Manus
An AI agent that carries out multi-step jobs (research, slides, websites, video) and hands back the finished file; independent again after China blocked Meta's purchase, with Manus 2.0 released September 2026.
On this page
Manus, at manus.im, is an AI agent: you give it a job, and it browses the web, writes code, and builds the thing (a slide deck, a website, a spreadsheet, a short video) instead of just chatting about it. In 2025 it was the tool that showed many in the group what an agent is.
The Meta deal, and why it fell through
- December 29, 2025: Meta agreed to buy Manus, reportedly for $2 billion or more. Manus was started by a Chinese team and had moved its headquarters to Singapore. In January 2026 the group admin said the Meta deal eased his concern about a China-linked tool and suggested members try it.
- Early to mid 2026: Chinese regulators objected and, according to news reports, ordered the deal reversed.
- August 11, 2026: Manus told users it would return to running as an independent company. To meet regulators' rules in some countries, it deleted data that certain users had created on or after December 29, 2025, on August 23 and 24, 2026, after giving them a backup window (Manus, "A Note to Our Users").
- September 1, 2026: Manus announced it had resumed independent operations, led by its founding team.
If you used Manus between January and August 2026 and never restored a backup, check your account. Manus says there is no deadline to restore.
What it costs (checked October 2026)
From Manus's help center:
- Free: 300 credits a day, chat mode and the "Lite" agent only, one task at a time.
- Pro: from $20/month (17% off yearly), from 4,000 credits a month, all agent levels.
- Team: from $20 per seat per month.
Credits run out fast on big jobs. A shliach in March 2026: "Manus is amazing but way too expensive to create things meaningfully. But I had it do many tasks that my former VA would do."
Manus 2.0 (September 28, 2026)
The new version adds a cheaper agent engine (in one Manus test it cost 32% less per task), a Cloud Computer you can rent for projects that must keep running, Automations that start when an email or calendar event arrives, a Video Editor that hands you the timeline instead of a finished file, and desktop apps for Windows and Mac. It also connects to Canva, Google Drive, Gmail and Zoom.
What shluchim use it for
- Slide decks and brochures from a block of text (January and March 2026). Members also named Genspark and Gamma for this.
- Holiday minisites. A shliach's workflow from February 2026: have your main AI write a prompt for Manus to gather Chabad.org material for Purim or Pesach, bring the report back to your AI, have it write a one-page HTML site with an RSVP button, and paste that into ChabadOne. See ChabadOne Integration.
- Flight research. It works, slowly, and some airline sites block it (March 2026). ChatGPT's agent was suggested as the cheaper option.
- Tasks a virtual assistant used to do, for one shliach, until the credits ran out.
Where it fell short
- A donor report (January 2026). For an 8-page year-end report, Manus gave a nice first draft, then "absolutely refused to listen" to corrections, used generic Chabad images, and exported to Canva as a flat picture that could not be edited. The office manager rebuilt it in Canva from the draft.
- Bot protection on some websites stops it.
- Results vary from one run to the next.
Do not give Manus, or any agent, logins to your bank, CRM or donor lists without reading Agent Safety and Privacy & Data first. Collecting information about people from the web raises its own questions; keep to what you would be comfortable explaining to the people involved.
Alternatives
- Genspark (genspark.ai), a similar agent for slides and research.
- ChatGPT Work and Dots, OpenAI's agents, since July and September 2026.
- Claude Cowork, Anthropic's desktop agent.
- Perplexity Computer, Perplexity's agent.
- Self-hosted agents such as GabAI and Hermes Agent. See Personal AI Agents.