What exe.dev does

exe.dev is a cloud infrastructure company that provides persistent Linux virtual machines with SSH access, automatic HTTPS/TLS, and private-by-default networking, targeting software developers and AI agent builders. The platform exposes its entire API through SSH (the 'ssh exe.dev' command), allowing users to create, manage, and share root-accessible VMs without a web UI. The product portfolio includes three core offerings: VPS (persistent VMs with HTTPS and SSH for general hosting), Sandbox (disposable VMs for AI agents billed by the second), and Devbox (cloud development environments with IDE integration and a GitHub App). Shelley, exe.dev's open-source multi-modal coding agent, ships in the default VM image and is accessible via a native iOS app released in June 2026.

Underlying the platform is custom infrastructure rather than a hyperscaler wrapper: exe.dev runs its own machines in data centers, has written its own global load balancer and DNS, and uses a novel SSH IP-sharing scheme that assigns each VM a unique address relative to its owner across a pool of public IPv4 addresses. An in-VM HTTP proxy injects secrets for third-party APIs (Stripe, OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub OAuth) at the proxy layer so credentials never touch the VM or agent context window, and users mint their own SSH key-signed bearer tokens for programmatic access.

The business model combines a $20/month flat-rate Personal subscription (unlimited VMs within a pooled CPU/RAM/disk budget) and a $25/user/month Team tier with SSO, a $35.84/hr Reserved Cloud Pool tier for large deployments, and per-second usage-based pricing for spiky agent workloads. Go-to-market is entirely product-led and self-serve, with distribution through a technical blog, Discord, X, Bluesky, and the SSH command itself, supplemented by a $10K credit Startup Program. The company was founded in late 2025 in the Bay Area by ex-Tailscale, Google, Airtable, Cloudera, and card.io operators, and closed a $35M Series A in April 2026 led by Amplify, CRV, and HeavyBit.

Name

exe.dev

Website

https://exe.dev

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

exe.dev is a self-serve cloud platform providing persistent Linux VMs with SSH access, automatic TLS, and built-in AI coding agent Shelley for software developers and AI agent builders, sold via flat-rate subscriptions and per-second usage-based pricing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Infrastructure for Developers

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Rental & Leasing (7377)

akta.pro primary industry

Hybrid Cloud Compute & Virtualization Stack (HCI/VMs/Kubernetes) (HDABAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Cloud Networking & SDN/NFV Management (HDABABAK), DevSecOps & Supply Chain Security (DevOps toolchain security) (BPAEAKAI)

Keywords

• Cloud virtual machines
• Developer cloud platform
• AI coding agents
• Persistent Linux VMs
• SSH cloud infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Bay Area

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Subscription - Pool Pricing: Monthly flat-rate subscription providing a pool of CPU, RAM, and disk shared across unlimited VMs. Users get a fixed bundle that they can allocate across as many VMs as they want. Stopped VMs release CPU/memory but keep disk.
2. Usage-Based Pricing: Per-second billing for CPU (core-hours), active memory (GiB-hours), and disk (GiB-month). Idle VMs drop to disk-only pricing. Designed for spiky agent workloads and per-tenant isolation.
3. LLM/AI Credits: Shelley Tokens for AI agent usage, tracking underlying model provider rates without markup. Monthly allocation included in plans, with ability to purchase additional credits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

exe.dev provides persistent Linux virtual machines accessible via SSH, with automatic HTTPS/TLS termination, edge authentication, and per-second or pool-based billing. Users buy a shared pool of CPU, RAM, and disk and can spin up unlimited persistent VMs as root with apt and systemd. The platform ships with Shelley, an open-source AI coding agent in the default image, and offers copy-on-write VM cloning, HTTP proxy-based secrets management, and global deployment across 8 regions for developers building software and AI agent workflows.

Product overview

exe.dev is a cloud infrastructure platform built for developers and AI agents, offering persistent Linux VMs with SSH access, automatic TLS, and private-by-default networking. The product portfolio consists of three core offerings: VPS (persistent VMs with HTTPS and SSH for general hosting), Sandbox (disposable VMs for AI agents billed by the second), and Devbox (cloud development environment optimized for software development with IDE integration and GitHub App). Shelley, exe.dev's open-source coding agent, is available in the default VM image and can also be accessed via a native iOS app. The platform provides HTTP proxy-based integrations for secrets management with services like GitHub (OAuth), Stripe, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Pricing follows either pooled models ($20/month for 50 VMs) or usage-based per-second billing for AI agent workloads.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Shelley: exe.dev's open-source, mobile-friendly, web-based, multi-modal, multi-model, single-user coding agent.

