Verdict
Manus breaks a request into steps and keeps working after the app is closed, which suits research, slides and small websites more than shopping or bookings. MIT Technology Review likened it to a clever intern that cuts corners, and paying users in user reviews say credits run out fast enough that Pro feels like the free plan. Meta's takeover was blocked by Beijing in 2026 and Manus warned some user data could be deleted in the split.
Privacy note. Says it trains only on de-identified data, but the full policy could not be read, Salt Labs showed an email could hijack it (Dark Reading) and the Meta unwind put some user data at risk (Bloomberg Law)
Best for
Research reports and slide decks handed off and collected later
Skip if
Anyone on a fixed budget, or wary of linking email to an agent after the Salt Labs hijack
Key facts
- Category
- AI that does tasks for you
- Made by
- Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd. (Manus AI)
- Based in
- Singapore
- Launched
- 2025
- Works on
- iPhone, Android, Web, Windows, Mac
- In the UK
- Yes
- Price from
- £19 a month
- Free plan
- Free chat plus daily refresh credits for agent tasks (300 a day reported by individual reviewers and pricing guides)
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| 4,000 credits a month | $20 | month |
| 8,000 credits a month (adjustable) | $40 | month |
| 40,000 credits a month | $200 | month |
What it does
- carries out multi-step tasks as a general AI agent
- builds web apps and websites
- makes slides, designs, images, music and video
- runs Wide Research across many sources
- operates a web browser on the user's behalf
- runs scheduled tasks and works through email and Slack
Ratings
What people say
People who hand it whole jobs, such as gathering podcast links or running a daily Telegram assistant, praise what it finishes, but the user threads in July to October 2026 are dominated by credits vanishing on Manus 2.0. Store averages of 4.7 sit far above Trustpilot's 1.2, where support and billing complaints lead.
“Manus agent mode is unbelievably cracked I wanted transcripts of every podcast i’ve ever been on Asked it to search Youtube to find all podcasts with me as a guest, it found 19 links”
Post on X, 16 January 2026 · source
“Manus is genuinely useful, and the Telegram Agent is the reason I paid for Pro in the first place.”
Individual user review, 30 July 2026 · source
“I now keep only one daily to-do assistant and have stopped all other monitoring tasks, yet my credits still run out.”
Individual user review, 29 July 2026 · source
“3 convos costs me nearly 1500 credits! … Worst thing is none of these convos gave me an image I want.”
Individual user review, 30 September 2026 · source
Press reviews
- MIT Technology Review 2025-03-11
Like 'a highly intelligent and efficient intern' that sometimes makes wrong assumptions or cuts corners; 'promising but not perfect'.
- Dark Reading 2026-09-24
Salt Labs hid instructions in an email that made Manus run code and expose tokens for linked Gmail, Dropbox and GitHub accounts; Meta's bug bounty patched it after Manus did not reply.
- Bloomberg Law 2026-08-12
Manus will run independently after Beijing blocked Meta's takeover, and warned some user data was at risk of deletion.
Privacy
- Trains on your data
- Manus says it uses only aggregated or de-identified data to improve its services (help-centre article archived Feb 2026, since dropped from the live help centre); the full privacy policy did not render for checking
- Opt-out
- no opt-out described in the help centre
- Incidents
- Salt Labs prompt-injection flaw allowing code execution and theft of linked-account tokens, patched via Meta's bug bounty (Dark Reading, 24 Sep 2026). Meta's acquisition, announced Dec 2025, was blocked by Chinese regulators and unwound in Aug 2026; Manus warned some user data could be deleted (Bloomberg Law, 12 Aug 2026).
- Age limit
- 18+ (help centre); UK App Store rates it 13+
Official videos
- Introducing Manus: The General AI Agent 2025-03-05
FAQ
Is Manus free?
There is a free plan with chat and a daily allowance of credits for agent tasks. Paid plans start at £19 a month in the UK App Store, and tasks use credits at different rates.
Is Manus owned by Meta?
Not any more. Meta agreed to buy it in December 2025, but Chinese regulators blocked the deal and Manus said in August 2026 it would run independently.
Is Manus safe to connect to my email?
In September 2026 Salt Labs showed a hidden instruction in an email could make Manus run code and steal tokens for linked Gmail, Dropbox and GitHub accounts. The flaw was patched, but the UK's NCSC warns this type of attack may never be fully fixed.
Why do Manus credits run out so fast?
Credit use depends on how long and complex a task is. individual reviewers on Manus 2.0 report single jobs using thousands of credits, and the company has asked some to send task links for review.
Can teenagers use Manus?
Manus says the platform is not intended for anyone under 18, although the UK App Store lists it as 13+.
Scores are based on published evidence, not lab tests. How we score.
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