Last updated: May 2026
Manus is built for asynchronous multi-hour research and document creation. You assign a massive research objective and let its virtual browser grind in the background.
Vellum is built for interactive daily momentum. It provides instant answers, operates in your live browser tabs, builds working interactive apps, and handles your personal communications in real time.
Manus operates entirely in remote cloud sandboxes accessed via a web dashboard, with asynchronous task notifications sent when runs complete.
Vellum lives where you already work: a native Mac app, mobile apps on iOS and Android, plus direct voice and chat channels in Slack and Telegram.
Manus executes browsing on remote virtual machines where session cookies and credentials reside on Manus servers during execution.
Vellum uses local browser automation and credential isolation. Keys and passwords live in an isolated vault that models cannot inspect, and your browsing context never leaves your control.
iOS app with Home Screen widgets, native Mac app, web app, voice, email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and Discord, now an official channel with a setup wizard. Sent messages can be edited in place in Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory and identity.
Web app, desktop app, mobile app, Mail Manus (email), and Slack integration. No native voice or Telegram surface.
Build me a habit tracker gets you a working, interactive app in the conversation. Read this page uses the browser extension to read your open tabs and act on the page you are looking at. Call the dentist and reschedule places an actual phone call with its own voice.
Spins up cloud sandbox browsers to conduct complex multi-step research, build full slide decks, and compile market reports over hours.
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Fully cloud-hosted by Manus in sandbox virtual computers. No self-host option. Tasks run in Manus's infrastructure.
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth, including native Calendly and Eventbrite. Your assistant acts in real services without you touching tokens or API keys.
Browser operator, file system, code execution, Slack, Mail Manus, and connectors for common research and productivity tools.
Vellum builds a structured memory of your projects, people, and preferences automatically, across every surface. It sharpens with every conversation and correction, and there is nothing to configure: no files to curate, no engine to pick, no embedding provider to wire up.
Each task runs in its own sandbox virtual computer. Manus learns preferences but has no persistent memory across sessions.
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct. Install new skills from a growing library, or just ask and it figures out a way.
Three agent tiers: Manus 1.6 Lite, 1.6, and 1.6 Max. Multi-agent sub-agents and model selection happen per subtask.
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Proprietary. Closed-source SaaS from Butterfly Effect. Source code not available.
Free Base plan with free credits to start. Paid plans from $30/mo (Mighty), $100 (Super), and $200 (Ultra) with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain on higher tiers.
Free with 300 daily credits. Pro from $20/mo (4,000 credits) up to $200/mo (40,000 credits). Credit burn varies by task.
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Cloud-hosted by Manus. Tasks and data processed inside sandbox virtual computers under Manus's data and provider policies.
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Scheduled tasks supported: 2 on Free, 20 on Pro and Team. Manus runs them autonomously and persistently over time.
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the model layer, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate your keys. Every sensitive action asks permission with a risk badge before it runs, and guardian approvals land in one inbox.
Cloud sandbox virtual computers per task. Enterprise controls, SSO, and access management on the Team plan.
No terminal, no API keys, no daemon. Voice-first onboarding is the default: your first experience is speaking, not configuring. Free, no credit card, up in minutes.
Sign up to manus.im, get 300 daily credits, start tasks. No download required, desktop and mobile apps optional.
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Cloud-hosted by Manus. No published minimum specs for Manus task storage or compute capacity.
Every sensitive action asks first with a risk badge, guardian approvals land in one inbox, and you can export or delete your data at any time. The trust model is written down in the docs.
Virtual browser sandboxes with step-by-step video replay of agent actions. All task state, session cookies, and files are hosted in Manus cloud.
See how every personal AI assistant stacks up across the categories that matter.
See how Vellum compares to other AI assistants easily.
Choose Vellum if you want a persistent personal AI assistant that builds memory of your work and people over time, runs proactively in the background, and shows up across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack with one shared memory. Vellum runs on a Free Base plan with Pro from $50/mo, while Manus uses a credit-based subscription from a free tier up to $200/mo.
Manus is a cloud-based general autonomous agent that runs multi-step tasks in sandbox virtual computers. If you primarily want to delegate one-off high-effort jobs like full research reports, slide decks, deployed websites, or generated images and music, Manus's sandbox architecture covers that workload well.
Manus offers a Free tier with daily credits, Pro from $20/mo, and higher tiers up to $200/mo. Vellum includes free cloud hosting when you sign up. Paid plans upgrade your assistant's compute and storage: Mighty at $30/mo, Super at $100/mo (plus $10 platform fee), Ultra at $200/mo (plus $10 platform fee), and Custom.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically across every session, shared across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Manus runs each task in its own sandbox virtual computer and learns preferences over repeated use, but there is no persistent personal memory layer that compounds across Manus sessions.
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth with one-click setup, including Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, X, and Telegram. Manus operates through a browser operator that can drive arbitrary web apps, plus direct connectors for Slack, Mail Manus, and common research and productivity tools. Vellum's set is curated for personal-assistant workflows that carry context across surfaces.
Manus is available as a web app, a desktop app, a mobile app, Mail Manus (email), and a Slack integration. Vellum ships as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces, all sharing the same memory.
With Vellum, your data lives on Vellum Cloud with per-customer isolation, encryption at rest, configurable retention, and custom LLM credentials so model API keys stay under your control. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path, whether you run the native Mac app on your machine or use Vellum Cloud. Manus runs every task in a sandbox virtual computer in Manus's cloud, and data is processed under Manus's data and provider policies.
Both target non-technical users. Vellum is built for every human, with a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, plus voice, email, Telegram, and Slack, all syncing one persistent memory. Manus runs in a web app, desktop and mobile apps, and Slack, where users describe a goal and the sandbox agent delegates across sub-agents on a credit budget. Vellum is the broader fit for ongoing personal AI that follows you across surfaces and remembers what you're working on.
Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your own machine, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces in sync. If you want continuous 24/7 background work without keeping your laptop open, Vellum Cloud handles it on the Pro plan from $50/mo with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain. Manus is cloud-only and runs entirely in Manus's sandbox virtual computer infrastructure. There is no self-host option.
Yes. They serve different jobs. Some people use Vellum as their always-on personal assistant across surfaces and use Manus when they want a one-off long-running research or deliverable workflow returned as a finished output. Most people consolidate on one over time once they see how Vellum's persistent memory and multi-surface presence cover the day-to-day.
Vellum's memory is structured, persistent, and assistant-managed: it builds up an understanding of you across every conversation, surface, and action, and that memory is the same whether you reach the assistant from Mac, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, or Slack. Manus runs each task inside an isolated sandbox virtual computer with sub-agents that plan, execute, and verify, then the workflow ends. Future tasks start fresh, without inherited context.
