Manus
Released Sep 28, 2026
General-purpose autonomous agent that plans and completes multi-step tasks (research, slides, websites, video, apps) in Agent Mode; current version is Manus 2.0.
- Domain
- General
- Access
- Generally available
- Plan
- Pro from $20/mo
Strengths & weaknesses
Strengths
- Manus 2.0 adds the Cascade engine, Manus Studio (local files), Cloud Computer, event-triggered Automations
- Vendor-reported 23.2% fewer tokens and 32% lower cost vs previous system in one tested configuration
- Free tier with daily credits
Weaknesses
- Free users limited to Manus 2.0 Lite in Agent Mode
- Credit-based usage
- Ownership in flux: Meta-owned since 2025-12-29, separation announced Aug 2026 with deletion of some user data
releaseDate is Manus 2.0 (2026-09-28, post dated 'Monday, September 28', footer 2026). Original Manus launched March 2025 per Manus's own GAIA page (exact day not confirmed on a primary page). Not notable: Manus' GAIA SOTA claim (March 2025) compared against figures from OpenAI's blog, not a placement on the official GAIA leaderboard; no 2.0 benchmarks. Developer company left as 'manus' rather than 'meta': Meta acquired Manus 2025-12-29, but Manus's 2026-08-11 note says it will soon return to operating independently for regulatory reasons — if Maia counts Meta ownership as 'frontier-lab developer', flip notable. No underlying LLM named.