Manus
Manus is a China-based autonomous agent that went viral March 2025 for booking flights, researching markets, and filing SEC documents end-to-end · invitation-only launch.
Manus is a China-based autonomous agent that went viral March 2025 for booking flights, researching markets, and filing SEC documents end-to-end · invitation-only launch.
Basic
Manus launched March 2025 from Butterfly Effect Inc, a Chinese startup. Marketed as "your general agent" · it operates a cloud browser, shell, and file system to complete open-ended tasks. Virality came from demo videos showing it book complex travel, analyze property listings, and produce research reports autonomously. Invite codes sold on secondary markets for >$100.
Deep
Manus uses Claude 3.7 Sonnet as its primary reasoning model (public reverse-engineering revealed the API calls). The harness is similar to Devin · cloud VM with persistent state · but specializes in multi-hour research tasks producing long-form deliverables. Pricing announced at $39/month after invite phase. Notable for shipping multi-modal input (image + PDF + audio) and long-horizon reasoning that makes other agents feel constrained.
Expert
Manus architecture exposes a "task" primitive · each task is a self-contained workspace with its own files, browser cookies, and history. The planner uses a scratch-of-thought pattern (running narrative of the plan, not just chain-of-thought). Claims include 86.5% on GAIA benchmark level 1 at launch, superior to Deep Research. Controversy: some claim demos were cherry-picked or partially scripted. Butterfly Effect has not released the harness code.
Manus is the first credible Chinese answer to Devin/Operator · signaled that agent infrastructure is no longer US-exclusive.
Depending on why you're here
- ·Long-horizon research agent · multi-hour autonomous tasks
- ·Runs on Claude 3.7 Sonnet (reverse-engineered)
- ·Claims 86.5% on GAIA level 1
- ·$39/month consumer pricing (post-invite)
- ·Strong for research + web automation · weaker on pure coding vs Devin
- ·Invitation-only at launch · secondary markets sold codes $100+
- ·First Chinese AI agent to capture global attention
- ·Signals that agent infrastructure is not US-exclusive
- ·Validates $39/month consumer agent pricing
- ·An AI assistant that does research and online tasks for you
- ·Chinese-built · launched March 2025
- ·Went viral for demos of complex travel booking and market research
Manus proved two things: China can ship competitive agents, and $39/month is the new consumer agent price point.