Manus: Autonomous AI Agent — GAIA #1 | hokai.io
Manus scores 86.5% on GAIA benchmarks — the highest of any public AI agent. Free tier available; paid plans from $20/mo. Acquired by Meta for ~$2B in Dec 2025.
NotebookLM (Google) is a free AI research assistant for analyzing documents and generating insights. Offers audio overviews of source materials with no subscription required.
About Manus
Manus is a general-purpose autonomous AI agent built by Singapore-based Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd., launched on March 6, 2025. Unlike chatbots that answer questions, Manus executes entire tasks: give it a goal like "build a competitor analysis report" and it plans, researches, writes, and delivers a finished file without further input. In its first eight months, the platform processed 147 trillion tokens, powered 80 million virtual computers, and crossed $100M in annualized revenue. Manus runs on a multi-agent architecture powered by Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet, inside an isolated Linux sandbox with 29 tools (browser, Python interpreter, file system, external APIs). A Planner Agent breaks your request into sub-tasks, an Executor Agent runs them in parallel, and a Knowledge Agent handles research and synthesis. Tasks run asynchronously in the cloud: close your browser and Manus keeps working, notifying you when done. On the GAIA benchmark, the industry standard for real-world AI agent performance, Manus scored 86.5% at Level 1, 70.1% at Level 2, and 57.7% at Level 3, outperforming OpenAI's best agent at every tier. It is best suited for solo researchers, product teams prototyping web apps, freelancers producing client deliverables, and small agencies running content or data pipelines. Pricing starts at free (300 daily credits) and scales to Pro Standard at $20/month (4,000 credits), Pro Customizable at $40/month (8,000 credits), and Pro Extended at $200/month (40,000 credits). A Team plan runs $40 per seat per month. Credits are consumed per task: simple jobs cost tens of credits, complex agent runs cost 500-900 credits each, with no cost estimate shown before the task starts. In December 2025, Meta acquired Butterfly Effect for approximately $2-3 billion, its third-largest acquisition after WhatsApp and Scale AI. Manus had no SOC 2 or GDPR certification at time of acquisition, discontinued China operations, and relocated fully to Singapore. Manus 1.6 introduced a high-performance Max mode, native mobile app building, and Design View for interactive image creation.
Pricing
Free: 300 daily credits + 1,000 starter credits, 1 concurrent task. Pro Standard $20/mo (4,000 credits). Pro Customizable $40/mo (8,000 credits). Pro Extended $200/mo (40,000 credits). Team $40/seat/mo (min 2 seats). 17% discount with annual billing.
Key Features
- Autonomous End-to-End Task Execution: Manus takes a single natural-language goal and independently plans, executes, and delivers a finished result — building an 8-page market analysis with source citations in approximately 15 minutes.
- Async Cloud Operation: Tasks continue running in Manus's cloud environment after you close your browser or app, sending a notification when complete — eliminating the need for constant supervision.
- Manus's Computer Transparent Interface: A live view shows every step the agent takes in real time, letting users watch decision-making unfold and intervene at any point in the workflow.
- Wide Research Mode: Runs parallel searches across dozens of sources simultaneously, producing structured reports with citations that outperform ChatGPT on research depth in independent tests.
- Full-Stack App & Slide Builder: Generates deployable web apps, native iOS/Android apps, and structured presentations from a single prompt, producing downloadable Word, Excel, or code files.
- Mail Manus Email Automation: Users forward emails to trigger autonomous actions — resume screening, meeting prep, or custom workflows — using configurable prompt rules.
- Multi-Agent Architecture with 29 Tools: Powered by Claude 3.7 Sonnet running in an isolated Linux sandbox, Manus routes tasks across specialized Planner, Executor, and Knowledge sub-agents with access to 29 integrated tools.
Pros
- Leads the GAIA benchmark at 86.5% Level-1 accuracy, surpassing OpenAI's best agent by 12.2 percentage points across all three difficulty tiers
- Async cloud execution means multi-hour tasks complete without keeping your browser open — a workflow advantage no chatbot competitor offers
- Reached $100M+ ARR in 8 months from zero, demonstrating real enterprise adoption beyond hype
- Free tier with 300 daily credits gives meaningful access to core agent features without a credit card
- Downloadable output files (Word, Excel, code) make results immediately usable rather than copy-paste dependent
Cons
- Credit consumption is unpredictable — complex agent tasks burn 500-900 credits each with no cost preview, and unused monthly credits expire with no rollover
- No SOC 2 or GDPR certification as of acquisition date, making it unsuitable for regulated industries or enterprise security teams with compliance requirements
- Server instability under peak load ('tasks cannot be created' errors) affects reliability for time-sensitive workflows
- Built on Claude 3.7 Sonnet with no proprietary underlying model, meaning Anthropic's future API changes or pricing shifts directly impact Manus's capabilities and costs
- Production code quality is unreliable — architectural decisions (database schema, API design) are made autonomously and often need significant revision before deployment
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Manus AI and what does it do?
