Guide · Cloud phones for AI agents
Short answer: it depends on how long your agent needs the phone. For short, bursty runs, a per-minute phone such as Phonebox ($0.06 a minute) costs less. For iOS, use Limrun, and for QA suites on many real devices, BrowserStack or AWS Device Farm. For one Android phone per agent that stays on around the clock and keeps its apps and sign-ins, ERIUS PHONE costs a flat €40 a month with no meter.
Disclosure: ERIUS PHONE publishes this guide, so we are not neutral. Every competitor price and fact below comes from the vendor's own page, with a link, checked on 1 November 2026. Where another product is the better choice, we say so.
Quick picks
| If your agent needs… | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Short, bursty Android runs | Phonebox | Billed per second at $0.06 a minute; parked phones are free; $2 starter credit, no card. |
| iOS (simulators) plus Android for a coding agent | Limrun | Remote Xcode, iOS simulators and Android emulators with a CLI, SDKs and MCP. |
| A real, physical iPhone for an agent | Mobilerun | Sells a reserved physical iPhone add-on. ERIUS PHONE has no iPhone. |
| QA test suites on many real devices | BrowserStack, AWS Device Farm | Large real iOS and Android device fleets, Appium and other test frameworks. |
| Social-media accounts at scale | GeeLark, Multilogin | Built for social media marketing, with very low per-minute rates. |
| An app streamed into a web page | Appetize | iOS simulators and Android emulators streamed to the browser, with an embed SDK. |
| Android virtual devices with ADB for CI | Genymotion SaaS | ADB, a CLI and an HTTP API, per minute or a flat unlimited plan per device. |
| An open-source MCP for your own devices | Mobile Next | mobile-mcp is open source (Apache 2.0), and a hosted cloud runs on real devices. |
| An always-on Android phone per agent, flat price | ERIUS PHONE (our product) | €40/mo per phone, nothing metered, apps and state persist, MCP plus HTTP API. Android only. |
Side by side
The table uses each vendor's own words and prices. Competitor prices are in US dollars, as each vendor publishes them. ERIUS PHONE prices are in euros, net, before VAT. "Not stated" means we could not find it on the vendor's pages. It does not mean the feature is missing.
| Product | Built for | Agent interfaces | Pricing | Device | Billing | Free start | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERIUS PHONE (publishes this guide) | An Android phone for an AI agent, to use apps the way a person does | MCP (erius-phone-mcp, runs locally), HTTP JSON API. No ADB. |
€40/mo per phone; Team €129/mo for 3 phones; net, before VAT | Full Android system in its own isolated container (virtualized, not a physical handset). Android only, no iPhone. | Always on, flat monthly; running time is not metered | 24 hours for €1; unused trial phones are deleted after 24 h | eriusphone.com/pricing · docs |
| Phonebox | "cloud Android phones they [AI agents] can see and control" | Hosted MCP, CLI, TypeScript SDK, REST API | $0.06 per phone-minute, billed per second, one-minute minimum per session | Android; real device or virtual not stated | Per minute; phones park after about 5 idle minutes (parked is free); sessions 15 min by default, up to 3 h | $2 starter credit, no card | pricing · docs · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Mobilerun | "cloud phones for AI agents" | MCP server, REST API, TypeScript and Python SDKs, CLI, ADB over a command-filtered tunnel | Free $0 (60 device min); Developer $20/mo (600 min); Startup $99/mo; Scaleup $299/mo; extra minutes $0.03; dedicated Android phone $50/mo; physical iPhone $160/mo billed yearly or $200 monthly | Android phone described as a "virtual Android device" in its docs; iPhone add-on is physical | Plan phones bill device minutes while on; dedicated phones stay on | Free plan | pricing · device types · MCP · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Limrun | "cloud agents for mobile dev teams": remote Xcode, iOS and Android simulators | lim CLI, TypeScript, Python and Go SDKs, REST API, MCP servers, ADB tunnel for Android |