Products and services

• VPS (Virtual Private Server) Persistent Linux virtual machine with hostname, valid TLS certificate, key-only SSH, and private HTTPS front door; handles TLS termination at the edge and provides auth proxy access control with custom domain support and KVM-isolated kernels and disks.
• Sandbox Disposable VMs designed for AI agents, billed by the second (usage pricing) or via pooled capacity (pool pricing); features KVM isolation, persistent disks, public HTTPS hostnames, scoped SSH-key-signed API tokens, and integrations that inject API keys into outbound HTTP calls without exposing them to agents.
• Devbox Cloud development environment providing persistent Linux VMs optimized for software development, with SSH access, IDE integration (VS Code, Cursor, Zed, JetBrains), GitHub App integration for git operations, copy-on-write VM cloning via the cp command, and HTTP-proxy-based secrets management.
• Shelley Open-source, mobile-friendly, web-based, multi-modal, multi-model, single-user coding agent that operates the shell and assists with software development; runs on user VMs with persistent SQLite state storage, supports subagents with shared conversation database, and orchestrates complex multi-step tasks using Claude Code and Codex models by default.
• exe.dev iOS App Native iOS application providing mobile access to exe.dev VMs and Shelley agents, with notifications for agentic conversations, iOS share sheet integration for screenshots, voice mode, a built-in SSH client, and centralized Shelley multiplexing across multiple VMs.
• Startup Program Credit program offering $10,000 in exe.dev credits valid for 12 months for pre-Series-B startups under 5 years old; provides unlimited isolated VMs, per-VM hostnames with real certificates, built-in edge auth, and a direct line to the exe.dev team.
• exeuntu Default VM image for exe.dev tracking upstream Ubuntu with security updates, including pre-installed coding agents (Shelley, Claude Code, Codex); publicly available as open source at github.com/boldsoftware/exeuntu.

Quantifiable outcome

• VMs start in under a second
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

AI capability10 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Coder: Remote development environment platform that provisions cloud-based dev workspaces. Comparable to exe.dev's Devbox product for the cloud development environment use case, though Coder is more enterprise/Self-hosted focused.
• Fly.io: Developer-focused cloud platform offering VMs and containers with simple deployment workflows and a strong developer-experience brand. Directly comparable to exe.dev's VPS and Devbox products in target market and value proposition.
• E2B: Cloud platform providing secure sandboxed VMs specifically for AI agents and code execution. Most direct competitor to exe.dev's Sandbox product — both target AI agent developers needing isolated execution environments.
• Render: Cloud platform for developers offering VMs, web services, databases, and cron jobs with a streamlined developer experience. Directly comparable on the 'cloud that just works for developers' positioning.
• Railway: Developer cloud platform focused on simple app deployment with usage-based pricing and minimal configuration. Comparable on developer ergonomics and pricing philosophy aimed at small teams.
• Hetzner: Low-cost dedicated server and cloud VM provider popular with developers for predictable, affordable compute. Comparable on the raw-VM-plus-SSH wedge and aggressive pricing posture.

Broad incumbents

• DigitalOcean: Long-standing developer-friendly cloud provider offering Droplets (VMs), App Platform, and managed Kubernetes. Comparable customer base (indie developers, small teams) but broader portfolio than exe.dev.
• Amazon Web Services (EC2 / Lightsail): Dominant cloud infrastructure provider offering EC2 for VM compute and Lightsail for simplified developer VMs. Comparable because exe.dev is fundamentally selling developer VMs, but AWS is far broader and serves enterprises at massive scale.

Emerging players

• Modal: Serverless compute platform optimized for AI/ML and data workloads, with developer-friendly Python SDK. Comparable as an emerging infrastructure player targeting AI/agent workloads, though focused on functions rather than full VMs.
• Vast.ai: Marketplace for renting GPU and CPU compute aimed at AI/ML workloads. Comparable on the agent/AI workload wedge where exe.dev positions itself, though vast.ai focuses more on GPU than general VMs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ssh_exe_dev
• GitHubgithub.com/boldsoftware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ssh-exe-dev

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about exe.dev