Manus, Genspark, and Fellou all promise to hand off entire tasks to an AI agent instead of just answering questions, but they're built around three different shapes of that promise — a virtual-computer agent that clicks through software for you, an all-in-one workspace that routes tasks to specialized sub-agents, and a full agentic browser that automates the web itself. I ran the same three real tasks through each over three weeks — a competitive research report, an automated form-filling workflow, and a multi-source data-gathering job — since agent tools tend to look identical in a demo and diverge sharply once a task gets genuinely messy.
One piece of context worth knowing upfront: Meta announced plans to acquire Manus in December 2025, but Chinese regulators blocked the deal in April 2026, so Manus remains an independent company rather than part of Meta as some 2025 coverage suggested.
Manus: the most capable at structured research, with real reliability limits
Manus runs on a credit-based system starting at $20 a month for 4,000 credits on the Pro plan, with free, Plus, Customizable, and Extended tiers above and below that. It operates inside a sandboxed virtual computer where you can watch it browse, click, write code, and iterate on output in real time, and it's added direct connectors for Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, GitHub, and Google Drive rather than relying purely on clicking through interfaces.
For the research report task, this was genuinely the strongest of the three — compiling, synthesizing, and formatting information from multiple sources into a structured deliverable worked reliably, and being able to return later to a finished result rather than babysitting the process was a real time-saver. The honest limitation, echoed consistently across independent reviews I'd read beforehand, is the reliability wall every browser-first agent eventually hits: outside its short list of direct connectors, Manus still operates mostly by clicking through UIs, and when a site's layout changes, tasks can break in ways that require a rerun. Budget time for that when scoping anything complex.
Genspark: the broadest toolkit, if you don't mind a confusing price page
Genspark's free tier includes daily credits for evaluation, with paid tiers at roughly $19.99–$24.99 a month and $199.99–$249.99 a month depending on current pricing, though the pricing page itself is gated behind account creation, which made comparing plans more annoying than it needed to be. What sets Genspark apart is breadth: research, slide decks, spreadsheets, documents, images, video, and — genuinely unusual among competitors — an AI Calls feature that places real outbound phone calls using speech-to-speech voice technology for tasks like booking appointments. Testing the competitive research task here, Genspark's Sparkpages produced structurally organized, cited reports that felt sharper and more depth-controlled than I expected, and having research, slides, and calling under one subscription genuinely replaced a few separate tools I'd otherwise be paying for. The trade-offs were real too: credit consumption for heavier tasks like video generation and long phone calls added up quickly, and there's no public API, so this is built for end users rather than developers wanting to build on top of it.
Fellou: a full agentic browser, with real automation but real rough edges
Fellou takes the most structurally different approach of the three — it's not a tool you visit, it's a standalone Chromium-based browser with a persistent AI side panel built in, using a credit system called Sparks with free access plus paid tiers around $19, $39.90, and $199. Its Deep Action feature turns multi-step tasks like form submissions or report generation into single commands, and Deep Search can run parallel searches across both public sites and authenticated platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Quora, which neither Manus nor Genspark handles as directly.
For the automated form-filling task specifically, this was the most natural fit of the three, since the automation happens inside the actual browsing session rather than a separate sandboxed environment. Reported benchmark improvements show real progress — task completion on one standard benchmark reportedly climbed from 31% to 80% — but in my own testing it still got stuck on complex page layouts, occasionally looped on multi-step sequences, and can't bypass CAPTCHAs, which matched what other reviewers have consistently flagged. This is genuinely promising technology that isn't fully reliable yet for anything you can't afford to double-check.
Manus vs Genspark vs Fellou
| Category | Manus | Genspark | Fellou |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product type | Virtual computer agent | All-in-one multi-agent workspace | Standalone agentic browser |
| Price | $20/mo (Pro, 4,000 credits) | Free tier; $19.99–$249.99/mo | Free tier; $19–$199/mo (Sparks) |
| Standout feature | Structured research and code execution | AI Calls, broadest feature set | Deep Search across authenticated platforms |
| Weak point | Breaks when a site's UI changes | Gated pricing page, credit costs add up fast | Struggles with complex layouts, no CAPTCHA bypass |
| Best for | Structured research and data deliverables | Users wanting one subscription across many task types | Users wanting automation built into everyday browsing |
Which one should you actually use?
If your priority is research-heavy, structured deliverables — reports, spreadsheets, code — Manus remains the most capable of the three, as long as you budget time for reruns on tasks outside its direct connectors. If you want one subscription covering research, slides, and even phone calls without juggling several tools, Genspark's breadth is hard to match, though the credit system rewards checking your usage regularly. And if you want automation woven into your actual daily browsing rather than a separate tool you visit, Fellou's agentic browser approach is the most ambitious of the three, even though it's still catching up on reliability for complex sites. For a deeper independent breakdown of Manus's reliability limits and how it compares to alternatives, this detailed 2026 Manus AI review is a useful reference before committing real work to any of the three.
FAQ
Is Manus owned by Meta?
No. Meta announced plans to acquire Manus in December 2025, but Chinese regulators blocked the deal in April 2026, so Manus remains an independent company.
Can Fellou bypass CAPTCHAs during automated tasks?
No, this remains a known limitation, along with occasional loops on complex multi-step sequences and difficulty with intricate page layouts.
Does Genspark charge credits for basic chat and image generation?
As of 2026, chat and image generation on paid plans are free of credit cost through the end of the year, while tasks like video generation and phone calls consume credits more quickly.
Is Fellou a browser extension or a full browser?
Fellou is a standalone, Chromium-based browser rather than an extension, meaning it replaces your existing browser rather than adding onto it, though it does support standard Chrome Web Store extensions.
Which of these three is best for placing automated phone calls?
Genspark is the only one of the three with a dedicated AI Calls feature that places real outbound phone calls using speech-to-speech voice technology, a capability neither Manus nor Fellou currently offers.