap the harness, Sculptor is built around that model — with the caveat that it is still in beta.
On cost, Sculptor's page states it is free, local, and open source with no subscription required beyond your model provider (imbue.com/product/sculptor, as of 2026-08-02). Container Use is distributed as an open-source project on GitHub; its introduction page did not list a price or subscription as of 2026-08-02, so verify licensing terms in the repository's LICENSE file before adopting it commercially.
Container Use and Sculptor answer the same question — how do you let several coding agents work at once without collisions — and both settle on git worktrees plus branch-based review. The practical split is interface and philosophy. Container Use is container-first and CLI-first: Dagger gives each agent a sandboxed container, you review with git checkout, and you drop into a terminal to intervene. Its public following is larger, with 3.9k GitHub stars as of 2026-08-02.
Sculptor is workspace-first: a local, open-source app that puts every active agent, terminal, and diff in one window, works with any model provider, and invites extension through JavaScript/TypeScript plugins. Its product page states it is free with no subscription beyond your model provider (imbue.com/product/sculptor, as of 2026-08-02), which makes cost easy to reason about — with the reminder that it is still beta.
If your team already lives in the terminal and wants container-grade sandboxing, start with Container Use. If you want a visual command center for many agents and value the ability to swap models and extend the tool, try Sculptor. Because both are open source and free to install, the lowest-risk move is to run each against a couple of real tickets and see which review loop fits how you already work.
FAQ
Are Container Use and Sculptor free?
Sculptor's product page states it is free, local, and open source, with no subscription required beyond your model provider (as of 2026-08-02). Container Use is distributed as an open-source project on GitHub; its introduction page did not list a price as of 2026-08-02, so check the repository's LICENSE file for exact terms.
Do both tools use git worktrees?
Yes. Container Use pairs Dagger containers with git worktrees, giving each agent a fresh container on its own branch. Sculptor makes each workspace an isolated worktree with its own branch, terminal, and diff view (both as of 2026-08-02).
Which coding agents do they work with?
Container Use's documentation names Claude Code, Cursor, and VSCode as examples in its Agent Integration step. Sculptor says it works with any model or provider, lets you switch models mid-session via Pi, and supports bringing your own Claude plan or a supported open-source model (both as of 2026-08-02).
Which is more established?
By public GitHub counts on 2026-08-02, Container Use showed 3.9k stars and 199 forks, while Sculptor showed 212 stars and is labeled beta on its product page. Star counts reflect visibility, not a quality ranking — evaluate both against your own workflow.