Added for comparison · manus.im

Manus

General-purpose autonomous AI agent (research, slides, websites, apps, video) for consumers, prosumers and teams, sold on credits.

Why it's here: Best-known general autonomous agent with a credit-based freemium funnel (daily/monthly free credits, per-task credit costs) at massive consumer + SMB scale; the most direct comparison for Kite's credit ladder.

Full flow18 steps

How they turn free users into paying ones

Manus hides its free tier from the public pricing page but gives every Google sign-up 1,300 credits on the cheaper 'Lite' model, and puts a 50%-off-first-month plan picker inside onboarding before the first task. The upgrade pressure is about quality, not quantity. A popup announces the better 2.0 and 2.0 Max models the user can't use. After the first task, Manus reveals that this one answer secretly ran on the premium model ('You just got a free Manus 2.0 trial for this message!') and asks the user to upgrade to keep that quality. Daily refresh credits and a 2,500-credit referral bonus keep free users coming back.

Sharpest tactic

The one-message premium taste: the first task quietly runs on the paid model, then a banner says 'You just got a free Manus 2.0 trial for this message! Upgrade to continue receiving the most refined, high-quality responses.'

The flow, step by step

Click any screenshot to enlarge; use ← → to page through. Viewport 1440×900; tall pages are full-page captures. Steps marked docs come from public help pages, not the live app.

Step 1 — Manus landing (manus.im): 'What can I do for you?' prompt box usable before sign-up, chips 'Create slides / Build website / Create games New / Video New'; 'Introducing Manus 2.0' banner; Sign in / Sign up top-right.

Step 2 — Manus pricing (USD, Monthly; toggle 'Annually · Save 17%'): no Free card shown. Paid tiers $20/mo (4,000 credits/mo), $40/mo (8,000 credits/mo, dropdown to customize), $200/mo (40,000 credits/mo); every tier '300 refresh credits everyday', 20 concurrent / 20 scheduled tasks.

Step 3 — Annual toggle: $17 / $34 / $167 per month billed yearly ('Annually · Save 17%').

Step 4 — Bottom of pricing: 'Manus Plans for Teams & Enterprise' row with 'Get Team' button, SOC 2 / ISO 27001 security row; no Free plan or free-tier comparison row anywhere on the public pricing page.

Step 5 — manus.im/team calculator: annual pre-selected ('Save 17%'), seat stepper defaults to 20 seats x 4,000 credits/seat/month = 80,000 pooled credits, 'Total price $4,000 / year', 'Get Team'. FAQ: add-on credits + auto-purchase 'to help prevent interruptions when credits run low'; free Guest role; SSO $150 add-on under 30 seats.

Step 7 — Immediately after entering the verification code, the brand-new account lands on 'Account suspended — Your account has been suspended due to activity that violates our Terms of Service... Appeal reviews typically take 3-5 business days' with 'Submit an appeal'. No task was ever run (anti-abuse check on disposable email and/or datacenter IP).

Step 8 — Signed in with Google (identity scopes only) as a new user: no suspension this time (the earlier block was the throwaway email or server IP). Onboarding Q1: 'How do you want to use Manus?' For myself / With a team (Skip available)

Step 9 — Onboarding step 2 is a plan picker shown before any task: 'Upgrade to Manus Pro', with a new-user offer on the $20 tier ('$20 → $10, 50% OFF, first month, then $20/month'), plus $40 (8,000 credits, adjustable) and $200 (40,000 credits) tiers and an annual toggle 'Save 17%'. 'Skip' in the corner is the only way past it

Step 10 — Onboarding step 3: 'Access Manus anytime, anywhere': download the iOS, Android, macOS and Windows apps (habit/retention push before the first task)

Step 11 — App home on the free plan: model pill 'Manus 2.0 Lite · Free plan' with 'Upgrade', a 1,300 credit balance (1,000 sign-up bonus + 300 daily), Manus Studio idea gallery, and a banner 'Introducing Manus 2.0 & 2.0 Max. You're using Manus 2.0 Lite. Upgrade to access 2.0 & 2.0 Max' (better models locked)

Step 12 — First task on the free plan (Manus 2.0 Lite): it split the work into 3 parallel sub-research tasks (Okara, Averi, Emma by AgentWeb; 45–56 s each), browsed 6 pages and wrote files in its own cloud sandbox. Sidebar: 'Earn 2,500 credits for each friend you invite'

Step 13 — Task done in 2 min 35 s (research .md + linkedin_post.txt; nothing posted). Under it: 'You just got a free Manus 2.0 trial for this message! Upgrade to continue receiving the most refined, high-quality responses.' The free plan secretly upgraded one answer to the premium model and then asks you to pay to keep that quality

Step 14 — In-app 'Upgrade' opens the pricing modal over the task (#pricing): the same $20 / $40 / $200 tiers with the new-user '50% OFF first month' offer still on the $20 card

Step 15 — Credits popover after one task: balance 1,065 (was 1,300). The task cost 235 credits; what's left is 765 of the 1,000 one-time free credits plus 300 'Daily refresh credits' ('Refresh to 300 at 00:00 every day'). 'Upgrade' sits at the top of the popover

Step 16 — [DOCS] help.manus.im credit rules: order event > daily > monthly > add-on > free credits; free users' daily refresh credits capped at 1,500/month and 'Daily credits can only be used for Manus 2.0 lite'; add-on credits only valid with an active paid sub; 'For Free users, you can upgrade to a Pro membership for more credits.'