Entry $20/mo (500 credits); Individual $200/mo (5,000 credits); Android emulator 1 credit/min = $0.04 ($0.05 over plan); iOS simulator $0.08/min | iOS simulators and Android emulators | Per minute of running instances | Trial $0 with 120 one-time credits | pricing · docs · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Mobile Next | "The programmable mobile runtime for AI agents" | Open-source mobile-mcp, hosted MCP, mobilecli, REST API | Hobby $0 (10 free min/day); Starter $29/mo (200 min); Team $299/mo (2,500 min); overage $0.15/min | Cloud sessions "run on real iOS and Android devices" | Per second of a session, 5-minute minimum per session | Hobby plan, no card; work-email sign-ups get Starter with 100 free minutes | pricing · mobile-mcp · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Appetize | "The mobile layer for your AI agents": cloud iOS simulators and Android emulators | REST API, CLI (beta), JavaScript SDK, ADB tunnel; MCP not stated | Free (30 min/month, 3-minute sessions); Starter $59/mo billed annually or $89 monthly, 500 min then $0.06/min; Premium $319/mo annually or $449 monthly | iOS simulators and Android emulators | Metered streaming time | Free plan | pricing · AI agents docs · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Genymotion SaaS | "The Android layer for your AI agents"; Android app build and test | gmsaas CLI, ADB, HTTP API, open-source agent skills; MCP not stated |
Pay-as-you-go $0.06/min per running virtual device; Unlimited $219/mo per device ($179/mo billed annually) | Android virtual devices | Per started minute, or flat monthly per device | Not stated for SaaS; see vendor | pricing · AI agents · checked 2026-11-01 |
| Multilogin (cloud phones) | "a beginner-friendly cloud Android phone platform built for social media marketing" | ADB ("Agent control via ADB"), Multilogin API; MCP not stated | Pro from $11/mo billed monthly (60 mobile min); extra minutes "from $0.0067 per minute if you buy in bulk" | "runs on real smartphone hardware"; Android; iOS "in development" | Per minute while active; only the first 180 minutes of an uninterrupted session are billed | Free plan, 30 mobile minutes one-time, no card | pricing · cloud phone · checked 2026-11-01 |
| GeeLark | "Your AI copilot for social media marketing" | API and ADB (paid plans), CLI that can run as an MCP server | $0.007/min by default (daily cap $1.20 per device on paid plans), or $29.9/device/month rental with unlimited minutes; subscription plan prices: see vendor | "Real Android devices in the cloud"; Android 9–15; no iOS | Per minute, or monthly rental | Free plan, no card | pricing · CLI · checked 2026-11-01 |
| BrowserStack (App Automate, App Live) | "Automated mobile app testing on real devices" | MCP server (runs on your machine), REST API, Appium, Espresso, XCUITest, Maestro | App Automate from $199/mo per parallel test (billed annually); App Live from $39/mo (billed annually) | Real iOS and Android devices | Subscription per parallel test or per user | Free trial (length not stated) | pricing · MCP docs · checked 2026-11-01 |
| AWS Device Farm | "an application testing service" for web and mobile apps | AWS API and CLI, managed Appium endpoint; MCP not stated | $0.17 per device minute; unmetered $250 per slot per month; private devices from $200/mo | "real, physical phones and tablets"; Android and iOS | Per device minute, or flat monthly slots | One-time free trial of device minutes (1,000 for a limited time, 250 standard) | pricing · guide · checked 2026-11-01 |
Prices and features change often, and some of the prices above are promotions. Check the vendor's own page before you decide. Product names belong to their owners, and ERIUS PHONE is not affiliated with any of them.
The honest trade-off
A per-minute phone costs money only while it runs. A flat-price phone costs the same whether it runs for one hour or for the whole month. Which one is cheaper depends only on how many minutes your agent keeps the phone on.
ERIUS PHONE costs €40 a month per phone, net. At the ECB reference rate of 30 October 2026 (1 EUR = 1.1172 USD), that is about $44.69. A 30-day month has 30 × 24 × 60 = 43,200 minutes.
