Looking for a Manus alternative, open source and running on your own machine? Crewly is an open-source (MIT) platform that runs a team of AI agents on your computer. The agents work in your Slack, your Chrome and your Mac's desktop, and you can watch and take over at any time. Manus runs tasks on a cloud virtual computer (and in your Chrome through an extension), ChatGPT agent uses a browser OpenAI hosts, and Browser Use is an open-source library for building your own browser agent.
This compares fit, not rank. Facts about other products come from their official docs and pricing pages as of September 23, 2026.
How do Crewly, Manus, ChatGPT agent and Browser Use compare?
| Crewly | Manus | ChatGPT agent (formerly Operator) | Browser Use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | Core platform, MIT. The Chrome extension is free but not open source | No source or license on the official site | No source or license published | Library is MIT; Cloud is a hosted paid service |
| Where the work runs | Your own machines | A cloud virtual computer; also in your own Chrome via the Browser Operator extension | An OpenAI-hosted virtual browser and computer | Hosted cloud, your own browser (CLI), or locally (Python library) |
| Take over mid-task | Browser: one click, and the agent is locked out until you hand back. Desktop: touch the mouse, Pause, Stop, or a hotkey | Watch in real time, click into the tab to take over | Pauses at logins and prompts you to take over | Cloud: open the live browser and take over |
| Team of agents | Yes: agents with roles that hand work to each other | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Pricing | Community Edition is free and open source (MIT); you pay your AI provider | Free tier and paid plans (pricing) | Paid ChatGPT plans only (details) | Free to start, and paid plans (pricing) |
Pricing checked September 24, 2026. "Not documented" means we did not find it on the official pages.
Where each product's work runs: Crewly on your own machines; Manus on a cloud virtual computer or in your Chrome; ChatGPT agent on an OpenAI-hosted browser; Browser Use in a hosted cloud, your own browser or locally.
What is Crewly?
Crewly runs a team of AI agents on your own computers. Each agent is a Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode session with a role, such as developer, content strategist or support. They use the lightest tool that can do each job:
- Skills and connectors (mail, Drive, Calendar, Slack, git, files), with no screen involved.
- Your browser, through Crewly in Chrome, signed in where you already are.
- Your desktop, through computer use on macOS, for native apps and system dialogs.
You talk to the agents in Slack, and watch them from the Crewly Cloud portal or your phone.
The three tools a Crewly agent chooses from, lightest first: skills and connectors, your browser, your desktop.
When is Manus, ChatGPT agent or Browser Use the better choice?
- Manus: you want it to keep working with your laptop closed (it runs on a cloud virtual computer; Crewly's agents need your machine on), a free hosted tier, or one agent the whole Slack thread can tag with @manus.
- ChatGPT agent (formerly Operator) or ChatGPT Work: you want no setup at all, apps on web, iOS, Android, macOS and Windows, or enterprise controls such as site blocking, a Compliance API and data residency. OpenAI folded Operator into ChatGPT agent mode, and the Operator website is no longer available. ChatGPT Work, launched in July 2026, is its agent for longer tasks.
- Browser Use: you are building your own browser agent in code (a Python library, CLI and cloud API with an MCP server), want a large open-source community (MIT; more than 116,000 GitHub stars as of September 23, 2026), or want hosted cloud browsers with SOC 2 Type II.
When is Crewly the better choice?
- You want a team, not one agent. Several agents with roles hand work to each other in Slack threads you can read, and you pick the model per agent.
- You want the work on your own machine. Your browser, your desktop, your files.
- You want to take over instantly, in the browser (the agent is locked out, reads included) or on the desktop (just move the mouse), including from your phone.
- You want the code. The core platform is open source (MIT) on GitHub. To try it, start with Getting started with Crewly or the download page, then add Crewly in Chrome.
The Browser view in Crewly Cloud: an agent's session and a live picture of its browser
When is Crewly not the right fit?
- You want agents that ask before every action. Crewly's agents run with full permissions so they can work unattended, so run Crewly in an environment you're comfortable with.
- Your computer can't stay on. Crewly's agents run on your machines.
- You're on Windows. Crewly runs on macOS and Linux today, and its computer use is macOS-only.
- You need a browser other than Chrome. The extension is Chrome-only.
FAQ
What's the closest open-source alternative to Manus?
It depends on what you use Manus for. To build your own browser agent in code, Browser Use is an MIT-licensed library. For a ready-made team of agents that runs on your own machine and works in Slack, your browser and your Mac's desktop, Crewly's core platform is MIT-licensed.
Is Manus open source?
We found no source code or license on Manus's official site (as of September 23, 2026).
Are ChatGPT agent, Manus, Browser Use and Crewly free?
As of September 24, 2026: ChatGPT agent requires a paid ChatGPT plan. Manus and Browser Use each have a free way to start and paid plans. Crewly Community Edition is free and open source (MIT); you pay your AI provider for model use. For a business rollout, talk to us.