Phonebox vs Mobilerun: pay-per-second phones or a bundled agent platform.
Phonebox publishes this page. Mobilerun facts come from its pricing page and documentation, checked October 8, 2026.
Side by side
| Phonebox | Mobilerun | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Pay as you go, no plan | Free tier and $20–$299 monthly plans |
| Device price | $0.06/min, billed per second, 1-min minimum | Minutes included in plan; $0.03/min overage |
| Agent | Bring your own: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, any MCP client, your product | Its own hosted agent with credits per step, or your own |
| Interfaces | Hosted MCP, CLI, TypeScript SDK, REST, agent skill | Hosted MCP, REST, TypeScript and Python SDKs, open-source framework |
| Devices | Android | Android and iPhone |
| Telephony | None | eSIM and SMS numbers as add-ons |
| Idle phones | Park automatically after an idle timeout; parked is free and keeps apps and sign-ins | See Mobilerun's documentation |
| Start free | $2 credit, no card | Free tier with 60 device-minutes |
What it costs in practice
| Phone-minutes a month | Phonebox | Mobilerun Developer plan |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $6.00 | $20.00 |
| 300 | $18.00 | $20.00 |
| 600 | $36.00 | $20.00 |
| 1,000 | $60.00 | $32.00 with overage |
Light and bursty usage favours Phonebox; steady, high-volume usage favours a plan. Mobilerun's own agent also uses credits per step, which this table leaves out because you may bring your own agent on either platform.
Which to choose
- Choose Phonebox for a coding agent that tests your APK, an MCP client that needs Android, or a product that gives each customer a persistent phone and parks it between uses.
- Choose Mobilerun when you need iPhones, SMS numbers or eSIM, or want a hosted agent to run tasks for you.
See every option in the best cloud phones for AI agents.
Questions
What is the difference between Phonebox and Mobilerun?
Both host Android phones that AI agents control through MCP and an API. Phonebox is device-only and pay-as-you-go: $0.06 per phone-minute billed per second, no plan, free parked phones, and you bring your own agent. Mobilerun sells monthly plans that include device minutes and credits for its own hosted agent, plus add-ons such as iPhones, eSIM, SMS numbers and residential IPs.
Is Phonebox cheaper than Mobilerun?
For bursty or light use, usually yes: Phonebox has no plan, so 100 phone-minutes in a month cost $6. Mobilerun's Developer plan is $20 a month for 600 minutes, so at steady volume above about 333 minutes a month Mobilerun's device time is cheaper, before agent credits.
Does Phonebox support iPhone or SMS like Mobilerun?
No. Phonebox provides Android devices only and does not include phone numbers, SMS or eSIM. If you need those, Mobilerun offers them as add-ons.