Manus Agent: Early Access Review

First impressions of the sensational AI agent

Hi! The other day, we got early access to Manus, and now we can't wait to share our impressions. This is the Chinese AI that made a lot of noise a couple of months ago (some even called it another “DeepSeek/Sputnik moment”).

We covered this agent, its origins, and its founders in one of our previous posts (check if you missed it!), and in this one, I suggest diving into testing Manus.

Today, we’re testing it on actual tasks, checking the developers’ promises, and determining how much we need modern agents.

At the end, we will also discuss the most worthy alternatives.

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Manus | Overview From The Inside

Since Manus is now in closed beta testing mode, most potential users are not yet able to log in and familiarize themselves with the platform interface. As I've noticed from posts on X, this often leads to confusion.

So first, let's go over the fundamental aspects of Manus.

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What You Should Know About

The interface and interaction with the agent are similar to ChatGPT.

You have a field for entering text and attaching files and a list of tabs with previous requests. To get started, you will need to enter a prompt and wait for the AI to perform the task. And there's an important point here.

Manus performs all operations on a remote server, not on your PC or browser. So, it differs from Computer Use by Anthropic. This has both pros and cons, but more on that later.

The workflow is similar to ChatGPT's reasoning but looks more advanced. The agent also receives a request, breaks down the task into its components, and proceeds step by step.

But instead of lines of text, we see Manus using a browser, typing queries into the search bar, navigating through tabs, and much more. As a result, we can get not just a few paragraphs of text but, for example, a full-fledged website or app.

You can also view all steps. This gives a broader scope for collaboration between user and agent than usual chatbots. And, of course, it opens up space for new use cases.

Speaking of which.

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Manus doesn’t restrict users regarding scenarios (except for the $39/mo subscription). However, the developers offer several use cases for those who don't know where to start.

In addition to featured (popular queries), Manus boasts categories such as:

• Research: Use cases for entrepreneurs and creators

• Life: Solving everyday issues with the help of an agent

• Data Analysis: Structured processing of large amounts of data

• Education: Scenarios for learning and teaching

• Productivity: Common scenarios for different professions

• WTF: Fun and entertaining use cases

Selecting the appropriate category shows how Manus performs specific tasks, from a prompt to the finished result. And, of course, in the pre-prepared cases, Manus performs superbly.

But the state of affairs outside of promo campaigns? Let's break it down with custom prompts for entrepreneurs and creators and find out how helpful AI agents are in real tasks.

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AI Agent in Real Action