Benchmarks
Our servers aren't the fastest cloud, and we don't claim to be: we're aiming for value. These are the numbers we measured, so you can judge for yourself.
Measured 2026-11-13 on 639 Shell (shell.639cloud.com), size s1 (Ubuntu), over MCP from outside
our data center, so every figure includes the network round trip to it. One machine at a time;
10 runs each (20 for commands).
| What | Median | 95th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Create a machine: the call returns | 0.85 s | 1.77 s |
| Create a machine: its first command has run | 1.52 s | 2.47 s |
| Fork a running machine: the call returns | 3.43 s | 3.80 s |
| Fork a running machine: its first command has run | 4.12 s | 4.42 s |
| Wake a sleeping machine: its first command has run | 1.25 s | 1.27 s |
| Run a command on an awake machine (round trip) | 0.08 s | 0.11 s |
What each step means:
- Create:
create_machine, thenexecwithtrueuntil it succeeds. - Fork:
fork_machineof a runnings1, then the same first command on the copy. - Wake:
sleep, thenexec, which wakes it. - Round trip:
execwithtrueon a machine that's already awake.
Your numbers will differ with where you are, the machine's size and image, and how busy the server is. We'll measure again as 639 Shell changes, and this page will say when.
This page as Markdown: /docs/benchmarks.md