Manus Review
Reviewed by Carlos Gil · Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Updated 6 min readEditorially reviewed
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Free (300 daily credits); Pro from $20/mo (4,000 credits)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Best for
- Founders, analysts and marketers who hand off open-ended research, websites and decks
- Platforms
- Web app, desktop app (Manus Studio), iOS and Android apps
BestStacked Score
Weighted average of 5 categories. Methodology below.
Quick answer
Is Manus worth it in 2026?
Manus is an AI agent you hand a whole task to in plain language. It plans the steps, browses the web, writes and runs code, and returns research reports, websites, slides or data, and it can run tasks on a schedule or when something happens in a connected app. It's worth it for people who delegate open-ended research and deliverables rather than chat. A free plan gives 300 credits a day; Pro starts at $20 a month for 4,000 credits ($17 billed annually, per Manus's blog), with 20 concurrent and 20 scheduled tasks. Manus doesn't publish what a task costs in credits. Prices were checked on Manus's pricing and help pages on October 13, 2026.
- Best for
- Founders, analysts and marketers who delegate research, website builds and decks and review the result.
- Skip it if
- You mainly chat, write or code with AI; ChatGPT or Claude at $20 a month cover that with clearer usage limits.
- Strongest capability
- End-to-end execution: Wide Research, website building and hosting, slides, a browser operator and scheduled tasks in one agent.
- Biggest limitation
- Unpredictable credit use: Manus publishes no per-task cost, plan credits don't roll over, and credit purchases are non-refundable.
The Verdict
Manus is one of the most capable general-purpose agents you can buy without building anything. It runs multi-step tasks in its own cloud computer, researches across many sources at once with Wide Research, builds and hosts websites, makes slides, operates your browser with permission, and runs scheduled and event-triggered tasks. Manus 2.0, released in September 2026, added a desktop app and a video editor. The trade-off is cost control: credits are consumed by task complexity with no published rate, plan credits expire monthly, and payments are non-refundable except where the law requires. Ownership has also been eventful: Meta acquired Manus in December 2025, and Manus resumed independent operations on September 1, 2026, after deleting some users' post-acquisition data in August. We score Manus 8.3/10.
Best for
People who delegate open-ended research, websites and decks to an agent and review the output.
Skip if
You need predictable monthly costs, or mainly want a chat assistant for writing and coding.
The Background
What Is Manus?
Manus is made by Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. Meta acquired Manus on December 29, 2025. On August 11, 2026 Manus told users it would soon return to operating independently, and that data some users created on or after December 29, 2025 would be deleted on August 23 and 24, which it said was not the result of a security incident. On September 1, 2026 it said it had formally resumed independent operations, with the founding team still in charge. Manus 2.0, launched September 28, 2026, runs on web, desktop and mobile, and Manus's terms and privacy policy were updated the same day.
The Product
Manus Features: What You Actually Get
Autonomous tasks and Wide Research
You describe a goal and Manus plans and executes it in a cloud environment, browsing, coding and producing files. Wide Research runs many parallel sub-agents for broad research. Free accounts use the Manus 2.0 Lite model in Agent Mode; Pro adds Manus 2.0 and Max.
A founder asks Manus to profile 40 competitors with pricing, features and funding and receives a spreadsheet and summary report.
Websites, slides and media
Manus builds websites and hosts them, with hosting billed separately by usage ($10 of cloud, $1 of AI and $1 of API usage free each month). It also makes slide decks, images and, since Manus 2.0, edits video. Sites built before December 29, 2025 lost free hosting on January 31, 2026.
A marketer asks for a landing page for a webinar and a 10-slide deck from the same brief.
Scheduled and event-triggered tasks
Tasks can run on a schedule or when an event happens in a connected app such as Gmail, Shopify or a webhook; advanced automation is labelled beta. Paid plans list 20 concurrent and 20 scheduled tasks; Free allows 1 concurrent task and 2 scheduled automations. A 'Skip confirmations' setting lets trusted workflows send, publish or post without asking; Manus advises keeping confirmation on for anything that sends or publishes.
An analyst schedules a weekly market brief that Manus researches and emails every Monday.
Browser Operator and Mail Manus
Browser Operator lets Manus work in your own Chrome or Edge browser, with explicit permission for each task, so it can use sites where you're logged in. Mail Manus starts a task when you forward an email to it and confirms by email before complex tasks.
