Standboy

Name: Standboy
Brand: Standboy
Price: 4 USD

Claim this tool

Play Game Boy games in your IDE while your AI coding agent works.

From $4/user/mo, billed monthly (free plan available)

Freemium IDE & Code Editors Developer Tools Productivity

Visit Website

Freemium Visit Website

Tracked since 2026

The Bottom Line

Updated Oct 13, 2026

Price: From $4/user/mo, billed monthly (free plan available). Compare plans

Key facts

Integrates a Game Boy emulator into VS Code.
Automatically plays/pauses based on AI agent activity.
Helps developers stay focused in the IDE during AI wait times.

Pros

Keeps developers engaged and in-IDE during AI agent wait times
Seamless integration with AI coding agent lifecycle
Retains game state and progress across sessions and VS Code restarts
Automatically organizes ROMs with cover art and titles
Supports a wide range of Game Boy platforms

Cons

Requires user-supplied ROMs, no bundled games or links to sources
Primarily designed for users of specific AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code)
Emulator panel takes up screen real estate when active

What is Standboy?

Standboy is a VS Code extension that integrates a Game Boy emulator directly into your IDE. It automatically activates and expands a sidebar emulator when your AI coding agent (like Cursor's native agent or Claude Code) starts generating code, providing a micro-distraction to keep you engaged within the IDE during agent wait times. When the agent finishes, Standboy automatically hides and pauses the game, resuming exactly where you left off the next time the agent becomes active. This tool is designed for developers who use AI coding assistants and want to avoid context switching to other applications during agent processing. It helps maintain focus within the development environment by offering a quick, contained entertainment option. Standboy supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance ROMs, features persistent game saves, and automatically identifies ROMs with cover art and canonical titles using a bundled No-Intro database. Users must provide their own legally obtained ROMs.

Available on: Web

Data compiled by Toolradar Pricing checked Oct 13, 2026 · How we evaluate

Source github.com

Key Features

Auto-show on AI agent activity, auto-hide when idle
Hooks into Cursor's native agent and Claude Code lifecycle APIs
Falls back to an edit-burst heuristic for unsupported agents
Resumes gameplay mid-frame when reactivated
Persistent ROM library and in-game saves (IndexedDB and disk)
Auto-identified covers and titles for ROMs via No-Intro database
Supports Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance ROMs (.gb, .gbc, .gba)
Five built-in palettes and custom 4-hex array for emulator chrome

Pricing Plans

Free Trial

Pricing checked Oct 13, 2026. Source: github.com/pricing, read Oct 13, 2026

Standboy plans and prices, checked October 2026
Plan	Price	Details
Free	$0 USD per month	Unlimited public/private repositories Dependabot security and version updates 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month (Free for public repositories) +3 more Show less 500MB of Packages storage (Free for public repositories) Issues & Projects Community support
Team	$4 USD per user/month	Everything included in Free Access to GitHub Codespaces Repository rules +9 more Show less Multiple reviewers in pull requests Draft pull requests Code owners Required reviewers Pages and Wikis Environment deployment branches and secrets 3,000 CI/CD minutes/month (Free for public repositories) 2GB of Packages storage (Free for public repositories) Web-based support
Enterprise	Starting at $21 USD per user/month	Everything included in Team Data residency Enterprise Managed Users +7 more Show less User provisioning through SCIM Enterprise Account to centrally manage multiple organizations Environment protection rules Repository rules Audit Log API SOC1, SOC2, type 2 reports annually FedRAMP Tailored Authority to Operate (ATO)

Calculate your cost View full pricing

Is Standboy worth the price?

Good value

The pricing for Standboy, based on the provided GitHub pricing data, appears to be fair and well-structured.

The Free tier is generous, offering substantial features for individual developers or small open-source projects. The Team tier at $4 per user/month provides excellent value for growing teams needing enhanced collaboration and CI/CD minutes, while Enterprise at $21 per user/month caters to large organizations with advanced security and compliance needs.

Hidden Costs & Gotchas

Packages storage beyond included limits

Full Standboy pricing: every plan, hidden costs and alternatives

How Standboy's pricing compares

Standboy starts at $4/user/mo, billed monthly. Its direct competitors are priced on a different basis (per user, or in another currency), so each entry price below is shown with its own unit and currency and is not ranked against the others.

