Short answer
As of October 2026, Manus is a general-purpose cloud agent for research, slides, websites and images, billed in credits. Oraculo is a managed AI employee with a real business phone line, WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack and Telegram, hourly pricing, engineer-led setup and a 30-day guarantee. They solve different problems.
Different jobs, different shape
Comparing Manus and Oraculo is a little like comparing a freelance researcher with a front-office hire. Both are useful. You would not ask the first to cover your phones, and you would not ask the second to be your design studio.
Manus is a general-purpose agent: you give it a task, it works in the cloud, you collect the output. Oraculo is a standing employee: it sits on your phone line, inboxes and team chat, remembers every customer and decision, and works continuously on your behalf.
Feature-by-feature
| Manus (Oct 2026) | Oraculo | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | General-purpose cloud agent for tasks | Managed AI employee, always on |
| Typical output | Research, slides, websites, images | Answered calls, follow-ups, CRM updates, invoices, posts, KPI reports |
| Business phone line | Not confirmed | Answers and places calls 24/7, voicemail, SMS |
| Not confirmed | Yes, plus iMessage, Slack, Telegram, email and the app | |
| Slack | Integration listed | Yes |
| Memory of your customers | Not described in our sources | Remembers every customer, decision and past fix |
| Setup | Self-serve | $499 one time, four 1-hour Zoom sessions with an engineer |
| Pricing basis | Credit-based plans with free tier; exact prices not confirmed | Hourly: $12 (Starter, 6 hrs/week min) or $8 (Business, 43 hrs/week min) |
| Guarantee | Not confirmed | 30-day money-back |
| Team supervision | Team plan with SSO per its site | Tracks staff goals, nudges the team, flags what is slipping |
| Company status | Independent again since September 1, 2026 | Built on the engine behind PhiClaw |
Where Manus is the better choice
- Deliverable-type projects. A researched report, a deck, a first draft of a site. This is what Manus is described for.
- Lower commitment. It has a free tier and credit-based plans, so you can try it without a monthly minimum.
- Familiar surfaces. Web, desktop and mobile apps, a Slack integration and an API.
A word on the corporate backstory, since buyers ask. Meta's planned acquisition of Manus, announced in late December 2025, was ordered unwound by China on April 27, 2026. Manus then announced it was independent again on September 1, 2026. Manus is not a Meta product, and we are not suggesting that history should stop you from trying it.
Where Oraculo is the better choice
- Customer-facing speed. Oraculo follows up with every lead in minutes and chases no-shows. That is revenue protection, not a deliverable.
- The phone. It answers and places calls 24/7 on your business line at $0.19 per minute.
- Messaging where customers are. WhatsApp, iMessage, Telegram and Slack, with one memory across all of them.
- Logging into software. It works in tools on its own secure computer, even tools without an API.
- Management work. It acts like an office manager or COO: weekly KPI report, nudges, SOP adherence.
Read what an AI employee is for the full picture, or AI agent that uses software like a person for how the computer access works.
Cost, honestly
Manus plans are credit-based with a free tier. Third-party guides disagree on exact prices and we could not read the official page, so we will not quote a number. Check manus.im.
Oraculo's numbers are published: Starter at $312/month (6 hours of work a week at $12/hour), Business at $1,500/month (43 hours a week at $8/hour, with a dedicated Slack account manager and a built-in CRM add-on at $50/month), Enterprise custom or 30% of what it saves you. Work is billed against a published task-time chart. Setup is $499. For a typical five-person business, the site estimates the stack Oraculo can replace at about $17,410 a month; that is an estimate, not a guarantee.
See AI employee pricing per hour for how the chart works.
A sample Monday under each model
Say you run a three-chair salon. With Manus, you might ask for a competitor price scan and a draft promotion flyer, then review both when they arrive. Useful, and finished in one sitting.
With Oraculo, you text one line on WhatsApp: 'Follow up with everyone who asked about balayage last week and fill Thursday.' It contacts those leads, books against your calendar, confirms the appointments, chases anyone who goes quiet, and sends you a summary. The work keeps going after you put your phone down.
What neither should do alone
Keep a human on refunds, legal wording, hiring decisions, medical advice and any sensitive conversation. Oraculo lets you require approval for important actions. Whichever you use, spot-check outputs for the first month, and write your SOPs down so the agent has something firm to follow.
How to choose
- If your problem is a thing that needs making, try Manus on its free tier.
- If your problem is something that needs doing every day, forever, talk to Oraculo.
- If it is both, use both. They do not overlap much.
- To test Oraculo on your real workload, book a 20-minute demo; the 30-day guarantee covers you after that.
For Manus on its own terms, read Is Manus good for business?
Key takeaway
Pick Manus for project deliverables and Oraculo for the daily, customer-facing work that keeps the business running. They answer different questions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Oraculo a Manus alternative?
Partly. If you used Manus for recurring business work like follow-ups and customer messaging, Oraculo is a managed alternative. If you used it for research and decks, a general agent is still the closer match.
Does Manus answer phone calls?
Phone answering is not confirmed for Manus as of October 2026. Oraculo answers and places calls 24/7 on your business line, takes voicemail and texts, at $0.19 per minute.
Which is cheaper, Manus or Oraculo?
Manus has a free tier and credit plans, but we cannot quote its exact prices. Oraculo starts at $312 per month plus $499 setup. Compare what you need done, because the two do different jobs.
Who does the setup?
With Manus it is self-serve. With Oraculo, an engineer connects your tools with you over four 1-hour Zoom sessions, included in the $499 setup fee.
Can I use Manus and Oraculo together?
Yes, they cover different ground. Manus can produce one-off research or decks; Oraculo handles daily calls, messages, leads and back-office work. There is no published integration between them that we can confirm.