OpenAssistant vs Manus: two ways to hand work to an AI agent

Published by 3Gen Internet Corporation, maker of OpenAssistant, Skej and AGNT. Comparisons use public documentation, without hands-on testing.

If you want a Manus alternative that works as an ongoing assistant, with its own email address, phone number and Slack presence and approvals you set per action, pick OpenAssistant. If you want to hand over a big one-off job, especially research across dozens or hundreds of items, Manus is built for that and is the better fit. The two products solve different problems, so this page compares them row by row from each vendor’s own pages.

Options at a glance

We weighed the same five things for both products: whether the documented capabilities cover the job, the vendor-published evidence and its limitations, price for what you get, where it works, and privacy, security and admin controls. The job decides the winner.

• An ongoing assistant for email, text, calls and Slack: OpenAssistant. Its pages describe its own name, email, phone number and calendar, reach through email, text, calls and Slack, and approvals set per action type. It also has a SOC 2 Type II statement and a free plan.
• One-off big tasks and wide parallel research: Manus. Its docs describe a main agent that splits a job across hundreds of sub-agents, and it documents a cloud browser, a browser extension and a desktop mode that work with your local files.

The table uses the linked vendor pages.

OpenAssistant

The homepage says, “Each assistant has their own computer, email address, and phone number.” (OpenAssistant site). The product is built around handing work to a named assistant you reach the way you would reach a colleague: Cc it on an email thread, text it, or DM it in Slack. It can also place and receive calls (OpenAssistant site).

What it does:

• Acts as itself, or as you. The assistant introduces itself as your assistant and, per the page, “never pretends to be you unless you tell it to.” Sending email from your connected account is a separate autonomy category (autonomy article).
• Approvals per action. Manual waits for you. A Confirmation Window gives you a set period to approve, change or cancel, and proceeds if you do nothing. Autonomous acts immediately. The help center says a Confirmation Window is not the same as Manual approval (choosing your settings). Its changelog for 20 October says that even on tasks set to act on their own, an email from your account still asks first unless you chose otherwise (OpenAssistant changelog).
• Coordinator Mode. A scheduling professional can use OpenAssistant on behalf of another person, the Principal. The article describes scheduling only, with Manual Approval and Autonomous options (Coordinator Mode article).
• Research as a brief. The site says it looks into companies, people and markets and returns a brief (OpenAssistant site).

Price: Starter is free. Pro is $72 a month, or $60 a month billed annually; Team is $120 a month, or $100 billed annually; both at the 5,000-credit tier, and higher credit tiers cost more (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen). Annual billing gets 2 months free, which matches the numbers: 10 months at $72 is $720, or $60 a month (pricing details). Simple tasks use about 10 to 50 credits, and deep research or multi-person meeting work uses hundreds.

Watch out for: it is a general work assistant, not a specialist for deep research at scale, coding, outbound sales or a support desk. It does not join group texts, it does not work in Slack Connect channels with outside companies, and texting is not supported in every country. Plan credits do not roll over.

Manus

Manus calls itself “an autonomous general AI agent designed to complete tasks” (Manus docs). The Manus 2.0 post, dated Monday, September 28 (it does not print a year), adds Cloud Computer, Automations, Studio, the Cue app and Computer Use (Manus 2.0 post).

What it does:

• Three ways to work. Cloud Browser operates a browser for you, and you can log into your personal or work accounts inside it (Cloud Browser). Browser Operator is an extension that uses your local browser and existing logins, and you must authorize every session (Browser Operator). Desktop mode works with local files and apps, limited to folders you authorize (Desktop).
• Wide Research. The docs say a main agent splits the request and “deploys hundreds of independent agents that work in parallel,” then assembles a table, report or dataset. The docs say “Typically minutes for 50-100 items, regardless of depth,” and use 250 researchers as a worked example. These are vendor claims. The docs also say not to use it for single deep dives or for tasks with fewer than 10 items (Wide Research docs and Wide Research page).
• Cue agents. The 2.0 post says they can pay within a budget you set (Manus 2.0 post).

Price: the pricing page shows three paid cards with no plan names. On the monthly toggle they are $20 for 4,000 credits a month, $40 for 8,000 credits a month by default, and $200 for 40,000 credits a month. Billed yearly, the page shows $17, $34 and $167 a month. All three include 300 refresh credits every day, 20 concurrent tasks and 20 scheduled tasks. The $40 and $200 cards have a selector for other credit amounts (Manus pricing; annual prices read from the page’s annual toggle). The docs say credits are used by task complexity, plan credits reset monthly, and purchased add-on credits never expire (Manus plans docs). A Cloud Computer can be bought, but no price appeared on the pages read.