| Vendor rate (vendor's own page) | Break-even with €40 (≈ $44.69) | On 24/7 for 30 days (43,200 min) |
|---|---|---|
| Phonebox $0.06/min | $44.69 ÷ $0.06 ≈ 745 min ≈ 12.4 h | 43,200 × $0.06 = $2,592, but phones park when idle and sessions end after at most 3 h |
| Genymotion pay-as-you-go $0.06/min | ≈ 745 min ≈ 12.4 h | $2,592, or Genymotion's own Unlimited plan at $219/mo |
| Limrun Android emulator $0.04/min (Entry plan, $20/mo) | $44.69 ÷ $0.04 ≈ 1,117 min ≈ 18.6 h | 43,200 × $0.04 = $1,728 (minutes over the plan cost $0.05) |
| Mobilerun extra minutes $0.03/min | ≈ 1,490 min ≈ 24.8 h | $1,296, or Mobilerun's dedicated Android phone at $50/mo |
| Mobile Next overage $0.15/min | ≈ 298 min ≈ 5 h | $6,480 |
| AWS Device Farm $0.17/device min | ≈ 263 min ≈ 4.4 h | $7,344, or an unmetered slot at $250/mo |
| GeeLark $0.007/min | ≈ 6,384 min ≈ 106 h | Capped at $1.20 a day on paid plans, about $36, or $29.9/mo rental: cheaper than ERIUS PHONE |
Per-minute is cheaper for short bursts. If your agent runs a ten-minute check a few times a day, Phonebox, Limrun or Genymotion's pay-as-you-go plan will cost a few dollars a month, much less than €40. Below about 12 hours of runtime a month at $0.06 a minute, choose per-minute.
Flat is cheaper when the phone stays on. If the agent has to be reachable, sitting in a messaging app and answering when something arrives, the phone has to be up all day, not started when the agent decides to look. At $0.06 a minute that would be $2,592 for a 30-day month. That is the case ERIUS PHONE's flat price is for.
Social-media cloud phones are cheaper still. GeeLark's $29.9 rental and Multilogin's per-minute rates cost less than ERIUS PHONE. If your agent manages social accounts and those products have the interfaces you need, they are the cheaper buy. ERIUS PHONE is aimed at agents that use any Android app through a device API and MCP, with apps and state kept between tasks.
Our product, plainly
What you get
erius-phone-mcp on PyPI) plus an HTTP JSON APIWhat you don't get
FAQ
There is no single best one; it depends on the job. ERIUS PHONE publishes this guide, so we are not neutral. For short, bursty Android runs, a per-minute phone such as Phonebox ($0.06 a minute, billed per second) costs least. For iOS, Limrun offers iOS simulators, and Mobilerun sells a physical iPhone. For QA suites on many real devices, BrowserStack or AWS Device Farm. For social-media accounts, GeeLark or Multilogin. For an Android phone per agent that stays on and keeps its apps and state at a flat price, ERIUS PHONE costs €40 a month per phone. All prices were checked on the vendors' own pages on 1 November 2026.
An emulator usually runs on your own computer or CI machine, and you start, maintain and scale it yourself. A cloud phone is an Android or iOS device that a provider hosts and your agent reaches over an API or MCP. It can be a physical handset (AWS Device Farm, BrowserStack) or a virtual device (Genymotion, Appetize, Limrun). It is there when the agent calls, with no local setup. ERIUS PHONE runs a full Android system in an isolated container per phone, so apps, sign-ins and state persist between sessions.
According to the vendors' own pages on 1 November 2026:
erius-phone-mcp) for Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients: ERIUS PHONE.Per-minute is cheaper for short bursts, and monthly is cheaper for a phone that stays on. At $0.06 a minute (Phonebox or Genymotion pay-as-you-go), ERIUS PHONE's €40 (about $44.69 at the ECB rate of 30 October 2026) buys about 745 minutes, roughly 12.4 hours. Below that, per-minute costs less. A phone on 24/7 for 30 days is 43,200 minutes, which is $2,592 at $0.06 a minute. Social-media cloud phones such as GeeLark ($0.007 a minute, or $29.9 a month rental) cost less than either.
Yes. AWS Device Farm and BrowserStack host real, physical Android and iOS devices that test frameworks and agents can drive, and Mobile Next's cloud sessions run on real devices. Multilogin and GeeLark also describe their cloud phones as real Android hardware. ERIUS PHONE is a full Android system with real apps and Google Play, but it runs virtualized in an isolated container, not on a physical handset. It is driven through MCP or an HTTP API with taps, typing, swipes, screenshots and accessibility-tree snapshots.
How we checked
On 1 November 2026 we read each vendor's own homepage, pricing page and docs, and took only what they state. We did not use reviews, ratings or third-party price lists. Where a page did not state something, the table says "not stated" or "see vendor". ERIUS PHONE facts come from our pricing page, the user guide and the API reference. Found something out of date? Tell us at info@eriusphone.com and we will correct it.
Comparing one product in depth? See ERIUS PHONE vs Phonebox, Mobilerun, mobile-mcp, Appium, Opposable and Hardline.
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