Is Manus open source?

No. OpenManus on GitHub is an open source project inspired by Manus, not made by it. MausBot is open source, Apache 2.0 on GitHub apart from an enterprise/ folder.

There is a free plan with 300 credits a day and one task at a time. Pro starts at $20 a month with 4,000 credits. The MausBot app is free; its bots run on the Claude, ChatGPT or Grok account, or the API key, you already have.

Is Manus owned by Meta?

No. Meta agreed to buy Manus in December 2025, but China blocked the deal in April 2026, and by August Manus said it was operating as an independent company again.

What is the difference between Manus and Cue?

Manus is the general agent you hand a task to. Cue is Manus's separate app for a team of personal agents, each with its own email, phone number, wallet and computer.

Comparison as of November 15, 2026, with both products as they were that day · Manus (Butterfly Effect)

Manus alternative: MausBot

A Manus alternative that is open source: one team of the AI agents you already have, Claude Code, Codex and Grok, on the accounts you already pay for.

Manus is a general AI agent: you hand it a goal and it works in its own cloud environment, billed by usage, to make slides, sites, research and video. MausBot is the open source alternative: one team of the AI agents you already have, Claude Code, Codex, Grok and more, each bot with its own model and computer, on the accounts you already pay for.

What Manus is

Butterfly Effect released Manus as an invite-only preview in March 2025, billing it as a general-purpose agent. Manus 2.0, out on September 28, 2026, added the Cascade agent harness, Cloud Computers you can buy for always-on projects, automations triggered by events, the Manus Studio desktop app for your own files, and remote control of an authorized computer. It picks image, video and audio models per task, or you choose. Meta agreed to buy Manus in December 2025; China blocked the deal in April 2026, and Manus now runs as an independent company again.

Launched: March 5, 2025 (preview); Manus 2.0 on September 28, 2026. Sources: Manus; Manus: Introducing Manus 2.0; Manus help: current membership pricing; Manus help: what is new in Manus 2.0; Manus help: the My Computer feature; Manus docs: Browser Operator; Manus models; Manus privacy policy (served on cue.im); InfoWorld: Meta's ex launches agent rival to Meta's Muse; Implicator: Manus 2.0 and Cue; Yicai Global: Manus preview release.

Why people look for a Manus alternative

Credits: every plan meters work in credits, from 300 a day on Free to 4,000 a month on the $20 Pro plan.
The model behind the agent itself is not disclosed.
Data sits under Butterfly Effect's privacy policy: de-identified data may be used to improve its models, and a data training opt-out is listed as a Team plan feature.
Salt Labs showed in September 2026 that one email could hijack the agent and reach connected-app credentials; the flaw was patched.
Closed source: nothing to read or self-host.

Manus vs MausBot

The Manus column comes from the vendor's own pages and the press cited above, checked on November 15, 2026. Where the vendor has not said, the cell says so.

	Manus	MausBot
Price	Free with 300 credits a day; Pro from $20 a month (4,000 credits) or $40 (8,000); Team from $20 a seat	Free and open source. Bots run on the Claude, ChatGPT or Grok account, or the API key, you already have
Models	Agent model not disclosed; picks media models per task, or you choose	16 agent engines (Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Cursor, Copilot and more), API and local models; chosen per bot, switchable mid-conversation
Agents	One agent per task; parallel agents for Wide Research	As many bots as you like, in group chats, with a Chief of Staff that hands out work
Where it runs	Manus's cloud; a Cloud Computer you can buy; the desktop app on your own files	Your own computer or server; cloud computers with a live desktop on a Cloud plan
Where your data lives	Manus servers, under Butterfly Effect's privacy policy (Singapore)	~/.openmausbot on your own machine; prompts go only to the model provider you choose
Before it acts	You authorize each browser session; on your computer it asks only for sensitive commands	Full access by default, or Ask, Auto-accept edits or Approve for me per bot; sends can be set to ask every time
Keeps working with the laptop closed	Yes, tasks run in Manus's cloud	Yes on a Cloud plan from $15 a month, or self-hosted free on your own server
Platforms	Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android; browser extension; Slack	macOS, Windows, Ubuntu; iPhone and Android apps
Open source	No	Yes. Apache 2.0 on GitHub, apart from an enterprise/ folder

What MausBot is

MausBot is a free, open-source app that runs a team of the AI agents you already have. Each bot has its own model, computer and connected apps, on Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Cursor, Copilot and other agent engines, API models or local models, using the accounts you already pay for. A Chief of Staff bot hands work to the others, bots share group chats, and every bot reads your About me. It runs on Mac, Windows and Ubuntu with iPhone and Android apps, keeps your data in ~/.openmausbot on your own machine, and is published on GitHub under Apache 2.0. You can self-host it free on your own server, and Cloud plans from $15 a month keep bots working with the laptop closed.

What Manus still does better

Turns one prompt into finished slides, websites, games and video, with image, video and audio models from Google, OpenAI, ByteDance and others built in.
Runs in Manus's cloud from a browser tab or phone, so nothing on your side has to stay on.
Wide Research runs many agents in parallel on one large job.
A free plan with 300 credits a day.

Other Manus alternatives

MausBot is the open-source option. The other agents in this category, each with its own comparison page:

Grok Bot by xAI: Grok Bot opened as a beta on August 11, 2026 and reached version 1.0 on November 2, 2026.
OpenAI dots by OpenAI: Dots launched on September 29, 2026.
ChatGPT Work by OpenAI: ChatGPT Work is an agent inside ChatGPT that OpenAI launched on July 9, 2026, built on Codex technology.
Meta Muse by Meta: Muse launched on September 8, 2026.

Every other comparison page: Grok Bot, OpenAI dots, ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse, Claude Cowork, Claude Duet, Gemini Spark, Perplexity Computer, Cue by Manus, Instinct, Poke, Viktor, Lindy, Squad, Turnstone, Bops, Hark Pro, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, Vellum, Open Dots, OpenBot, Rakazo, OpenMuse, OpenInstinct.

Frequently asked questions

Is Manus open source?: No. OpenManus on GitHub is an open source project inspired by Manus, not made by it. MausBot is open source, Apache 2.0 on GitHub apart from an enterprise/ folder.
Is Manus free?: There is a free plan with 300 credits a day and one task at a time. Pro starts at $20 a month with 4,000 credits. The MausBot app is free; its bots run on the Claude, ChatGPT or Grok account, or the API key, you already have.
Is Manus owned by Meta?: No. Meta agreed to buy Manus in December 2025, but China blocked the deal in April 2026, and by August Manus said it was operating as an independent company again.
What is the difference between Manus and Cue?: Manus is the general agent you hand a task to. Cue is Manus's separate app for a team of personal agents, each with its own email, phone number, wallet and computer.

This comparison is based on Manus and MausBot as they were on November 15, 2026. Both products change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.