Side-by-side comparison · Automation & Workflows
Activepieces vs Manus vs Lindy
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Activepieces
4.0Pick it if: Small teams who like how Zapier works but want to own their automations or avoid per-task pricing.
Manus
3.7Pick it if: People who want to hand off whole tasks and don't want to build the automation themselves.
Lindy
3.8Pick it if: Founders and small teams who want help with email, scheduling and customer replies without hiring someone.
Overview
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A Zapier-style automation builder that's open source and charges per run, not per step. | A general-purpose agent that takes a goal and works through it in its own browser. | An AI assistant that handles your email, meeting notes and follow-ups from Slack. |
| Pricing model | Open source | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $20/mo flat | From $20/mo | From $29.99/mo per active user |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0Winner | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow much it can do, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | No | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | Yes | No |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | Yes | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | Yes | – |
| Makes images | No | Yes | No |
| Makes video | No | Yes | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | – |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 15/ 17 | 9/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Small teams getting started, or anyone who will self-host. | Free Free Quick questions and seeing what it can do. | Free trial Free for 7 days Seeing whether it suits how you work. |
PlusOur pick $20/mo flat A small business running automations every day. | ProOur pick From $20/mo, less with yearly billing Anyone who wants to hand off real research and build jobs. | TeamOur pick From $29.99/mo per active user Founders and small teams with a recurring admin load. | |
Team $200/mo flat A larger team that needs SSO and roles. | Pro (higher tier) From $40/mo, less with yearly billing Heavier users and anyone publishing websites with it. | Enterprise Custom Companies with compliance requirements. | |
Ultimate Custom Companies with heavy volume or strict security needs. | Team From $20/seat/mo Teams that want shared credits and admin controls. | ||
Enterprise Custom Large organisations. | |||
| Which plan to pick | The Free plan is unusually generous, so start there. Move to Plus when you want monthly credits instead of a daily cap and the option to use your own AI keys. Self-host only if someone on the team is happy running a server. | Try the Free plan for a week to get a feel for how many credits a real task uses, then move to the $20 Pro tier. Only go higher if you run out most months or you want it to publish websites for you. | Use the seven-day trial on one recurring job, like meeting notes or inbox triage, and see how many credits it burns. Then pick the Team credit tier one step above what you used, since every active user is billed. |
Key features
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Activepieces | Manus | Lindy |
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How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability. The "Visit" buttons may use affiliate links, which never affect a score.
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