Macaron vs Manus (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Macaron if

• Fits if you want small personal trackers or planners made by chatting on your phone
• Works for people who like an assistant that remembers their preferences

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay free: projects cost 10 almonds each
• Skip it if you want a browser or desktop app, as it is phones only
• Watch out: almond packs run from $3.99 to $199.99 on the US App Store
• Watch out: the Sweet plan's price could not be read

Pick Manus if

• Fits if you want to hand over a research job and get a finished report back
• Works for teams that want one shared pot of credits and a view of who used what

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free, with one task at a time, 2 scheduled tasks and only the Lite model for agent work
• Skip it if metered plans annoy you, because unused monthly credits don't roll over
• Not for you if you want a desktop app on Linux or an Intel Mac, as only Apple Silicon and Windows downloads are listed
• Watch out: the pricing page lists a 40,000-credit Pro tier, but the help center states prices only for the first two
• Pricey if you need SSO on a small team, at a flat $150 below 30 seats

Macaron

• Almonds meter usage: a new project or an edit costs 10 almonds, so the 60 monthly almonds in Classic cover about six changes.
• The Sweet plan (350 almonds a month, 4 pinned projects, unlimited voice calls) is described in the FAQ but its price was not readable.
• Listed only as phone apps for iOS and Android; no browser app or desktop app is described.
• The in-app purchase list shows almond packs from $3.99 to $199.99 on the US App Store.

Manus

• Usage is metered in credits, and unused monthly credits do not roll over to the next cycle.
• Free accounts are limited to the Manus 2.0 Lite model in Agent Mode, 1 concurrent task and 1,500 daily-refresh credits a month.
• The pricing page lists Pro tiers of 4,000, 8,000 and 40,000 credits a month; the help center states prices only for the first two.
• The macOS desktop download is labeled for Apple Silicon, and no Linux app is listed.

Macaron

Chat-built mini apps

Describing a need in chat produces a small tool, such as a cooking journal, fitness tracker or gift guide. Changing a project later also costs almonds.

Deep Memory

Remembers preferences and context between conversations and syncs across devices signed in to the same account.

Personality match

Three quiz questions set the agent's color, personality and speaking style when the app is first opened.

Playbook

A library of more than 200 example projects. Adding someone else's project costs 2 almonds.

Voice chat

Voice conversation with adjustable voice settings, available to subscribers only.

Everyday topics

The App Store listing names food and calorie logging, language learning, a mood journal, scheduling and habit tracking, and a Pomodoro timer.

Manus

Agent Mode

Tasks run in a cloud virtual machine that handles file operations, browser automation and code execution. Credits are consumed only while a task is actively processing.

Wide Research

Splits a large research job across many agents working in parallel and returns reports and datasets. The pricing page lists it among the paid Pro features.

Slides, websites and web apps

Generates slide decks from a prompt and builds full-stack web apps with a built-in database, backend and login, which can be deployed and connected to a custom domain.

Browser Operator

A Chrome extension that lets Manus work inside your own browser session, using your existing logins and open tabs once you grant it access.

Scheduled and concurrent tasks

Tasks can run on a schedule and side by side: 2 scheduled tasks and 1 concurrent task on the free plan, 20 of each on Pro.

Connectors and API

Connects to apps such as Gmail, Notion, Slack, Google Calendar and GitHub. A public API can create tasks, send follow-up messages and retrieve results.

Macaron

• Free$0

  Free download with core features; almonds are spent on projects and voice chat needs a subscription.

• Classic$9.99

  per month, billed monthly (US App Store price)

  60 almonds a month, 1 pinned project and 500 minutes of voice calls. An annual option exists; its price was not shown.

Manus

• Free$0

  300 daily refresh credits (1,500 a month at most), 1 concurrent task, 2 scheduled tasks, and only the Manus 2.0 Lite model in Agent Mode.

• ProFrom $20

  per month, billed monthly; 17% less when billed annually

  4,000 credits a month at $20 or 8,000 at $40, plus daily credits, 20 concurrent tasks, 20 scheduled tasks and all Manus 2.0 models.

• TeamFrom $20

  per seat / month, billed monthly; 17% less when billed annually

  Everything in Pro, plus a shared credit pool, usage analytics, access control and a training-data opt-out. SSO costs a flat $150 below 30 seats and is free from 30.

Macaron

• Annual discount

  Annual billing

  The FAQ says monthly and annual billing are available and that annual saves more, but does not state the amounts.

Manus

• Annual discount

  Save 17% with annual billing

  The pricing page's billing toggle shows a 17% saving when Pro is billed annually, and the help center lists the same discount for the Team plan.

• Startups

  Manus for Startups: 6 months of Team

  Eligible startups get 6 months of the Team plan for up to 20 seats, which Manus values at $4,800. Open applications are paused; new ones come through partner VC referrals.