Agentic Index
Manus vs Perplexity Comet (2026)
Manus and Perplexity Comet both put an agent in front of the web, from different form factors: Manus is a standalone general purpose agent (browser operation, research, design, web app building) on credit based pricing, with plans at 20, 40 and 200 dollars a month, while Comet is a full agentic browser, free to download on macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS, with deeper capability unlocked by flat Perplexity subscriptions at 20 dollars Pro and 200 dollars Max. That verdict is the Agentic Index coverage score, graded from each vendor's own published materials.
Choose Manus to delegate whole tasks, Comet to keep browsing yourself with an agent alongside.
This comparison is published by Agentic Index, an independent agentic AI vendor research platform. Manus and Perplexity Comet are each graded against the same 14 capability Agentic Index taxonomy, from the vendor's own public materials under the Agentic Index verification standard, alongside 955 researched vendors. No vendor pays for placement and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Choose Manus if
- You want to hand off complete tasks rather than browse with assistance.
- Output beyond the browser (documents, designs, working web apps) is part of the job.
- Credit based pricing that scales with task complexity fits your usage.
Choose Perplexity Comet if
- You live in a browser all day and want the agent embedded in it.
- Free cross platform apps on desktop and mobile matter for how you work.
- Flat 20 dollars a month subscription pricing beats variable credit burn for you.
| Feature | M Manus |
P Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
| Action & orchestration | ||
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Integrations & Tool Calling Ability to connect agents to real systems through native integrations, OAuth-authenticated actions, custom tools, APIs, webhooks, or MCP-compatible tools. |
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ManusIntegrations & Tool Calling A catalog of MCP connectors (Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, Slack, GitHub and others) lets the agent act in outside systems. Custom MCP servers add internal tools and proprietary APIs, and Zapier reaches further apps. In the API, connectors can be chosen per task. Sourcemanus.im/docs/integrations/custom-mcpread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometIntegrations & Tool Calling The Comet Agent acts in connected accounts such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive through Perplexity connectors the user opts into and can revoke, sending email and scheduling meetings on the user's behalf. Sourceperplexity.ai/comet/resources/articles/comet-assistant-vs-agentread 2026-09-27 |
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Workflow Orchestration Ability to sequence, branch, retry, route, and combine deterministic workflow nodes with autonomous agent steps. |
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ManusWorkflow Orchestration The agent plans and executes multi step tasks end to end, Wide Research runs a parallel multi agent system across many sub tasks, and custom agents run subtasks listed through the API. Sourcemanus.im/docs/features/wide-researchread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometWorkflow Orchestration The agent completes multi step workflows across several tabs at once (booking, unsubscribing, cart management), and Background Assistants run several agentic tasks simultaneously and asynchronously from one page where the user handles confirmations and follow ups. Sourceperplexity.ai/changelog/what-we-shipped-october-3rdread 2026-09-27 |
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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. |
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ManusTriggers & Channel Coverage Scheduled Tasks run work on a recurring schedule or at a set time (20 per paid plan), Mail Manus starts tasks from forwarded or CC'd email including dedicated workflow addresses, and tasks also arrive from Slack and the API with webhooks for task events. Sourcemanus.im/docs/features/scheduled-tasksread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometTriggers & Channel Coverage The user hands the agent work from the sidebar, voice, a shortcut or the mobile apps, and the Max Email Assistant takes tasks when cc'd on a thread. There is no stated schedule, recurring run or webhook for Comet itself, and Background Assistants run in parallel but are not scheduled. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/comet/en/articles/11906981-comet-query-shortcutsread 2026-09-27 |
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| Knowledge & context | ||
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Knowledge Grounding & RAG Ability to ground agent behavior in company data through document ingestion, retrieval, external knowledge APIs, semantic search, or RAG layers. |
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ManusKnowledge Grounding & RAG Projects keep a knowledge base of uploaded files that every new task in the project inherits, and connectors pull from Notion, Drive and similar sources per run. Manus does not describe an index, embeddings layer or retrieval structure over that knowledge. Web research gathers context for each task as it runs. Sourcemanus.im/docs/features/projectsread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometKnowledge Grounding & RAG Answers are grounded in Perplexity web search with citations and across open tabs, and personal search draws on browsing history and connected Gmail. That is context assembled per query from outside sources, and there is no stated maintained index over the customer's own knowledge for Comet. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/11172798-getting-started-with-cometread 2026-09-27 |
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Memory & State Persistence Ability to persist context across a run, conversation, workflow, user, team, or longer-term memory layer. |