Step 17 — [DOCS] help.manus.im membership pricing: Free $0 = '300 credits provided daily for quickly answering simple questions', 1 concurrent task, 2 scheduled automations; Pro from $20/mo (4,000 credits); Pro from $40/mo 'with 7-day free trial' (8,000 credits); 17% annual discount.

Step 18 — [DOCS] manus.im/help/credits 'Usage examples' with replay links: data-analysis chart 15 min = 200 credits, wedding-invite webpage 25 min = 360 credits, complex web app 80 min = 900 credits (so the 300/day free refresh ~= one standard task).

Monetization mechanics

Trial / free offer	No time-based trial on Free: 1,000 one-time credits + 300 daily refresh credits on 'Manus 2.0 Lite'. New users get a '50% off first month' offer on Pro ($20 → $10) in onboarding.
Card required	No (free plan)
What free actually allows	1,300 credits at start (1,000 one-time + 300 daily refresh). One research + LinkedIn task with 3 parallel sub-agents cost 235 credits (2 min 35 s). Free runs Manus 2.0 Lite; 2.0 and 2.0 Max are locked, except one surprise premium answer.
How usage is shown	Credit counter in the top bar (1,300 → 1,065) opening a popover: 'Credits 765, Free credits 765, Daily refresh credits 300, Refresh to 300 at 00:00 every day', 'View usage', 'Upgrade'.
Discounts & annual nudges	17% annual discount on all plans (step 3); team page defaults to annual. [DOCS] no promo codes; referral bonuses and event credits exist; 1,000 credits on sign-up.
Sales assist	Team page: 'Contact Sales' and 'Book a Demo' (enterprise); help center with chat bubble.
Time to value	~5 minutes: Google sign-in, 3 onboarding screens (use case, plan picker, app download), then a 2 min 35 s task that split into 3 parallel research sub-agents and wrote two files.
Aha moment	Watching Manus fan out into parallel sub-agents, browse, write and self-check files in its own cloud computer, then return a sourced competitor brief and LinkedIn draft.
Account used	Google sign-in with a real company Google Workspace account Nikhil signed into the Composio cloud browser (identity scopes only; name and email masked on screenshots). Earlier throwaway-email attempt kept as context. The earlier throwaway account (kitetrial64qd85@maxxspace.com from this server) was suspended instantly; the real Google account was not.
Geo note	Prices shown in USD; no INR redirect observed.

Plans

Plan	Price	Billing	Includes
Free	$0		[DOCS] 1,000 one-time sign-up credits + 300 daily refresh credits (capped at 1,500/month, usable only on 'Manus 2.0 Lite'), 1 concurrent task, 2 scheduled automations. Not shown on the public pricing page.
Pro (Standard)	$20/mo or $17/mo billed yearly	monthly or annual (Save 17%)	4,000 credits/month + 300 daily refresh, 20 concurrent tasks, 20 scheduled tasks, Wide Research, beta features
Pro (Customizable)	$40/mo ($34 yearly) for 8,000 credits, up to 20,000 credits ($84/mo yearly)	monthly or annual	Credit dropdown 8k/12k/16k/20k per month; [DOCS] this tier comes 'with 7-day free trial'
Pro (Extended)	$200/mo or $167/mo billed yearly	monthly or annual	40,000 credits/month; only top-tier subscribers can buy add-on credits
Team	$20/seat/mo or $200/seat/yr	annual pre-selected	4,000 pooled credits per seat, admin usage dashboard, SSO (free at 30+ seats, else $150 add-on), audit logs, free unlimited Guest viewers, add-on credits with auto-purchase

Paywall triggers

Onboarding step 2 is a plan picker ('Upgrade to Manus Pro', 50% off the first month) before any task; 'Skip' to pass (step 9)
Home popup 'Introducing Manus 2.0 & 2.0 Max. You're using Manus 2.0 Lite. Upgrade to access 2.0 & 2.0 Max' (step 11)
After the first task: 'You just got a free Manus 2.0 trial for this message! Upgrade to continue receiving the most refined, high-quality responses.' (step 13)
[DOCS] Credits at or below zero block new tasks

Upgrade prompts & copy

Onboarding plan picker with '$20 → $10, 50% OFF, first month' (step 9)
Top bar 'Free plan | Upgrade' and credit popover 'Upgrade' (steps 11, 15)
Post-task banner after a premium-model taste (step 13)
Sidebar 'Earn 2,500 credits for each friend you invite'

Lifecycle emails

Verify Your Email (verify, 2026-10-28 20:28 UTC)

What Kite could take from it

Let the first real task run on the best model or full effort, then tell the user so; the upgrade becomes 'keep this quality' rather than 'buy credits'.
Publish concrete per-task costs (one research brief ≈ 235 credits) so users can map credits to work.
A new-user discount inside onboarding (50% off the first month) is a cheap nudge with clear expiry.
Fraud gates on throwaway emails or datacenter IPs are fine, but an unexplained instant 'Account suspended' on a fresh sign-up loses legitimate users.

Caveats: The 50% offer and the premium-taste banner were observed once on 28 Oct 2026; whether they're A/B tests is unknown. No card or checkout was opened in this run.