Agentic Index
Browser Use vs Manus (2026)
Browser Use and Manus sit at opposite ends of the browser agent stack: Browser Use is the open source framework developers embed to give their own agents a browser, free to self host with usage based cloud from roughly six cents an hour per session, while Manus is a finished consumer and prosumer agent that takes a whole task and executes it, free tier with three hundred daily credits and Pro from 20 dollars a month. The split is who does the building: choose Browser Use to build browser automation into your product, Manus to hand tasks to an agent today.
| At a glance | Browser Use | Manus |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Browser / computer-use agent | Browser / computer-use agent |
| Entry price | Usage-based (~$0.06/hr sessions, $10/GB proxy) · OSS free · $10 credits | Free tier with three hundred daily refresh credits; paid Pro from twenty dollars per month, Extended at two hundred dollars per month |
| Free / trial | Free tier | Free plan at zero dollars with three hundred daily refresh credits and access to Manus 1.6 Lite, no credit card required |
| Pricing confidence | public partial | public partial |
| Feature |
M
Manus
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Action & orchestration | ||
|
Integrations & Tool Calling Ability to connect agents to real systems through native integrations, OAuth-authenticated actions, custom tools, APIs, webhooks, or MCP-compatible tools. |
Full / Explicit | Full / Explicit |
|
Workflow Orchestration Ability to sequence, branch, retry, route, and combine deterministic workflow nodes with autonomous agent steps. |
Full / Explicit | Full / Explicit |
|
Triggers & Channel Coverage How agents wake up and where they work: schedules, webhooks, message events, CRM events, inbox events, chat, email, voice, and collaboration tools. |
Partial | Partial |
| Knowledge & context | ||
|
Knowledge Grounding & RAG Ability to ground agent behavior in company data through document ingestion, retrieval, external knowledge APIs, semantic search, or RAG layers. |
No / Not documented | Partial |
|
Memory & State Persistence Ability to persist context across a run, conversation, workflow, user, team, or longer-term memory layer. |
Partial | Partial |
| Control & trust | ||
|
Human Oversight & Guardrails Approval steps, consent checkpoints, escalation rules, structured guardrails, policy constraints, and pause/resume controls. |
Full / Explicit | Partial |
|
Security, Identity & Governance RBAC, SSO, auditability, encryption, least-privilege tool access, compliance posture, and data handling policy. |
Partial | Partial |
|
Observability & Auditability Traces, logs, execution histories, metrics, audit events, and debugging detail for production agent behavior. |
Full / Explicit | Partial |
|
Deployment & Data Residency Deployment modes and options, including SaaS, dedicated cloud, VPC, on-prem, hybrid, local runtime, and self-hosting. |
Full / Explicit | No / Not documented |
| Solution readiness | ||
|
Prebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs Ready-made workflows, packaged employees, templates, blueprints, industry solutions, and role-specific agents that reduce time-to-value. |
Full / Explicit | Partial |
| Platform extensibility | ||
|
Model Flexibility & Routing Ability to work across multiple foundation models, route tasks to different models, or let buyers bring their own providers and keys. |
Full / Explicit | Partial |
|
APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility Composability layer: stable APIs, SDKs, MCP tool consumption/serving, custom tools, and integration into internal systems. |
Full / Explicit | Partial |
|
Testing, Debugging & Optimization Testing, debugging, scoring, retries, fallbacks, quality gates, and optimization loops for improving agent workflows before and after deployment. |
Partial | No / Not documented |
| Specialist automation | ||
|
Browser & Computer Use Browser, desktop, or remote/local computer control for workflows that cannot be handled through stable APIs alone. |
Full / Explicit | Full / Explicit |
Pricing snapshot
Sourced from the Index pricing dataset · open each vendor's profile for full detail.
| Pricing |
M
Manus
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
Entry price Lowest public entry point |
Usage-based (~$0.06/hr sessions, $10/GB proxy) · OSS free · $10 credits | Free tier with three hundred daily refresh credits; paid Pro from twenty dollars per month, Extended at two hundred dollars per month |
|
Pricing confidence How public the numbers are |
Public — partial | Public — partial |
|
Billing Primary billing axis |
usage | credit based subscription; every action consumes credits, complex tasks consume many |
|
Variable cost Workload / overage exposure |
High variable cost | High variable cost |
|
Free tier / trial Try before you buy |
Free tierTrial
|
Free tierTrial
|
|
Buying motion Self-serve vs sales call |
Mixed | Self-serve |
Choose Browser Use if
- You are a developer embedding browser control into your own agent or product.
- Open source self hosting and usage based cloud pricing fit your architecture.
- You need programmatic control, not a finished consumer agent.
Choose Manus if
- You want a finished agent that takes a task and completes it end to end.
- Published flat pricing from free to 20 dollars a month Pro fits how you buy.
- Browser work is one part of broader tasks including research, design, and app building.
Meta acquired Manus for about 2 billion dollars in December 2025; Chinese regulators blocked the deal in April 2026 and Meta began unwinding it in June 2026. The subscription service continues operating, but ownership and roadmap are genuinely uncertain until the separation completes.