Jean and Manus
An open-source alternative to Manus that keeps your work on your device
Manus does your work on a computer in its cloud. Jean does it in your browser tab, with your files on your device and the AI you choose, the one on your own computer included. Free, open source, and no credits to count.
Try Jean on a fileGet the AI on this computer
- Open source, MIT
- Your files on your device
- Any AI, a local one included
- No credits, no Jean account
Manus, fairly
Manus takes a task and carries it through by itself, on a virtual computer in its cloud with internet access, then hands back finished work: research, slides, websites, pictures, video. It keeps going when you close the tab, can start on a schedule or when something happens in your apps, and reads skills written as SKILL.md, as Jean does. Its desktop app reaches the folders you authorize, asking before each command unless you choose Always Allow. It is made by Butterfly Effect, a company incorporated in Singapore.1Manus docs: welcomeNov 1, 20262Manus docs: automationsNov 1, 20263Manus docs: skillsNov 1, 20264Manus docs: desktopNov 1, 20265Manus privacy policyNov 1, 2026
Side by side
| Jean | Manus | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the work happens | Jean In your browser tab, on any recent computer, phone included. Nothing to install. Built | Manus On a virtual computer in Manus’s cloud, reached from the web, its phone apps or its desktop app.1Manus docs: welcomeNov 1, 20266ManusNov 1, 2026 |
| Where your files live | Jean On your device, in this browser, encrypted. There is no Jean server. By design | Manus On Manus’s servers: what you upload, what it makes, the commands it runs and their logs. Folders on your computer connect through its desktop app.5Manus privacy policyNov 1, 20264Manus docs: desktopNov 1, 2026 |
| Which AI | Jean Any: on this computer, a free one, your key, your plan. Built | Manus Its own. With Manus Flex, in beta, your key from one of eight providers; but no address of your own or self-hosted AI, and pictures and video still cost its credits.7Manus docs: Manus FlexNov 1, 2026 |
| Who reads what you send | Jean The AI you choose. With the AI on this computer, nobody. Built | Manus Manus and the outside AI services it uses, which may not train on your content unless it says so. Its terms let it use your content to develop and improve its services, and data may go to the United States.8Manus terms of useNov 1, 20265Manus privacy policyNov 1, 2026 |
| What it costs | Jean Jean is free; the AI may not be. By design | Manus A free plan with limited credits, then $20 a month for 4,000 credits, $40 for 8,000 or $200 for 40,000, plus 300 credits a day; 17% less if paid yearly. What a task takes depends on how complex it is, and plan credits reset each month.9Manus pricingNov 1, 202610Manus docs: plans and creditsNov 1, 2026 |
| To start | Jean No Jean account. A child gets a profile a parent sets. The AI you choose may ask for an account; the one on this computer doesn’t. Built | Manus An account, at 18 or over.8Manus terms of useNov 1, 2026 |
| Passwords and payments | Jean Never its to touch. By design | Manus It can act in accounts you log into, keep credentials where a feature allows, and buy what you approve.11Manus docs: cloud browserNov 1, 20265Manus privacy policyNov 1, 20268Manus terms of useNov 1, 2026 |
| Open source | Jean Yes, MIT. Anyone can read every line. Built | Manus |
| At work | Jean A folder IT serves from its own address, behind its gateway and sign-in. Built | Manus A Team plan from $20 a seat a month, with single sign-on ($150 flat under 30 seats), audit logs, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. The owner can read members’ tasks.12Manus Team planNov 1, 20265Manus privacy policyNov 1, 2026 |
| Leaving with your things | Jean Plain files and backups. ChatGPT’s, Claude’s and Gemini’s exports come in. Built | Manus In August 2026, going independent again, Manus gave certain users 12 days to back up what they’d made since December 2025 before deleting it. Its backups are encrypted archives that restore into Manus.13Manus help centre: the service changeNov 1, 202614Manus help centre: backing up your dataNov 1, 2026 |
Where Manus does better
Said plainly, so you can choose.
- It works with your laptop closed, on a schedule or when something happens in your apps: a new email, a refund, a pull request. Jean works while it is open.2Manus docs: automationsNov 1, 20265Manus privacy policyNov 1, 2026
- One account and it’s ready: Manus picks the AI, and pictures, video, music and 3D come built in. Jean asks you to choose an AI first.15Manus docs: built-in modelsNov 1, 2026
- It puts many helpers on a big job at once, with Wide Research.5Manus privacy policyNov 1, 2026
- It publishes what it builds: websites and apps on its own hosting or your domain.8Manus terms of useNov 1, 2026
- It holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certificates, which some companies ask for. Jean holds neither: it has no servers of its own to audit, and offers IT a trust pack instead.12Manus Team planNov 1, 2026
Use both
The private part, at home
Payslips and medical letters with the AI on this computer; the big cloud jobs with Manus.
BuiltYour skills
Both read SKILL.md. Those that need no program outside the browser work in Jean as they are.
BuiltYour connections
Services you reach by their address connect to Jean too, signed in from the browser; the others go through a gateway.
Built
The catch, plainly
- Jean works while it is open. Close the tab and it waits for you; nothing goes on in a cloud.
- Jean is free; the AI behind it may not be.
- Without a sign-up, only the AI on this computer answers. It needs 12 GB of memory and a recent graphics chip, and no phone runs it.
- Your work lives in this browser. Clear its data without a backup and it’s gone.
- Manus’s backups don’t come into Jean. Bring the files themselves.
Questions people ask
Is there a free, open-source Manus alternative?
Jean is free and MIT. It does the work on your files with any AI, and the AI on this computer costs nothing.
Can it run locally?
Yes: the AI Jean downloads to this computer, or yours in Ollama or LM Studio. Your files stay on your device with any AI; one in the cloud reads only what a request sends it.
Does Jean use credits?
No. Jean has nothing to count. The AI you choose may charge you, through your key or your plan, or not at all.
Does it do the work, or only chat?
It does the work: it makes documents, spreadsheets, slides and web pages, runs code inside the tab, walled off from your computer, and reads the sites you allow. Before sending, deleting or reaching outside, it asks you first.
Can I move my work from Manus?
Bring the files it made: drop them in Jean and carry on. Its backups and tasks don’t come in; ChatGPT’s, Claude’s and Gemini’s exports do.
What happened to Manus users’ data in August 2026?
Manus said that, as it went back to being an independent company, it would delete data certain users had made since December 2025, and gave them 12 days to back it up and a way to restore it. Accounts it didn’t affect kept everything.
Give Jean a file and keep what it makes
Facts about Manus were checked on Nov 1, 2026 on its maker’s own pages. Manus is a trademark of Butterfly Effect; Jean is not affiliated with it.
- 1Manus docs: welcome
- 2Manus docs: automations
- 3Manus docs: skills
- 4Manus docs: desktop
- 5Manus privacy policy
- 6Manus
- 7Manus docs: Manus Flex
- 8Manus terms of use
- 9Manus pricing
- 10Manus docs: plans and credits
- 11Manus docs: cloud browser
- 12Manus Team plan
- 13Manus help centre: the service change
- 14Manus help centre: backing up your data
- 15Manus docs: built-in models