Side-by-side comparison · AI Browsers & Agents
Manus vs OpenClaw vs Comet
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
Pick it if: People who want to hand off whole tasks and don't want to build the automation themselves.
Pick it if: Technically confident people who want a 24/7 personal assistant on their own hardware and accept the security risk.
Pick it if: Anyone who researches, compares or reads a lot online and wants an AI helper in the browser without paying for it.
Overview
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A general-purpose agent that takes a goal and works through it in its own browser. | A free, open-source assistant you run yourself and message on WhatsApp or Telegram. | Perplexity's free web browser with an assistant that reads your tabs and does tasks. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Open source | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $20/mo | Free | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.9Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | No |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | No | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | No | No |
| Makes video | Yes | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 15/ 17 | 11/ 17 | 11/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Quick questions and seeing what it can do. | Self-hostedOur pick Free Everyone: there is no paid version. | FreeOur pick Free Everyday browsing with an assistant for summaries and questions. |
ProOur pick From $20/mo, less with yearly billing Anyone who wants to hand off real research and build jobs. | Comet Plus $5/mo Readers who want partner publishers' paywalled articles. | ||
Pro (higher tier) From $40/mo, less with yearly billing Heavier users and anyone publishing websites with it. | Perplexity Pro $20/mo, or $200/yr Anyone who wants the agent to do tasks for them. | ||
Team From $20/seat/mo Teams that want shared credits and admin controls. | Perplexity Max $200/mo, or $2,000/yr Heavy users running many tasks in the background. | ||
Enterprise Custom Large organisations. | |||
| Which plan to pick | 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. | There's nothing to buy. Budget for the AI model instead: a cheaper model or a local one keeps costs to a few dollars a month, while a top model running all day can cost $50 or more. Check your AI provider's rules first, because Google and Anthropic have both restricted using personal subscriptions with it at times in 2026. | Use it free: the sidebar assistant alone is worth having, and most people never need more. Pro makes sense if you want Perplexity's research tools anyway, but don't buy it just for the browser agent, since Pro's credits are a one-off bundle. Nobody needs Max just for the browser. |
Key features
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
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Pros and cons
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Manus | OpenClaw | Comet |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Manus, OpenClaw or Comet?
Comet scores highest overall in our ratings (Manus 3.7/5, OpenClaw 3.2/5 and Comet 3.9/5). Manus is best for multi-step research with a report at the end and lead lists and data gathering. OpenClaw is best for A personal assistant you text on WhatsApp or Telegram and morning briefings from email and calendar. Comet is best for summarising long pages, PDFs and videos and comparing products or suppliers across tabs.
Which is cheaper, Manus, OpenClaw or Comet?
Manus: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at From $20/mo. OpenClaw: It's free and open source. Comet: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $5/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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