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ManusMemory & State Persistence Projects keep a master instruction and files that users maintain and every new task reads, so users keep this store and it carries across sessions. Stopped tasks resume with their state. There is no memory layer that the agent writes itself, with a set scope and lifetime. Sourcemanus.im/docs/features/projectsread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometMemory & State Persistence Comet uses the Perplexity account memory. Saved memories and the search library persist across devices and sessions, users review and delete them under Preferences, Memory, and the assistant applies remembered preferences when operating the browser. Agent actions are not stored, and no lifetime is stated. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/comet/en/articles/12658438-comet-memoryread 2026-09-27 |
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| Control & trust | ||
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Human Oversight & Guardrails Approval steps, consent checkpoints, escalation rules, structured guardrails, policy constraints, and pause/resume controls. |
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ManusHuman Oversight & Guardrails The agent pauses and waits for the user to confirm supported actions, such as sending an email, before it goes on. The user answers in the app or through task.confirmAction. Plan Mode shows the approach as an editable document, and the user approves it before work starts. Sourceopen.manus.im/docs/v2/task-lifecycleread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometHuman Oversight & Guardrails Comet asks the user's permission before it takes control of the browser and holds approval checkpoints for sensitive actions. An Always Allow option exists, and enterprise admins can disable browser control or Always Allow and set per domain Browser Control, Read Only or No Access. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/13531023-managing-comet-assistant-permissionsread 2026-09-27 |
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Security, Identity & Governance RBAC, SSO, auditability, encryption, least-privilege tool access, compliance posture, and data handling policy. |
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ManusSecurity, Identity & Governance The Team plan sets up SSO with the customer's own identity provider after domain verification. It has Team Owner and Super Admin roles and an admin dashboard with access control and granular sharing permissions. Manus holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, the SOC 2 attestation letters and the ISO certificate are listed on the security page, and a trust center sits at trust.manus.im. Sourcemanus.im/teamread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometSecurity, Identity & Governance Admins on Comet Enterprise control which members get Comet, whether the agent may control the browser, per domain agent permissions and 500+ Chromium policies deployed by MDM, and Perplexity Enterprise includes SSO and SCIM. Perplexity Enterprise reports SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA compliance. Sourceperplexity.ai/enterprise/cometread 2026-09-27 |
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Observability & Auditability Traces, logs, execution histories, metrics, audit events, and debugging detail for production agent behavior. |
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ManusObservability & Auditability Each task keeps a full event history of the agent's steps, readable in the app and through task.listMessages. The Team plan adds audit logs and an admin dashboard with usage tracking. Usage history is also shown per session and per member. Sourcemanus.im/teamread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometObservability & Auditability Comet Enterprise keeps audit logs tracking user browser activity and administrative actions (from 50 Enterprise Pro seats or any Enterprise Max seat) and gives admins native telemetry and analytics on AI use. The log fields are not itemized. Individual users watch the agent act in the browser. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/12781449-comet-for-enterpriseread 2026-09-27 |
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Deployment & Data Residency Deployment modes and options, including SaaS, dedicated cloud, VPC, on-prem, hybrid, local runtime, and self-hosting. |
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ManusDeployment & Data Residency Manus runs only in its own cloud. Its data is stored in the US and Singapore, and the customer cannot choose a region. There is no self hosted, VPC or residency option. Sourcemanus.im/blog/a-note-to-our-usersread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometDeployment & Data Residency Browsing data, cookies and credentials stay on the user's device, and agent requests are processed in Perplexity's cloud. Enterprise MDM deployment installs the browser, but there is no stated region selection, VPC or self hosted agent option. Sourceperplexity.ai/comet/resources/articles/comet-data-privacy-security-faq-sread 2026-09-27 |
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| Solution readiness | ||
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Prebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs Ready-made workflows, packaged employees, templates, blueprints, industry solutions, and role-specific agents that reduce time-to-value. |
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ManusPrebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs A categorized library of ready to use Skills, built by Manus and the community, includes Excel Generator, Financial Analysis, SEO Competitor Analysis and Listicle Blog Writer. Skills are added to a workspace from the official library, uploaded, or imported from GitHub, and each Skill does its own job. Sourcemanus.im/features/skillsread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometPrebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs A basic default set of query shortcuts ships, with a library still to come, and the Resource Hub has a prompt library. The default set is not enumerated, and user created shortcuts are assets the customer assembles. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/comet/en/articles/11906981-comet-query-shortcutsread 2026-09-27 |
