Manus

Autonomous general AI agent that plans and executes full tasks for you.

Data verified Oct 17, 2026

Pundit
Score

Price: Paid from $20/month (4,000 credits/month)
Try it free: Free plan
Best for: Solo professionals making decks and sites

Editorial Verdict

AI-researched, not hands-on tested

Manus is a general-purpose AI agent product with a web app, desktop and mobile apps, and tools for slides, websites, design, images, music, video and 'Wide Research'. It suits people who want to hand off multi-step research or deliverable-building tasks and pay by credit. Output is credit-metered, so heavy use needs a higher plan. Meta announced it was buying Manus in December 2025 and said subscriptions continue. For alternatives, see Genspark, or the open-source OpenManus and OpenHands.

Reviewed by AIToolPundit Editorial Team · last verified October 2026

About Manus

Manus is a general-purpose autonomous AI agent that takes a natural-language goal and independently carries out multi-step work—browsing the web, writing and running code, building websites and apps, generating slides, images, and music, and running large-scale ('Wide') research. It's aimed at knowledge workers, founders, developers, and teams who want an agent that executes end-to-end rather than just chatting, and its main differentiator is this hands-off, agentic 'less structure, more intelligence' approach across many task types in one tool. It's cloud-based with a credit-metered model and offers team, SSO, and API options for organizations.

Screenshots

Commonly Cited Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

Covers slides, websites, design, images, music, video and Wide Research in one product
Every paid plan listed includes 300 refresh credits per day plus monthly credits
Paid plans list 20 concurrent tasks and 20 scheduled tasks
Team plan, SSO and API are offered, plus Slack integration, desktop and mobile apps

Limitations

Opaque credit system that doesn't show a task's cost upfront
Credits deplete quickly and complex tasks get expensive
Free tier runs out too fast for real use
Unreliable on long-running or complex branching tasks
Slow or unresponsive customer support
Less reliable than competitors for browser automation and coding

Common Use Cases

Automating multi-step web and research tasks
Building websites and web apps from a prompt
Generating presentation slides
Creating images and music
Running large-scale research
Browser automation

Details

Pricing Model: Freemium
Starting Price: Paid from $20/month (4,000 credits/month)
Founded: 2025
Team Size: Freelancers, Small Business, Enterprise
Headquarters: Singapore
Category: Productivity & Automation

Who is Manus for?

Solo professionals making decks and sites

The plans list slide, website and research capability with monthly credits.

Analysts running broad research

Wide Research is listed on every paid plan, with scaling by plan.

Small teams needing shared access

A Team plan, SSO and API are linked from the site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Manus free?

Manus offers a free plan, with paid plans starting at Paid from $20/month (4,000 credits/month).

Does Manus have an API?

Yes, Manus provides an API for developers.

What does Manus integrate with?

Manus integrates with Slack, Gmail.

Is Manus cloud-based or self-hosted?

Manus is offered as a cloud-based (SaaS) deployment.

What are the downsides of Manus?

Opaque credit system that doesn't show a task's cost upfront Also, Credits deplete quickly and complex tasks get expensive

Who is Manus best for?

Manus is best suited for Solo professionals making decks and sites, Analysts running broad research, Small teams needing shared access.

What can I use Manus for?

Common uses for Manus include automating multi-step web and research tasks, building websites and web apps from a prompt, generating presentation slides, creating images and music.

What is the best alternative to Manus?

Our reviewed alternatives to Manus are ChatGPT, Lovable, Replit, Claude Code, Genspark, OpenManus, OpenHands and Browser Use. Open-source options: OpenManus, OpenHands, Browser Use.

How does Manus compare to Browse AI?

Manus and Browse AI are both used for productivity & automation -- specifically automation & workflow tools. See the full side-by-side comparison for pricing and feature differences.

Manus alternatives we reviewed

Reviewed when this listing was published; open-source options are marked.

See all reviewed alternatives →

ChatGPT
OpenAI's assistant with an Operator agent for browser tasks.
Visit site →
Lovable
AI app/website builder from natural language.
Visit site →
Replit
AI-assisted coding and app-building environment.
Visit site →
Claude Code
Agentic coding tool often cited as more capable for development work.
Visit site →
Genspark
AI workspace with Super Agent, slides, sheets, docs and deep research, sold as Free, Plus and Pro plans.
Visit site →
OpenManus
Open source
Open-source general-purpose agent project inspired by Manus.
Cost:
Free / self-host
Licence:
Open source
Visit site →GitHub
OpenHands
Open source
Open-source AI-driven development agent platform.
Cost:
Free / self-host
Licence:
Open source
Visit site →GitHub
Browser Use
Open source
Open-source Python library for AI browser agents, with a hosted cloud option.
Cost:
Free / self-host
Licence:
Open source
Visit site →GitHub