Manus, the much-hyped Chinese AI, seen by some as the ‘next DeepSeek’ has opened up public access, giving you 1,000 credits to try it out for free.
Manus is the latest Chinese AI, capable of deep research and agentic usage, so it can perform whatever tasks you set while you’re free to go off and do something else. Initial users reported problems with signing up, and for most people access had been restricted.
I’d been on the waitlist since Manus was announced, and got access last Friday, but it also looks like public access is now available to anybody who downloads the iOS or Android app or signs up at its website.
Many people have described Manus as the best experience of AI they’ve had so far, and I can see why – the reports it produces are incredibly detailed and feel like they’re well-researched.
Not enough credits
Manus is not offering anything particularly new that you can’t get ChatGPT to do, but it does feel like its research is really thorough, and the range of things it can do is impressive, from making games out of current news scenarios to data analysis and education applications.
The bad news is that 1,000 credits don’t last very long, and you’ll need to sign up for a paid-for account if you want more credits.
By the time I’d got Manus to answer two queries I’d used up about 500 credits. The first question I asked (“What does the future look like for Tesla?”) was far from trivial and required a lot of research, but to its credit, Manus did all the necessary research, telling me what it was doing at every step, and produced four different reports for me.
Since DeepSeek was noted for refusing to answer questions relating to events that the Chinese government is sensitive about, I took advantage of the free access to Manus to ask it to compile a report into what happened in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
DeepSeek simply refuses to acknowledge the protests, but Manus appears to have no censorship issues at all. It produced a full report into the protests from several different sources who disagree with the official verdict on things like the death toll, including the Red Cross.
Paid-for options
So, it looks like you can get about four queries out of Manus for free with your 1,000 credits, until you have to sign up for a paid plan to use it any further.
Manus Starter costs $39 a month (about £30 / AU$65) and gives you 3,900 credits, the ability to run two tasks concurrently, while Manus Pro costs $199 a month (about £156 / AU$334) and gives you 19,000 credits a month and the ability to run five tasks simultaneously.