Handing an AI the keys to your terminal used to sound reckless. In 2026 it's a product category. Anthropic has Cowork, Perplexity has Personal Computer, NVIDIA has NemoClaw, and Manus, now owned by Meta, has My Computer. They all make the same pitch: stop copying files into a chat window and let the agent work where your stuff actually lives.
Manus arguably makes the boldest version of that pitch. That's why it's worth a close look, and why its rough edges matter more than they would for a chatbot.
The short version in a table
| Product | My Computer by Manus AI |
|---|---|
| Company | Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd., Singapore (acquired by Meta, December 2025) |
| Launched | Manus AI in 2024; My Computer on March 16, 2026 |
| What it is | An autonomous AI agent that works on your desktop |
| Where it runs | My Computer: macOS and Windows only. Manus itself: also iOS, Android and web |
| Pricing | Free (300 daily credits), Standard $20 a month, Pro $39.99 a month or $399.99 a year |
| Sign in with | Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook or email |
| API | Version 2 endpoints, plus third-party access through EmpirioLabs |
| Android app size | About 115 MB |
| ICON POLLS rating | 2.9 out of 5 |
From cloud sandbox to your terminal
Before March 2026, Manus lived entirely in a cloud sandbox. That was safe, but it was also a wall. Your project folders, development environments and everyday apps sat on your own machine, and the agent couldn't touch any of them.
My Computer is the headline feature of the Manus Desktop app, and it removes that wall. A command line integration runs inside your system terminal, and the agent uses it to read and write files, run scripts, open installed programs and string several steps together without you approving every keystroke. Rivals lean toward caution or background automation. Manus leans on full CLI access and direct control of your apps. That makes it the most powerful option on paper and the one that asks for the most trust.
Signing in takes a minute
Getting started is the easy part. Go to manus.im, sign up with Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook or an email address, and you're in. There's no waitlist. New accounts get 1,000 bonus credits on top of 300 daily credits that refresh at midnight. From the web dashboard you download the Desktop app, log in again there, and My Computer appears in the main interface.
One caution: several Trustpilot reviewers say the CAPTCHA step has broken for them and locked them out of paid accounts. It doesn't seem to affect everyone, but if you're paying, keep your login details and receipts handy.
Desktop only, and that matters
The Manus mobile app is on Google Play and the App Store, and the Android APK also shows up on third-party sites like APKMirror, Uptodown and Aptoide. It's roughly 115 MB, needs Android 7.0 or newer, and the listing shows more than 10 million downloads on Google Play. The version cited in our original listing was 26.14.1, from August 2026.
Here's the catch many people miss: the phone app doesn't include My Computer. It handles cloud tasks like research, slide decks and image generation. If you want the agent working with your files and terminal, you need the desktop app on a Mac or a Windows PC. Got a strong opinion on which of those two is better? Tell us in our vote for the best computer operating systems.
The API still feels like a side project
Developers get a public API, now on version 2, with authentication through a dedicated x-manus-api-key header. It supports creating tasks, managing files and sending webhook notifications. There's a community PHP SDK with Laravel integration on GitHub, and other SDKs are starting to appear.
It works, but it's clearly an afterthought to the consumer app. The subscription model makes testing at scale expensive, and the documentation still has gaps. EmpirioLabs offers pay-as-you-go access, which removes the monthly commitment but puts another company between you and the platform. If you're building a production product on an autonomous agent, there are more developer-friendly places to start.
Where it shines and where it stalls
The appeal is easy to see. Simple, clearly scoped jobs are what My Computer is built for: sorting a folder of PDFs, renaming files based on their contents, pulling summaries into one document, or writing and running a small script from a plain English request. Watching an agent move through your file system on its own feels like a preview of where desktop computing is heading.
The complaints come with complexity. Users report that long, branching workflows can stall or wander off course, and that peak hours bring "high service load" errors that block new tasks entirely. For a product sold as an always-ready colleague, that's a hard flaw to forgive.
The permission system is the strongest design decision here. Manus asks before it runs a task, and you can mark trusted, repeated actions to run automatically. That's the right default for software with terminal access.
Credits: the part nobody can budget
Everything runs on credits. The free tier's 300 daily credits cover a few light tasks. Standard at $20 a month gives you 4,000 credits, which works out to roughly 20 to 40 moderate tasks, or as few as 4 to 5 complex ones. Pro, at $39.99 a month or $399.99 a year, adds many more credits and up to 20 tasks running at once.
The trouble is predictability. Reviews repeatedly describe a handful of deep research or file-heavy jobs eating most of a monthly allowance, with no reliable way to estimate the cost beforehand. For a solo tinkerer that's annoying. For a business trying to set a budget, it's a real problem.
Safety and the Meta question
Any agent with local file and terminal access is a genuine security decision, approval prompts or not. With Manus under Meta, your data falls under Meta's wider privacy framework. If you handle client files or anything sensitive, read the privacy policy before you grant access, and think about keeping My Computer in a separate user account or folder.
Our verdict: 2.9 out of 5
My Computer is one of the most ambitious things in consumer AI right now, and when it works, nothing else feels quite like it. But unpredictable credit costs, reported server overloads, account lockouts and slow support pull it below average for anyone who needs dependable tools. The free tier is a fine way to experiment. Teams should wait, especially with Anthropic and Perplexity chasing the same idea.
Can I use My Computer on my phone?
No. The iOS and Android apps cover cloud tasks only. Local file and terminal access needs the Desktop app on macOS or Windows.
Is the free plan enough?
For trying it out, yes. The 300 daily credits plus 1,000 sign-up credits cover a few simple tasks, but heavier jobs can use up a day's allowance quickly.
Does Manus act without asking?
Not by default. It asks for approval before running tasks, and only actions you mark as trusted run automatically.
