Business Central Sandbox Platform

Plain sailing for Business Central work.

If you can type your email, you can spin up a Business Central environment. If you can run a CLI command, your agent can too. No Azure subscription, no Kubernetes, no Terraform required. Same product, either way.

Provisioned in under 15 minutes with HTTPS access, versioned images, and full isolation. One formula at every tier: base + active hours × rate + stored hours × rate. Per-second metering, no caps, no flat per-env fees. Starter is A$25/month base + A$0.41/hour active. PAYG is A$0/month base + A$0.68/hour, up to 3 envs, walk away anytime. Hibernated environments cost A$0.018/hour (~A$13/month if stored 24/7).

Have an invite code? Sign up →

Free trial: one sandbox with 7 hours of active runtime, 100 hours of stored time, and a 14-day expiry from signup.
Sandbox use only. Not for production workloads. See limitations ↗.

Founder Program

30% off × 6 months

First 20 customers, then 15% locked for 3 years.

Hibernation included

A$0.018/hr stored

~A$13/mo if hibernated 24/7. Same rate every tier. Resume in ~15 minutes.

Pay as you go

A$0.68/hour

Per-second metering. No commitment, card billing.

Fast provisioning

Typically under 15 minutes from click to sandbox.

Honest metered math

Per-second metering, no caps, no flat per-env fees. Hibernate idle environments at A$0.018/hour (~A$13/month if 24/7) — never delete work to save money.

Regional flexibility

Choose US, EU, or AU regions. Billed in AUD, USD, or EUR with local tax.

Pair with your AI agent

Hand bcdock to Claude, Copilot, or any framework. Your agent provisions environments, deploys AL extensions, and hibernates when done — no integration to write, no SDK to install.

Same product, two paths.

BCDock works equally well for someone who's never seen a terminal and someone whose agent is doing the typing for them. Both paths reach the same Platform API; both customers get the same environments and the same prices.

Portal

Type your email. Click New environment.

For consultants, trainers, sales engineers, accounting firms, and anyone evaluating BC. No CLI, no Azure subscription, no Kubernetes. Pick a BC version and a region, click create, get a URL.

Portal quickstart →

Agent

Hand bcdock to your agent.

For consultants, trainers, sales engineers, developers, and CI pipelines — anyone whose agent (Claude, Copilot, or any framework) can run a CLI. Same Platform API, same environments, same prices — reached through a single static binary with stable exit codes and --output json everywhere.

Agent quickstart →

Same API as the portal

Your agent has the same access you have.

When Claude or Copilot runs bcdock, it's hitting the same Platform API every button in the portal calls. No private endpoints, no staff backdoor. Whatever your agent can do — provision, deploy AL extensions, hibernate — you could do yourself by typing the same commands.

Every verb supports --output json. Every async operation has --wait. Every error has a documented exit code.

CLI reference →
~/al-extension
$ bcdock auth login
# OTP exchange — mints an API key

$ bcdock env create --version 27 --country au --wait
# ~2 min on a warm pool, returns when running

$ bcdock env publish my-env ./MyExtension.app
# multipart POST to BC's /dev/apps, returns when install completes

$ bcdock env hibernate my-env
# drops billing to A$0.018/hr stored — resume any time

Built for the people who live in Business Central.

BC Consultants

Spin up client sandboxes without losing hours to Azure setup.

ISVs and QA teams

Test across versions and localizations on demand.

Accounting firms

Evaluate BC in a safe sandbox before committing to production.

Training providers

Create class-ready sandboxes quickly, then delete when done.

Sales engineers

Tailored BC demos in minutes. Different version, country, or industry per prospect. Hibernate after the call — ready for the next one.

ISVs in CI/CD

Spin up a fresh BC environment per PR. Publish your extension. Run tests. Tear down. All from your existing pipeline.

How it works

01

Sign up

Create an account and choose your region settings.

02

Pick a version

Select the BC version and localization you need.

03

Access your sandbox

We provision the environment and give you HTTPS access.

Founder Program

First 20 customers get 30% off the base + active rate for the first 6 months, then 15% locked for the next 3 years. In exchange: two short feedback interviews and agreement to be a public reference if you're happy.

EXAMPLE: PRO TIER, 10 ENVS AT WORKING-HOURS USAGE

Standard: ~A$1,014/month. Months 1 to 6 (30% off base + active rate): ~A$739/month (save ~A$1,654 over six months). Year 2 onward (15% locked on base + active): ~A$877/month (save ~A$138/month).

Free trial: one sandbox with 7 hours of active runtime, 100 hours of stored time, and a 14-day expiry from signup.

