Two kinds exist: virtual instances on shared servers, and real physical devices in a datacenter. What you need depends on whether your apps check device integrity. Six providers, honestly compared. (Disclosure: mobilerun is ours.)
Android and iOS devices we own and operate in the US and EU, stateful and hosted, with physical iPhones on request
Best for: AI agents & developers, API, SDKs, hosted MCP, open-source framework (8,000+ stars), 91.4% on AndroidWorld; real phones keep their state across spin up/down and, being genuine hardware, deliver the most human-like behaviour (compatible with Play Integrity / App Attest)
Pricing (July 2026): $0.03/min pay-as-you-go · rentals from $5/mo
That's us, judge accordingly, the benchmark is reproducible from our public eval harness.
Android cloud phones (real smartphone hardware, per vendor) + anti-detect browser
Positioning: Multi-account suite, browser profiles, proxies and phone minutes in one subscription
Limitation: No iOS; built around its own management app rather than an agent API
Pricing (July 2026): from ~$7/mo · ~$0.011/min phone time
Virtual Android cloud phones (cloud ARM, randomized fingerprints)
Positioning: Virtual Android for social multi-accounting, RPA templates, built-in content AI
Limitation: Randomized (not real-device) fingerprints; Android-only; no published agent benchmark
Pricing (July 2026): $29.90/device/mo unlimited · $0.007/min
Virtual Android cloud phones
Positioning: Virtual Android for multi-language social teams (TikTok, Zalo and similar)
Limitation: Android-only; API rate-limited to 1 request/second, no official SDKs (July 2026)
Pricing (July 2026): subscription per phone (see vendor)
Real iOS & Android devices, developer-focused
Positioning: Agentic QA and Playwright-style mobile testing via mobile-mcp
Limitation: Testing-focused; source-available (FSL) rather than open-source license
Pricing (July 2026): pay-per-minute cloud, free to try
CLI + cloud for real iOS & Android devices
Positioning: Mobile verification for coding-agent QA pipelines
Limitation: QA-verification focus rather than production automation
Pricing (July 2026): cloud plans (see vendor)
Vendor facts from each provider's own site, July 2026. Pricing changes, verify before you buy.
Deep dives: mobilerun vs GeeLark · mobilerun vs Multilogin · Appium alternative · all comparisons
Pay as you go from $0.03/minute, no subscription required.