OpenManus is straightforward to get going. It runs locally or you can bide your time for the web release, and within a few minutes you have agents taking your orders.
It is unobtrusive to the extent you wouldn’t even know it’s there being used with your projects.
There are no underlying paywalls or invite walls.
It is modular in set-up so users can plug in the tools/models that fit their needs. Your only limits are your unique creative process through experimenting for alternatives.
So, we already have a local desktop version, and the web based version is still in development, so users can choose between local privacy and ease of cloud usage.
At its core, OpenManus is about autonomous agents that can be run to complete multi-step tasks. It may be used for planning, processing data, automating reports, or even acting on simple prompts.
As it is open-source, developers are happy it can work with GPT-4 models, integrate layers of reinforcement learning, and even any local models.
There is a flourishing community that is expanding rapidly and adding features continually.
Pricing discussion
At the moment, if you’re hosting it yourself, OpenManus is completely free. It’s licensed under an open license, so it can be operated free of charge by anyone and installed on their local desktop.
Therefore, the local desktop use is essentially free of charge.
The website version is still being developed and isn’t on the market yet, therefore their pricing model isn’t completely ironed out.
The organization has indicated that it will be a clear and fair pricing model, most likely tiered based on usage.
So, for now, the local versions are free, and the forthcoming cloud service will have various pricing options available.
Monthly visitors & social reach
OpenManus isn’t an overnight success, but it is gaining traction, albeit slowly.
The current site traffic average is around 45k-55k monthly visitors, and for all outreach channels through GitHub, Discord, X and other social channels, the combined following is close to 50k according to our analytics.
Interest continues to increase as more devs join the communities.
Don’t forget about automation task execution
Pros
Free to use locally with open source license.
Modular system, connects with several AI models.
Automation to process and execute in a stepwise manner.
Desktop version fully in production, web app to be released soon.
Community support growing significantly with frequent updates.
Cons
Web version is not entirely available yet.
There is no confirmed cloud price.
Some setup steps are difficult for beginners.
Features are still expanding, so some functions are somewhat basic at this time.
Final thoughts
OpenManus feels like a project made by builders, for builders. There are no corporate layers, just clean AI agent that you can mold and shape to your requirements.
If you like tinkering, want something free, need to control your setup, then this tool will suit you.
The future web version could tomorrow make it easier for non-techy people, but even the way it works today is good, consistent, and community-minded.