A recruiter lets Manus use their logged-in browser to collect candidate details from a job board into a sheet.
Connectors and API
Connectors, built on MCP, include Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, Slack, GitHub, Stripe and HubSpot. A REST API with API keys or OAuth, webhooks and skills lets developers start tasks from their own apps; general API pricing isn't published. Manus Flex lets you bring your own model key.
A developer triggers a Manus research task from an internal tool and receives the result by webhook.
Feature recap
- Autonomous multi-step tasks in a cloud computer
- Wide Research with parallel sub-agents
- Website building and hosting, slides, images and video
- Scheduled and event-triggered tasks
- Browser Operator for your logged-in browser
- MCP connectors, REST API and webhooks
- Web, desktop and mobile apps
The Numbers
Manus Pricing: Every Plan Explained
Manus bills in credits. Prices below are from Manus's pricing page and help center, checked October 13, 2026, in USD. The annual figure comes from Manus's own blog, because the pricing page's annual prices didn't render for us.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Included Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 300 refresh credits a day (up to 1,500 a month), Manus 2.0 Lite in Agent Mode, 1 concurrent task, 2 scheduled automations | Trying Manus |
| ProBest value | From $20 | $17/mo (17% off, per Manus's blog) | 4,000 credits a month plus 300 daily, Manus 2.0 and Max models, 20 concurrent and 20 scheduled tasks, Wide Research, websites, slides, priority support | Individuals delegating regular tasks |
| Pro (higher tiers) | From $40 (8,000+ credits) to $200 (40,000 credits) | Not shown on the pricing page | Same features with more monthly credits; the $40 tier offers a 7-day free trial | Heavy users |
| Team | From $20/seat | $200/seat/year | 4,000 credits per seat, pooled; free unlimited guests; audit logs; SSO free at 30+ seats or a flat $150 | Teams sharing credits |
Manus doesn't publish what a task costs: its help center says consumption depends on task complexity, and tasks that fail on Manus's side are refunded in credits. Plan credits don't roll over, and Manus's pages disagree on whether add-on credits expire (see below). Credits are used in a set order: event, daily, monthly, add-on, then free. Website hosting is billed separately by usage beyond a small monthly allowance. Manus's terms (September 28, 2026) say subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current price, credit purchases and payments are non-refundable except where the law requires, and partial refunds are at Manus's discretion; consumers in the EU, UK and Turkey have a 14-day withdrawal right. Enterprise, with enforced SSO, SIEM feeds and per-user budgets, is sold through sales.
Data and ownership
How Manus handles your data
Manus's trust center lists SOC 2 Type I and Type II and ISO/IEC 27001 and 27701 certifications, data stored in the US and Singapore, and agreements that stop third-party model providers from training on your data. Its privacy policy separately allows Manus to use aggregated, de-identified or anonymised data to develop and improve its own models, and its terms license your content to Manus to provide and improve the service.
The August 2026 separation from Meta led Manus to delete data some users created on or after December 29, 2025. If you rely on Manus for work files, keep your own copies of deliverables.
Read before you buy
Where Manus's own pages differ
Add-on credits: Manus's plans doc says add-on credits never expire, while its credits help article says they become inactive on the free plan or when a subscription lapses.
Training: the Team page says no data is used for model training, the membership help lists a training opt-out as a Team feature, and the privacy policy allows de-identified data to improve Manus's models.
Plan names and billing: the trust center refers to Pro, Plus and Team plans, while the membership help says Basic and Plus were renamed Pro. The terms describe monthly billing, while the pricing and Team pages offer annual billing.
Cancellation: the terms say to cancel by email, while the help center describes a self-serve 'Downgrade to Free' button.
The Tradeoffs
Manus Pros and Cons
What we love
- Hands off whole tasks, not just answers
- Wide Research, websites, slides and video in one agent
- Scheduled and event-triggered tasks on every paid tier
- Browser Operator with per-task permission
- Free plan with 300 daily credits
- SOC 2 and ISO 27001/27701 certifications listed
What could be better
- No published credit cost per task
- Plan credits don't roll over
- Credit purchases and payments are non-refundable
- Confirmations can be skipped per workflow
- De-identified data may improve Manus's own models
- Some post-acquisition user data was deleted in August 2026
The Audience
Who Should Use Manus?
Best for: founders and analysts
People who need market research, competitor tables and first-draft decks can delegate the whole job and review the output.