Have an invite code? Sign up →

Sandbox only

BCDock is a testing platform.

What BCDock is not:

  • Not a production environment. Production workloads must run on Business Central SaaS or partner-hosted on-premises BC.
  • Not for long-running operations. Environments are for development, testing, training, and demos. Hibernate or delete when idle.
  • Not a Microsoft product. We use Microsoft's public BC container images under developer and sandbox licenses. BCDock is independent of Microsoft and is not supported by Microsoft.
  • Not certified for regulated data. Sandbox containers are not in scope for HIPAA, PCI, or similar compliance regimes. Use synthetic or anonymised data.

Read the full limitations page ↗ before using BCDock with real client work.

Pricing

One formula at every tier: base + active hours × rate + stored hours × rate. Per-second metering, no caps, no flat per-env fees. Each environment is either active (running) or stored (hibernated, A$0.018/hour). Tier choice is a capacity and services decision — the active and stored rates are the same on Starter, Pro, and Business.

Founder Program →

Pay-as-you-go

A$0

/month

A$0.68/hour active · A$0.018/hour stored

Ad-hoc / one-off use

  • Up to 3 active environments
  • No commitment, walk away anytime
  • Best under ~93 active hours/month
  • 30-day audit retention
  • 7-day env recovery after delete

Starter

A$25

/month

A$0.41/hour active · A$0.018/hour stored

Typical: ~A$117/month — daily user, 1 env (200h active, 530h stored)

Solo BC professionals, small teams

  • Up to 3 concurrent active envs (same cap as PAYG, lower rate)
  • ~40% lower active rate than PAYG
  • Hibernated envs don't count toward the cap
  • Best-effort support
  • 30-day audit retention
MOST POPULAR

Pro

A$99

/month

A$0.41/hour active · A$0.018/hour stored

Typical: ~A$557/month — 5 envs at working hours

Small partners and consultancies

  • Up to 10 concurrent active envs
  • 24-hour business-hours support SLA
  • 90-day audit retention
  • 30-day env recovery after delete

Annual billing — coming Q3 2026

At v1 launch, monthly billing only. Annual prepay with ~17% off the active rate ships in STRIPE-002. Existing monthly customers can opt in; no automatic migration.

Strict grandfathering

Your price is locked at the price you signed up at, indefinitely. New features that ship into your tier are included automatically at no extra cost. New tiers above your current tier are optional upgrades.

Coming later

Roadmap

Business ships when dedicated infrastructure, on-call coverage, and SSO are in place. Enterprise is bespoke from day one — get in touch if you need it now.

Coming soon

Business

A$399

/month (planned)

For established partners and ISVs. Ships when dedicated infrastructure, on-call coverage, and SSO are in place.

  • Up to 30 concurrent active envs
  • Dedicated pool VMs — no shared neighbours
  • Custom env domains (e.g. demo.acme.com)
  • 4-hour on-call SLA, including weekends
  • SSO (SAML/OIDC)
  • 365-day audit retention
  • 90-day backup recovery window
Coming soon

Enterprise

Bespoke — custom region, dedicated infrastructure, custom contracts

  • Custom region availability (EU residency, Asia-Pacific, etc.)
  • SCIM provisioning
  • Dedicated infrastructure
  • Custom contracts and procurement
  • Dedicated CSM

Worked examples (working hours: ~200h active, ~530h stored)

Sales engineer trialing BCDock for prospect demos
PAYG = 50h × A$0.68 + 200h × A$0.018 = ~A$38/month. No commitment, up to 3 envs, walk away anytime.
BC consultant or accountant — daily client work, 1 env
Starter = A$25 base + 200h × A$0.41 + 530h × A$0.018 = ~A$117/month. PAYG for the same usage = ~A$146/month — break-even is ~93 active hours/month.
Small BC partner / training provider — 5 envs
Pro = A$99 base + 5 × 200h × A$0.41 + 5 × 530h × A$0.018 = ~A$557/month (Starter is capped at 3 concurrent active envs).

Clear on compliance.

BCDock sandboxes use developer and sandbox licensing. Production workloads require Microsoft BC SaaS.

Production license

BC SaaS: ✓ Available

BCDock: ✗ Sandbox only

Power Platform

BC SaaS: Full support

BCDock: Limited

Automatic BC updates

BC SaaS: ✓ Microsoft-managed

BCDock: ✗ User-managed

Architecture-level security

Per-region Key Vaults, tenant isolation via EF query filters, immutable provisioning logs, httpOnly cookie auth, wildcard TLS, storage soft-delete, coordinated disclosure policy. The full posture page — written for partner-questionnaire and procurement audiences — describes what's shipped today and the boundary between "in the architecture" and "audited by a third party."

