Manus by Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Manus AI), Singapore
Overview
General-purpose autonomous agent that plans and runs multi-step tasks in a cloud sandbox, such as research, slides, websites and data analysis, with web, desktop, mobile and browser-extension clients. Manus 2.0, announced in September 2026, added a new agent harness, dedicated cloud computers and a desktop studio.
Status: Meta acquired Manus in December 2025 (closing 2025-12-29), China's NDRC ordered the deal unwound on 2026-04-27, and Manus announced on 2026-08-11 that it would operate again as an independent company.
It was mentioned in 8 Hacker News posts and comments over the last 30 days.
Recent developments
- 2026-04-27: China's NDRC ordered Meta's Manus acquisition unwound; Manus resumed independent operation (announced 2026-08-11).
- 2026-09-28: Manus 2.0 announced (new agent harness, Cloud Computer, Manus Studio, Cue app).
Manus usage and attention over time
Download the raw daily series: manus.csv
Install Manus
| Homebrew | brew install --cask manus |
|---|
These commands use the packages tracked on this page. The vendor may recommend a different installer; see the official documentation.
Key facts
| Maker | Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Manus AI), Singapore |
|---|---|
| Type | Autonomous task agent |
| First released | March 2025 |
| License | Proprietary |
| Interfaces | Web, Desktop, Mobile, Browser extension, API |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, iOS, Android |
| Models | Manus 2.0 model tiers (Max, standard, Lite); underlying third-party LLMs are not publicly specified |
| Bring your own API key | No |
| Homebrew installs | 42 in 30 days · 323 in a year |
| App Store rating | 4.7 / 5 from 38,671 ratings |
Pricing
Free plan: 300 daily credits (Chat Mode and Manus 2.0 Lite in Agent Mode). Pro from $20/month (4,000 credits) and from $40/month (8,000 credits, 7-day trial), 17% off with annual billing; Team from $20 per seat/month.
Source: official pricing page, checked Oct 6, 2026. Prices change often; confirm before you buy.
Pulse Score breakdown
Each component is scored 0 to 100 from public signals; a dash means no data for it. Methodology.
Reliability
From the vendor's public status page · now: All Systems Operational
0 incidents reported in the last 30 days.
Manus alternatives
| # | Agent | Pulse | Downloads 7d | 7d | 30d | VS Code installs | Stars | Latest release | Price | Last 90 days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
OpenClawOpenClaw Foundation (nonprofit); created by Peter Steinberger |
80 | 4.5M | up 34.8% | up 28.5% | — | 391K+162/day | 2026.9.83d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| 27 |
Hermes AgentNous Research |
54 | 50.2K | up 37.3% | down 39.8% | — | 251K+259/day | 2026.9.2412d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| 62 |
GensparkGenspark Inc. (MainFunc) |
42 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Free + $24.99/mo | ||
| 74 |
AutoGPTSignificant Gravitas |
38 | — | — | — | — | 188K+22/day | 0.6.448mo ago | Free + $50/mo | ||
| 83 |
KortixKortix AI |
35 | — | — | — | — | 20.2K+3/day | 0.13.502d ago | Free + $40/mo | ||
| 105 |
DeerFlowByteDance |
27 | — | — | — | — | 83.4K+42/day | 2.1.012d ago | Free (OSS) | ||
| No agents match that filter. | |||||||||||
Head to head: Manus vs Genspark · Manus vs OpenClaw · Manus vs Hermes Agent · Manus vs AutoGPT
Guides that cover Manus
AI Agent vs Chatbot vs Agentic AI: What Is the Difference?
Plain-language definitions of AI agents, chatbots, agentic AI, LLMs, workflows and skills, how they relate, and how to tell which one you are looking at, with real examples.
Best AI Agents in 2026: Live Rankings by Category
The leading AI agents for coding, automation, research, browsing, app building, customer support, voice and sales, ranked by public usage data that refreshes daily, with prices and free options.
What Is an AI Agent? A Practical Explanation With Real Examples
What makes software an AI agent, how agents differ from chatbots and plain language models, the main types in use today and how to judge one.
Manus FAQ
How much does Manus cost?
Free plan: 300 daily credits (Chat Mode and Manus 2.0 Lite in Agent Mode). Pro from $20/month (4,000 credits) and from $40/month (8,000 credits, 7-day trial), 17% off with annual billing; Team from $20 per seat/month.
Is Manus open source?
No. Manus is a proprietary product from Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Manus AI), Singapore.
How popular is Manus?
It was mentioned in 8 Hacker News posts and comments over the last 30 days.
What are the alternatives to Manus?
The closest alternatives in the same category by Pulse Score are OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Genspark, AutoGPT.
Where these numbers come from
Homebrew: manus. Wikipedia: Manus (AI agent). Site rank: manus.im on the Tranco list. See data sources for how each one is collected.
Product facts and pricing were checked against: help.manus.im, manus.im, techcrunch.com, en.wikipedia.org, chromewebstore.google.com, itunes.apple.com, play.google.com, formulae.brew.sh.