Best for: marketers shipping pages
Manus builds and hosts landing pages and makes slides from a single brief, so one tool covers several deliverables.
Skip if: you need cost certainty
If a monthly budget must be fixed, Manus's credit model is hard to forecast. A $20 ChatGPT or Claude plan has clearer limits for chat-style work.
The Methodology
How We Reviewed Manus
This is an editorial review, not a documented hands-on test. We didn't use a Manus account for this review. It's based on Manus's pricing and Team pages, help-center articles on membership pricing, credits, cancellation and refunds, its docs on plans, automations, website hosting and Mail Manus, its API docs, trust center, terms and privacy policy, and its blog posts on Meta, the separation, Manus 2.0, scheduled tasks and Manus Flex, all checked on October 13, 2026. Where Manus's pages differ, we report both statements. No task results or credit costs are claimed.
Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
Our review methodology →What changed
- : First published. Editorial review based on Manus's pricing and Team pages, help center, docs, API docs, trust center, terms, privacy policy and 2025-2026 blog posts, all checked October 13, 2026. Sub-scores are provisional pending editorial approval.
The Field
Manus vs The Competition
Manus competes with AI assistants that now run agents and with other credit-billed agent platforms. Prices below were checked on each vendor's pricing page on October 13, 2026.
| Tool | Starting Price | Free plan | Best Feature | BS Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manus | Free (300 daily credits); Pro from $20/mo (4,000 credits) | Yes | Autonomous tasks and Wide Research | 8.3/10 |
| ChatGPT | Free; Plus $20/mo; Business $20/user/mo billed annually | Yes | All-round assistant with workspace agents | 9.1/10 |
| Claude | Free; Pro $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) | Yes | Cowork task handoff and strong writing | 9/10 |
| Flowith | Pro $19.90/mo list (20,000 credits) | No | Agent on a canvas with many models | 8.8/10 |
| Genspark | Free; Plus $19.99/mo billed annually ($24.99 monthly) | Yes | AI workspace with agents | Not yet reviewed |
ChatGPT: ChatGPT covers chat, writing, code and images with clearer plan limits, and Business adds workspace agents. Manus goes further on hands-off execution, websites and Wide Research.Read our ChatGPT review →
Claude: Claude hands off multi-step tasks through Cowork with rolling usage limits rather than credits. Manus builds and hosts websites and runs Wide Research.Read our Claude review →
Flowith: Flowith wraps a similar credit-billed agent in a canvas with many chat and media models. Manus has more automation and browser features.Read our Flowith review →
Genspark: Genspark is another credit-based agent workspace with a daily free allowance. BestStacked hasn't reviewed Genspark.
In The Wild
How People Actually Use Manus
A founder preparing a fundraise
Ask Manus for a market map, competitor table and first-draft deck, then edit. Start on Free to gauge credit use, then Pro at $20 a month.
A marketer running weekly reports
Schedule a weekly research task and keep confirmation on for anything that sends or publishes. Watch credits against the 4,000 monthly allowance.
A small team sharing an agent
Team pools 4,000 credits per seat and adds audit logs; SSO is a flat $150 below 30 seats.
The Ecosystem
Manus Integrations
Manus connects to apps through MCP-based connectors and offers a REST API with webhooks.
- →Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar
- →Notion and Slack
- →GitHub
- →Stripe and HubSpot
- →Shopify and webhooks (automation triggers)
- →Zapier
- →REST API (API keys or OAuth), webhooks and skills
General API pricing isn't published. Manus Flex lets you use your own model key.
Common Questions
Manus FAQ
The Final Word
Should You Use Manus?
Manus is one of the most complete agents for handing off real work, from wide research to hosted websites and scheduled tasks. Its weaknesses are cost visibility, non-refundable credits and a turbulent ownership history in the past year. Use the free plan to see how many credits your typical tasks take, keep confirmations on for anything that sends or publishes, and keep your own copies of deliverables. We score Manus 8.3/10.
Yes, if
You want to delegate research, websites and decks to an agent and can live with variable credit use.
No, if
You need fixed monthly costs or mainly want chat-style help.
About the reviewer
Carlos Gil
Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Carlos Gil is the bestselling author of The End of Marketing, a LinkedIn Top Voice, and founder of The Best Network. He brings 15+ years in marketing to practical reviews of AI, SaaS, email marketing, creator, and ecommerce software.
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