Watch out for: the docs name Free, Pro and Team plans, but the pricing page cards read show three unnamed paid cards and no free card. This article follows the pricing page for prices and treats a free plan as unconfirmed. Manus credits and OpenAssistant credits are different units, so do not compare credit counts across the two. The Cloud Browser page carries a warning that it uses data center IPs (Cloud Browser).

Verdict: which to pick

Pick OpenAssistant if you want an assistant that stays on your side every day: it has its own email, phone number and Slack presence, you can reach it by text or call, and you decide per action whether it waits for approval. It also has a free plan with no card, a SOC 2 Type II statement and admin locks for teams. Its pages are built around scheduling, follow-ups, inbox work and meeting prep, which Manus’s pages do not describe as a focus.

Pick Manus where it is plainly stronger:

• Wide parallel research. Fifty to several hundred items in one run, split across sub-agents, is the job Wide Research is described for. OpenAssistant’s pages describe research briefs, not parallel research at that scale. For a research-first pick, see our research agents roundup.
• Work on your own machine. Manus documents a browser extension that uses your local logins and a desktop mode for local files. OpenAssistant’s pages describe its own sandboxed computer instead. See the browser and computer-use roundup.
• One-off big jobs. Manus lists 20 concurrent tasks and 20 scheduled tasks on every paid card, which suits batches of separate jobs.

Some teams may want both: Manus for a heavy research run, OpenAssistant for the daily work of email, calendar and chat. For more picks, see best AI agents in 2026 and AI agent pricing explained.

What to ask each vendor

• How does the agent handle prompt injection, meaning hidden instructions in a web page or email that try to steer it?
• Which actions always wait for my approval, and can the agent loosen its own limits?
• Is my data used to train models, and where can I read the policy?
• What happens when credits run out in the middle of a job?
• What are the exact plan names, prices and credit amounts for my team size?
• Which countries and channels are supported for my team?

What to keep for humans

• Payments, contracts and anything you cannot undo.
• Messages sent as you to clients, investors or the press, until you trust the settings.
• Decisions that rest on a research table: spot-check the sources before you act on it.
• Logins for sensitive accounts, and any verification step (SMS codes, MFA, CAPTCHA).

Related reading

• OpenAssistant vs ChatGPT: which AI agent should you use for work?: ChatGPT agent is no longer available; OpenAssistant and ChatGPT Work compared on identity, channels, approvals, security and price.
• OpenAssistant vs Lindy: pricing, phone, approvals and where each wins: Price per seat, phone calls, approvals, admin, free plans and security, plus where Lindy wins.
• Best AI browser and computer-use agents in 2026, compared: Nine browser and computer-use agents compared on documented controls, where the browser runs, approvals and prices.
• Best AI research agents in 2026: deep research tools compared: Seven research agents compared on prices and limit traps: Elicit, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Consensus and Manus.
• Best free AI agents in 2026: what you get at no cost: True free plans, trials and expiring credits, with the stated limits and what each free tier lacks.

Frequently asked questions

Is OpenAssistant a Manus alternative?

For ongoing work through email, text, calls and Slack, yes. OpenAssistant is an assistant with its own identity and per-action approvals. For wide parallel research or work on your local browser and files, Manus documents more, so use it for those jobs.

How much does Manus cost compared with OpenAssistant?

Manus shows three paid cards at $20, $40 and $200 a month, or $17, $34 and $167 a month billed yearly (Manus pricing). OpenAssistant Pro is $72 a month or $60 billed annually, and Team is $120 or $100, per user at the 5,000-credit tier (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen). Credits are different units, so compare what each plan lets you do, not the credit counts.

Does Manus have a free plan?

The Manus docs describe a Free plan with limited monthly credits, but the pricing page cards show only paid plans. Check the page when you sign up. OpenAssistant’s Starter plan is free, with 1,000 credits at signup, then 100 bonus credits a day once used up, up to 1,000 a month.

Can Manus send email and make phone calls like OpenAssistant?

The Manus 2.0 post says Cue agents have their own email address and phone number, and Cue is in early access with an invite code. The pages read for the main Manus agent do not state email or calls as channels. OpenAssistant lists email, text, calls and Slack on its site.

Does OpenAssistant do wide research like Manus?

OpenAssistant returns research briefs, such as a report and spreadsheet on a company. Only Manus describes a feature that splits a research job across hundreds of parallel sub-agents.

Try OpenAssistant

If you want an assistant that handles email, scheduling and follow-ups across your channels, start with the free Starter plan at openassistant.us. It needs no credit card, and you can compare paid options on the pricing page.