FAQ

How is usage calculated?

Per-second metering. Monthly bill = base + (active hours × tier active rate) + (stored hours × A$0.018/hour). No caps, no rounding, no minimum billable unit. Multiple environments bill independently.

Why no cap on the bill?

Caps were the old framing — sticker prices that suggested you'll never pay more than A$259/month. In practice, real bills landed at A$60–A$150 for typical use. The headline numbers were misleading. The new model is metered honest math: a typical env at working-hours usage costs ~A$80/month on Starter, with the bill scaling linearly with actual hours used.

Why no flat fee per environment?

Flat fees punished customers who wanted to pause-and-resume occasional envs. Metered storage at A$0.018/hour lets you delete idle envs for free, hibernate cheaply when paused, and only pay for storage proportional to your actual time using the platform.

Can I pause environments to save money?

Yes — hibernation. One click in the portal, or via API/CLI. A hibernated env costs A$0.018/hour (~A$13/month if hibernated 24/7), preserves everything (database, extensions, users, customisations), and resumes in ~15 minutes (warm pool) or ~25 minutes (cold). Auto-hibernation on idle is on the roadmap.

Why is stored the same rate on every tier?

Because the underlying cost is the same: blob storage doesn't get cheaper for higher-tier customers. A$0.018/hour funds the resume capability and the storage bytes; nothing else.

How does the active env cap work?

The cap is on concurrent active envs (running). Hibernated envs don't count toward the cap. Starter's 3 active envs means you can have 3 running plus any number hibernated. Hibernated envs you don't need anymore can be deleted at any time — no penalty.

PAYG vs Starter — which is cheaper?

Depends on usage. Below ~93 active hours/month, PAYG is cheaper because Starter's A$25 base fee outweighs Starter's lower per-hour rate. Above 93 hours, Starter wins. The break-even formula: 25 = h × (0.68 − 0.41), so h ≈ 93 hours. Both PAYG and Starter cap at 3 concurrent active envs — Starter just gives you the lower active rate.

What about manifests and cloning?

Coming H2 2026. A manifest is a declarative recipe (`bcdock.manifest.yaml`) you keep in git: BC version + apps (file, AppSource, GitHub release) + seed data. Run one command and you get a fresh environment with everything installed — free at every tier, since manifests are text files on your side, not stored state on ours. Cloning is a separate primitive for when you need an exact copy of an existing environment with all its tinkering preserved.

Is there an annual / prepay option?

Not at v1 launch — monthly only. Annual ships in STRIPE-002 (~Q3 2026): 12-month commit at ~17% off the active rate, paid as 12 monthly charges or one upfront prepay. Existing monthly customers can switch to annual at their option; no automatic migration.

Do prices change?

Locked at the price you signed up at, indefinitely. New features that ship into your tier are included automatically at no cost. New tiers above your current tier are optional upgrades. We follow strict grandfathering — Stripe Prices versioning means existing customers stay on their original Price ID forever.

How long does provisioning take?

Typically under 15 minutes from click to running BC. Cold pools take ~25 minutes.

Is there a founder program?

Yes. The first 20 customers get 30% off the base + active rate for 6 months, then 15% locked for 3 years. In exchange: two short feedback interviews and agreement to be a public reference if you're happy.

Can I use BCDock for production workloads?

No. BCDock uses Microsoft's developer and sandbox container licenses. Production workloads must run on Business Central SaaS.

Do I own my data?

Yes. Export via API or CLI anytime. On cancellation, you have 30 days to download; deleted after. BC databases restore into any standard BC container, with no lock-in.

Can I use BCDock from a CLI?

Yes — bcdock is the primary tool. Single static binary (mac/Linux/Windows), every verb supports --output json, every async operation has --wait, every error has a documented exit code. The portal and the CLI are both clients of the same Platform API. Full reference at docs.bcdock.io/cli.

Can my AI agent use BCDock?

Yes — and that's the point. Your agent (Claude, Copilot, or any framework) drives bcdock on your behalf, so you can ship BC demos, run training environments, and iterate on AL extensions without learning the CLI yourself. Under the hood: scoped API keys, JSON output, and exit codes the agent reads from --help. See docs.bcdock.io/quickstart/agent.

What's the API like?

REST + JSON over HTTPS at api.bcdock.io. Auth via long-lived API keys (bdk_…) with explicit scopes (env:read, env:write, usage:read, admin). The bcdock CLI wraps it; the portal consumes it; partner integrations call it directly. No private endpoints — staff use the same surface customers do, with appropriately scoped tokens.