Spinup vs Factory
Factory's Droid Computers give Factory's own agents persistent machines they keep between tasks. Spinup gives any agent a persistent environment, with files and tools that survive between runs, a swappable AI tool (Spinup calls these harnesses), and org-level controls. Both products reject ephemeral sandboxes. Where they differ: Droid Computers are built for Droids only. Spinup works with any AI tool.
Common Ground
A shared bet on persistence
Both products are reacting to the same market failure: ephemeral sandboxes are not enough for serious agent work.
Persistence as a design principle
Factory argues that persistence is the new paradigm for cloud agents. Spinup is built on the same premise. Both treat state, filesystem continuity, and environment longevity as first-class properties, not afterthoughts.
Asynchronous, long-running workflows
Both support asynchronous, background agent workflows where agents run while users are offline and return to the same context they left. Neither is optimized for one-shot request-response execution.
Key Differences
Open runtime vs closed ecosystem
The fork is not about persistence. It is about whether the runtime is tied to one agent system or works across all of them.
Ecosystem openness
Droid Computers are built for Factory's Droids. The environment model, skill accumulation, and orchestration layer are designed around that specific agent product. Spinup works with any AI tool: the same runtime manages Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex CLI, Hermes, and others (Spinup calls these harnesses). The agent owns its identity and configuration regardless of which AI tool runs.
Portable skills and secrets
Spinup binds skills and secrets to the agent, not to the AI tool or machine. Swap the AI tool and the agent's configuration travels with it. Factory's Droids accumulate skills and session context within the Factory ecosystem. That knowledge does not transfer if you move to a different AI tool.
Machine model
Factory's BYOM option lets users register their own machines as Droid Computers at no cost. Spinup takes a cloud-native path: agents run in isolated environments managed by the runtime, always consistent and always separated from other tenants.
Organization controls
Spinup provides organization-level controls: membership, audit logging, and secrets managed across a team's agent fleet. Factory's Droid Computers support remote orchestration across machines but the governance model is scoped to the Droid ecosystem.
Side-by-Side
Spinup vs Factory at a glance
| Spinup | Factory / Droid Computers | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary abstraction | The agent: a persistent environment with skills, secrets, and a swappable AI tool | The Droid Computer: a persistent machine for orchestrating Droids |
| Harness support | Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex CLI, Hermes, and others (swappable) | Factory's Droids specifically |
| Persistence model | Agent-scoped state, intact across harness changes and environment rebuilds | Filesystem, configuration, credentials, and process memory across sessions |
| Machine ownership | Cloud-native isolated environments per agent, managed by the runtime | Factory-managed cloud computers or BYOM (register your own machine) |
| BYOM | Not currently offered | Free for all users |
| Skills and learning | Skills bound to the agent and portable across harnesses | Droids accumulate skills from sessions within the Factory ecosystem |
| Organization controls | Membership, audit logging, org-scoped secrets management | Remote orchestration across machines within the Droid ecosystem |
| Best fit | Teams running agents across harnesses who want portable runtime controls | Teams using Factory's Droids who want managed persistent machines |
The Ecosystem Question
Vertically integrated vs open runtime
Factory is right about persistence. Their "persistence is the new paradigm" framing names a real shift in how production agents need to be operated, and Droid Computers are a serious product built on that conviction. If your team uses Droids and wants an environment model designed for them, Factory has built exactly that.
The tradeoff is vertical integration. Droid Computers, Droids, session skills, and remote orchestration are all part of a single coherent system. That coherence is a strength: things fit together cleanly. It is also a constraint. The skills Droids accumulate, the orchestration model, and the machine semantics are built around Factory's specific agent product. Teams using Claude Code, OpenClaw, or Codex CLI are outside the intended scope.
Spinup answers the same persistence conviction with a different architecture. The runtime works with any AI tool: the canonical agent object carries its skills, secrets, and configuration when you swap the AI tool. A team evaluating Claude Code today and OpenClaw next quarter does not rebuild the agent's setup for each one. The runtime holds the continuity.
Both approaches take persistence seriously. The choice is whether you want a vertically integrated system optimized for one agent product, or an open runtime that works across all of them.
When to Choose
Closed ecosystem or open runtime
Neither product is universally better. The right choice depends on which harnesses your team uses and how much portability you need.
Choose Spinup when
You run agents across multiple AI tools, or plan to evaluate and compare them. Your team wants to swap AI tools without rebuilding the agent's setup each time.
Choose Spinup when
You need organization-level controls (secrets scoping, audit logging, membership policy) that govern agents across a team rather than per-machine configuration.
Choose Factory when
Your team is using Factory's Droids and wants the environment model purpose-built for them. The BYOM option is attractive, or you want Droids to accumulate skills and session context inside a managed system.
Choose Factory when
You are comfortable with vertical integration and do not need to switch or compare AI tools. Factory's coherent stack moves fast when everything runs inside the same ecosystem.
FAQ
Spinup vs Factory questions
What is the main difference between Spinup and Factory's Droid Computers?+
Factory's Droid Computers are persistent machines built specifically for Factory's Droids, their own agent system. The environment, skills, and orchestration model are designed for that ecosystem. Spinup works with any AI tool (Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex CLI, Hermes, and others). The agent owns its identity, skills, and secrets regardless of which AI tool is running.
Is Spinup a Droid Computers alternative?+
If you are using Droids specifically, Droid Computers are the natural home: they are purpose-built for that ecosystem. If you want to run agents across different AI tools, compare them, or avoid tying your runtime to one vendor's agent product, Spinup is the alternative. The comparison only holds where the workloads overlap: persistent, long-running agent execution.
What is BYOM and does Spinup offer something similar?+
Factory's BYOM (Bring Your Own Machine) option lets users register laptops, workstations, or VMs as Droid Computers. Spinup takes a different approach: agents run in isolated cloud environments managed by the runtime, rather than on machines you register. Spinup does not have a BYOM model today. The tradeoff is that Spinup environments are always isolated, consistent, and runtime-managed.
When should I choose Factory over Spinup?+
When you are using Factory's Droids as your agent system and want the environment model Factory built for them. Droid Computers provide persistence, BYOM flexibility, and session continuity that fits naturally inside the Factory ecosystem. If your team is committed to Droids and does not need to switch or compare AI tools, Factory's vertically integrated stack can move faster than assembling a separate runtime layer.
Related
Understand the runtime layer
These pages explain how Spinup approaches persistent agent environments and why being able to swap AI tools without rebuilding matters.
Early access
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