Manus is a general-purpose autonomous AI agent built by Singapore-based Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. and launched on March 6, 2025. Unlike chatbots that answer questions, Manus executes entire workflows end-to-end — give it a goal and it plans, researches, writes, codes, and delivers a finished file without step-by-step prompting. It powered over 80 million virtual computers and processed 147 trillion tokens in its first eight months, reaching $100M+ in annualized revenue. In December 2025, Meta acquired the company for approximately $2-3 billion.
How much does Manus AI cost?
Manus offers a free tier with 300 daily credits plus 1,000 starter credits, limited to 1 concurrent task. Paid plans include Pro Standard at $20/month (4,000 credits), Pro Customizable at $40/month (8,000 credits), and Pro Extended at $200/month (40,000 credits). A Team plan costs $40 per seat per month with a minimum of 2 seats. All paid plans include a 17% discount when billed annually. The key catch: complex agent tasks can consume 500-900 credits each, with no cost estimate shown before a task begins, and unused credits expire at the end of each billing cycle.
How does Manus AI perform on benchmarks?
Manus leads the GAIA benchmark — the industry standard for evaluating real-world AI agent capability — with scores of 86.5% at Level 1, 70.1% at Level 2, and 57.7% at Level 3. These scores outperform OpenAI's best agent at every difficulty tier (OpenAI scores 74.3%, 69.1%, and 47.6% respectively). GAIA measures tasks requiring web use, multi-step reasoning, and tool use across varying degrees of difficulty. Manus's architecture is powered by Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet with 29 integrated tools running in an isolated Linux sandbox.
Is Manus AI free to use?
Yes, Manus has a genuine free tier that includes 300 daily refresh credits plus 1,000 one-time starter credits — no credit card required. The free plan supports Chat mode, 1 concurrent task, and 1 scheduled task. For most users, the free tier supports one moderately complex agent task per day (simple tasks use 50-150 credits; research-heavy tasks use 500-900 credits). Since May 2025, the waitlist was removed and anyone can sign up directly at manus.im using an email, Google, Apple, or Microsoft account.
What are the best alternatives to Manus AI?
The closest alternatives are OpenAI Operator ($200/month), which handles browser-based task automation but lacks IDE and terminal integration; Devin by Cognition ($500/month), which targets professional software engineers but has a reported 13.86% task success rate; and Claude Computer Use by Anthropic, which controls your actual desktop but requires continuous user engagement. For pure research tasks, Perplexity Pro ($20/month) and ChatGPT's Deep Research ($20/month with Plus) are cheaper options, though neither executes multi-step workflows autonomously. Manus is the only option with GAIA benchmark leadership and asynchronous cloud execution across all four competitors.
Who should use Manus AI and who should avoid it?
Manus is best for freelance researchers producing client reports, solo founders building web app prototypes without developers, content strategists running competitive intelligence workflows, and small agencies creating data-heavy deliverables. In independent testing, Manus produced an 8-page market analysis with source citations in approximately 15 minutes. Avoid Manus if your workflows require SOC 2 or GDPR compliance (Manus has neither as of late 2025), if you need production-ready code with predictable architecture, or if your team requires cost-certain high-volume automation — the credit system's unpredictability makes budgeting difficult at scale.
Does Manus AI have an API?
Yes, Manus provides a REST API documented at open.manus.im/docs, allowing developers to create tasks, upload files via presigned URLs, and receive async results through RSA-SHA256 verified webhooks. The API supports a taskMode parameter (chat, adaptive, or agent) and an agentProfile parameter (speed or quality). A community PHP 8.2+ SDK with full Laravel support is available on GitHub. Native integrations include Gmail via Mail Manus, Google Calendar, and Notion. The API does not yet offer Slack, Jira, Salesforce, or Zapier connectivity natively.