gVisor

license

Apache-2.0(OSI)

source

public(Go)

core features withheld

no

gVisor is Apache-2.0, and the entire runtime, including the runsc OCI shim, sits in the public tree with no enterprise or paid-tier directory; a handful of files carry their own permissive MIT or BSD notices, but Apache-2.0 governs the project as a whole. Google runs gVisor inside Cloud Run and GKE Sandbox without selling a separate product or withholding any feature from the public source.

• https://api.github.com/repos/google/gvisor recorded 2026-08-13

  Repo metadata - language Go, license spdx_id Apache-2.0, default branch master, not archived, pushed 2026-08-13, 19,073 stars, homepage gvisor.dev.

• https://api.github.com/repos/google/gvisor/git/trees/master recorded 2026-08-13

  Untruncated default-branch tree, 39 entries. One LICENSE. The whole runtime is present - runsc/, pkg/, shim/, sandboxexec/, webhook/, vdso/, debian/, tools/ - and there is no ee/, enterprise/, commercial/ or proprietary/ path.

• https://github.com/google/gvisor recorded 2026-06-04

  Apache-2.0 license; application kernel implementing Linux-like interface in userspace (Go)

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/gvisor/master/LICENSE recorded 2026-09-29

  The LICENSE file is the Apache License, Version 2.0, followed by two appended notices: "Some files carry the following license, noted at the top of each file:" (MIT text) and "Some files carry the" BSD license notice, both permissive, so Apache-2.0 governs the project.

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/gvisor/master/README.md recorded 2026-09-29

  The README has an "Installing from source" section that opens "gVisor builds on x86_64 and ARM64." and says "Build a release tarball containing `runsc`, the `containerd-shim-runsc-v1`" with make, plus build and test targets, so the whole runtime builds from the public tree; it describes gVisor as written in a memory-safe "language (Go) and runs in userspace."

gVisor powers Google Cloud Run, GKE Sandbox, App Engine and Cloud Functions, with production users including Anthropic, Cloudflare and DigitalOcean. A PyPI package named gvisor exists but sees only a trickle of downloads and is not the product's primary distribution channel — it ships as the runsc binary instead — so the reading follows Google's production reach.

• https://api.github.com/repos/google/gvisor recorded 2026-08-13

  Repo metadata - 19,073 stars, 1,912 forks, not archived, pushed 2026-08-13. Corroborates activity only; the reading does not depend on it.

• https://github.com/google/gvisor recorded 2026-06-04

  Google-developed sandbox application kernel in production

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/ recorded 2026-06-04

  'Powered by gVisor' linking to Google Cloud Run as a production user

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/ recorded 2026-08-13

  The "Powered by gVisor" badge is still in the site footer and still links to https://cloud.google.com/run. The page describes gVisor as the sandbox layer for containers and links the production guide.

• https://gvisor.dev/users/ recorded 2026-08-13

  "Who's Using gVisor" lists production users with quotes. Google's own entry reads "There are millions of gVisor sandbox instances running daily. gVisor powers Google Cloud offerings GKE Sandbox, Cloud Run, App Engine, and more." Other named users include Anthropic (contains code execution within claude.ai), Cloudflare (Pages builds), DigitalOcean (App Platform), Ant Group, Modal, Beam, Grist, Blink, Tines and Docker for Mac.

gVisor is an application kernel that intercepts system calls in userspace, giving many of a VM's security benefits at a userspace footprint and startup cost, and it is the sandbox behind Google Cloud's serverless containers. Firecracker reaches a comparable position through hardware virtualization; gVisor trades some application compatibility and per-syscall overhead for its lighter footprint.

• https://github.com/google/gvisor recorded 2026-06-04

  intercepts syscalls as a userspace application kernel; VM-class security benefits at userspace footprint and startup

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/ recorded 2026-09-29

  The docs home says gVisor takes a third approach "providing many security benefits of" VMs, "VMs while maintaining the lower resource footprint, fast startup, and" flexibility of regular userspace applications.

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/ recorded 2026-09-29

  The docs home says "gVisor intercepts application system calls and acts as the guest kernel, without" translation through virtualized hardware, at the price of "reduced application compatibility and higher per-system call overhead".

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/architecture_guide/intro/ recorded 2026-09-29

  The architecture guide says "gVisor acts as an application kernel" and that "While gVisor can use virtualization (specifically: KVM), it can also work" without it, offering the "Systrap" default and "KVM" platforms.

• https://gvisor.dev/docs/user_guide/production/ recorded 2026-09-29

  The production guide recommends "running gVisor on" bare-metal machines with the KVM platform for best performance, notes GKE Sandbox "uses an optimized, custom platform", and lists "defense-in-depth protection" for critical workloads.

• https://gvisor.dev/users/ recorded 2026-09-29

  The users page says Google designed gVisor for production isolation at scale: "There are millions of gVisor sandbox instances" running daily, and "gVisor powers Google Cloud offerings" GKE Sandbox, Cloud Run and App Engine.

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/gvisor/master/README.md recorded 2026-08-13

  "gVisor takes a distinct third approach, providing many security benefits of VMs while maintaining the lower resource footprint, fast startup, and flexibility of regular userspace applications." Not a syscall filter and not a VM. Ships the OCI runtime runsc, integrating with Docker and Kubernetes.