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| Platform extensibility | ||
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Model Flexibility & Routing Ability to work across multiple foundation models, route tasks to different models, or let buyers bring their own providers and keys. |
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ManusModel Flexibility & Routing The customer picks one of three agent profiles, standard, lite or max, and model versions cannot be chosen separately through the API. These are tiers of Manus's own agent, and Manus does not name the underlying model provider. Sourceopen.manus.im/docs/v2/task.createread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometModel Flexibility & Routing Model selection has its own experience in Comet, and a shortcut can pin its model. The Comet agent defaults to Claude Sonnet 4.6 on Pro and Opus 4.6 on Max, with Gemini 3.1 Pro available to Pro and Max subscribers, so the user picks among providers. The Comet model list is not published separately from the Search list. Sourceperplexity.ai/changelog/what-we-shipped---february-20th-2026read 2026-09-27 |
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APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility Composability layer: stable APIs, SDKs, MCP tool consumption/serving, custom tools, and integration into internal systems. |
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ManusAPIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility The Manus API is a REST API with API key or OAuth2 authentication and published OpenAPI specifications. It creates, continues, stops and lists tasks, manages projects, files, webhooks and agents, and publishes websites built by the agent. Sourceopen.manus.im/docs/v2/introductionread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometAPIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility Comet runs Chrome Web Store extensions and takes 500+ Chromium policies from an admin's MDM, but there is no stated API or SDK that lets an outside caller drive Comet or its agent. Perplexity's API Platform is a separate product. Sourceperplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/12781449-comet-for-enterpriseread 2026-09-27 |
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Testing, Debugging & Optimization Testing, debugging, scoring, retries, fallbacks, quality gates, and optimization loops for improving agent workflows before and after deployment. |
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ManusTesting, Debugging & Optimization The Skill Creator skill is a guided workflow for authoring Skills, and it includes a testing step. It does not report a verdict on agent behavior. There is no evaluation harness, scored test case or quality gate for the agent. Sourcemanus.im/docs/llms.txtread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometTesting, Debugging & Optimization The 23 percent improvement over the previous assistant is Perplexity's own benchmark of its product, not an evaluation surface, and there is no stated evaluation harness, scored test cases or quality gate for the agent. Sourceperplexity.ai/hub/blog/the-new-comet-assistantread 2026-09-27 |
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| Specialist automation | ||
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Browser & Computer Use Browser, desktop, or remote/local computer control for workflows that cannot be handled through stable APIs alone. |
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ManusBrowser & Computer Use The agent drives Manus's own cloud browser, which operates like a real person. The Browser Operator extension lets it navigate, click and fill forms in the user's local browser with existing logins, once the user grants control. Manus also has a desktop app. Sourcemanus.im/docs/features/browser-operatorread 2026-09-27 |
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Perplexity CometBrowser & Computer Use Comet is a Chromium browser whose agent clicks buttons, fills forms and navigates websites autonomously across several tabs, booking, shopping and sending on the user's behalf once permitted. Sourceperplexity.ai/comet/resources/articles/comet-assistant-vs-agentread 2026-09-27 |
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Pricing snapshot
Sourced from the Index pricing dataset · open each vendor's profile for full detail.
| Pricing | M Manus |
P Perplexity Comet |
|---|---|---|
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Entry price Lowest public entry point |
Paid from $20 a month for 4,000 credits, $40 for 8,000 and $200 for 40,000, each with 300 daily refresh credits. Team is $20 a seat a month, and a free account runs the lite agent. | Comet is free. Perplexity Pro is $20 a month and Max $200 a month. Enterprise Pro is $40 a seat a month and Enterprise Max $325. |
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Pricing confidence How public the numbers are |
Public, exact | Public, exact |
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Billing Primary billing axis |
A credit based subscription. Every action consumes credits, and complex tasks consume many. | The browser is free. Capability is gated by flat Perplexity subscription tiers, plus a small publisher add on. |
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Variable cost Workload / overage exposure |
High variable cost | Low variable cost |
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Free tier / trial Try before you buy |
Free tierTrial
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Free tierTrial
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Buying motion Self-serve vs sales call |
Self-serve | Self-serve |
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.
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