Standboy

$4/user/mo, billed monthly

IntelliJ IDEA

$49.92/mo, billed yearly

Raycast

$8/mo, billed monthly

Entry paid plan, monthly price (billing term shown per row), in each tool's own currency. Pricing checked Oct 13, 2026.

Standboy by the numbers

Toolradar data: Standboy's entry paid plan ($4/user/mo, billed monthly) ranks #2 of 9 (joint) for price among the IDE & Code Editors tools with a verified entry price per user, where the median is $4/user/mo. As of Oct 2026.

Standboy compared with 130 IDE & Code Editors tools on Toolradar, as of Oct 2026
Metric	Standboy	Peer median	Position (1 is best)
Entry paid plan	$4/user/mo, billed monthly	$4/user/mo	#2 of 9 (joint) tools priced per user, verified price
Free plan	Yes	90% have one	n/a

Each position is counted among the tools that have data for that row, as noted under it. A lower entry price ranks higher; prices are read on vendor pages and compared only with tools priced on the same basis. All IDE & Code Editors data · How we compute this. Advertising and placement fees are not inputs to any position.

Cite this: Toolradar, “Standboy by the numbers”, Oct 2026.

Reviews

Improve Your Thinking Patterns Using ChatGPT cover

$99 Free with your review

Review Standboy, get a free AI guide

Share your experience and we will send you Improve Your Thinking Patterns Using ChatGPT, free.

Write a review

Best Standboy Alternatives

Top alternatives based on features, pricing, and user needs.

Visual Studio Code Free

Fast, lightweight, and customizable code editor for all languages

4.6

IntelliJ IDEA Freemium

The capable & ergonomic Java IDE

4.6

WebStorm Freemium

Professional JavaScript IDE with deep intelligence

4.6

Raycast Freemium

Your Mac's command center for lightning-fast search and actions

4.7

See all IDE & code editors tools →

Still deciding?

Most buyers shortlist 2 or 3 tools before committing. Pull a side-by-side comparison or browse the full alternatives shortlist below.

Standboy vs Visual Studio Code Head-to-head: features, pricing, who wins Standboy vs IntelliJ IDEA Head-to-head: features, pricing, who wins Standboy vs WebStorm Head-to-head: features, pricing, who wins

Explore More

Standboy FAQ

How does Standboy detect when my AI agent is active if it's not Cursor or Claude Code?

For AI agents not specifically supported by lifecycle APIs, Standboy uses an 'edit-burst heuristic'. This means it monitors your editing activity and assumes the agent is working if there's a period of intense coding followed by a pause, then activates the emulator. It has built-in logic to prevent 'strobing' on quick checks.

Where are my ROMs and save data stored, and how are they protected?

Loaded ROMs are copied into a managed library within your VS Code environment. In-game saves are mirrored to disk when the panel hides, the page unloads, and before export. Between these writes, the live state is stored in IndexedDB. Both the ROM library and save data persist across VS Code restarts, ensuring you don't lose progress.

Can I customize the visual appearance of the Game Boy emulator?

Yes, Standboy offers five built-in color palettes for the emulator's chrome (the surrounding interface), and you can also define a custom 4-hex array for a personalized look. However, these palette changes only apply to the emulator's chrome; the game itself renders at its native fidelity.

What happens if I uninstall Standboy? Do I lose my ROMs or saves?

VS Code does not have a reliable uninstall hook. Standboy provides a one-shot footnote reminder on first successful connection to disconnect 'Detection' before uninstalling. While your ROMs and saves are persistent, it's advisable to manage them manually or export saves if you plan to uninstall, as the extension's managed library might be removed.

How does Standboy pricing compare with other IDE & Code Editors tools?

Standboy's entry paid plan ($4/user/mo, billed monthly) ranks #2 of 9 (joint) for price among the IDE & Code Editors tools with a verified entry price per user, where the median is $4/user/mo. Prices are read on each vendor's own pricing page and compared only with tools priced on the same basis. Source: Toolradar, Oct 2026.

Source: github.com

Guides & Articles

Best Free IDEs and Code Editors in 2026

Expert guide

Best Prompt Management & PromptOps Tools 2026

Expert guide

Best Headless CMS Platforms in 2026

Expert guide