# What is Manus AI, and what does an open-source alternative give you?

> Manus is a hosted general AI agent you rent from a vendor. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, memory and connectors live in one git repo you own, and each session runs on its own cloud computer.

URL: https://manus-alternative.com/what-is-manus

## What an AI Operating System is made of

`operating-system-map`

```
Operating system part | Kortix feature | Read
Processes | Sessions: one sandbox and one branch per session | Sessions
File system | The project repo | Projects
Programs | Agents and skills | Agents & permissions
Drivers | Connectors | Connectors
Scheduler | Triggers | Triggers & reminders
Permissions | Roles, grants and connector policies | Accounts & access
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs

Each part of an operating system maps to a Kortix feature, and the configuration lives in a git repo you own.

## Kortix and the agents people weigh against Manus

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System; the others are a hosted agent, a build-it-yourself framework, and a local-first assistant.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Manus | OpenManus | OpenClaw |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| What it is | The open-source AI Operating System | A hosted general AI agent | A framework for building general AI agents | A personal AI assistant for your devices |
| Where it runs | Kortix Cloud, your VPC, or on-prem | Manus's cloud; you sign in | Your own machine | Your own computer or server |
| Where your configuration lives | Files in a git repo you own | Inside Manus's product | config.toml in your checkout | Local files on your hardware |
| How you reach it | Web, desktop, mobile, CLI, Slack, Teams | Web, desktop and mobile apps | Local process and terminal | Any messaging channel you connect |
| Self-host | Yes, free | No | Yes, run it locally | Yes, local-first |
| Who it suits | Teams that want finished work, reviewed | Individuals and teams buying a hosted agent | Developers building agent frameworks | One person or a small team |
| Open standards | MCP, OpenAPI, GraphQL, raw HTTP | Agent Skills and MCP | MCP and Browser Use tooling | Plugins, skills, and channels |

## What Manus AI is

Manus is a hosted general AI agent built by Butterfly Effect. Manus's own documentation describes it as "an autonomous general AI agent designed to complete tasks and deliver results," and calls the product a virtual colleague with its own computer. You sign in at [manus.im](https://manus.im), give it a goal such as a slide deck, a website or a research report, and it plans and executes the work in the vendor's cloud. In its [announcement about joining Meta](https://manus.im/blog/manus-joins-meta-for-next-era-of-innovation), Manus said the agent had processed more than 147 trillion tokens and powered over 80 million virtual computers. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, memory and connectors live in one git repo you own, and each session runs on its own cloud computer.

## Where Manus runs, and what a team cannot own

Manus runs in Manus's cloud, and a customer rents access to it. In that same [announcement](https://manus.im/blog/manus-joins-meta-for-next-era-of-innovation), Manus said it "will continue to sell and operate our product subscription service through our app and website," and that the company "will continue to operate from Singapore." Its own pages document no self-hosted install of the platform and no repository a team can hold. A team can run tasks inside Manus, but it does not receive the agent definitions, the memory or the connectors as files it controls. Kortix puts those in a git repo the company owns, and it can run on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, with self-host free ([self-host](/self-host)).

## What open source changes for the platform you run

Open source changes what a team can inspect, keep and move. With a hosted agent, the vendor's build, its prompt handling and its data path are visible only through what the vendor documents. With Kortix, the code is open source: read it, fork it, audit it. The configuration is plain files in a repo, so a security team can review exactly what an agent may reach, and any model provider works with your own keys. That combination keeps the model choice a setting instead of a vendor decision. The [comparison table on this page](/comparison) sets out where the hosted and open platforms differ.

## What to look for when you need to own the stack

When a team has to own the stack, the questions are concrete. Where does the configuration live, in a product database or in files the team can diff and version. Where does a session run, on a shared service or on its own isolated machine. Which models can the team use, only the vendor's or any provider with its own keys. What happens when work is finished, does it land by itself or reach a person's review. Kortix answers these with files in a git repo you own, one isolated sandbox per session, any model provider with your own keys, and session work that reaches main through a change request. The [Manus alternatives](/manus-alternatives) page walks through the field.

## Choosing between a hosted agent and a platform you own

A hosted agent is the quicker start for one person with a task in front of them. A platform you own suits work that runs across a team, on your own infrastructure, under your own review. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System for that second case: agents, skills, company memory and connectors in one git repo, each session on its own cloud computer, and work landing through a change request a person approves. If you are comparing the two products directly, [Kortix vs Manus](/kortix-vs-manus) sets them side by side, and the [FAQ](/faq) answers the common questions.

## Questions buyers ask about Manus and Kortix

Answers draw on Manus's own pages and Kortix's documentation.

### Is Manus a Chinese AI company?

Manus's own pages do not describe the company as Chinese. In its announcement about joining Meta, Manus says the company "will continue to operate from Singapore," and it sells its agent as a hosted subscription through its app and website. A buyer checking the company's origin should read those pages rather than summaries.

### Is Manus open source?

No. Manus's own pages describe a hosted agent you sign in to and pay for, and its announcement says it "will continue to sell and operate our product subscription service." Manus supports open standards such as Agent Skills and MCP inside its product, but it does not publish the platform's source for others to read or run. Kortix is open source, so you can read, fork and audit the code.

### Can you self-host Manus?

Manus's own pages document no self-host install; the product is a hosted service you reach by signing in at manus.im. Teams that must run the stack themselves look at self-hosted platforms instead. Kortix can run on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network, and self-host is free ([self-host](/self-host)).

### What is the open-source alternative to Manus?

Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System for teams that want to own their agent stack. Your agents, skills, memory and connectors live in one git repo you own, each session runs on its own cloud computer, and work reaches main through a change request a person approves. Other open projects, such as OpenManus and OpenClaw, cover narrower ground. The [comparison table on this page](/comparison) sets out the differences.

### Who owns the data and configuration in each?

With Manus, configuration lives inside the vendor's product, and Manus describes a hosted subscription. With Kortix, your agents, skills, company memory and connectors are files in one git repo you own, so you can version, diff and host them yourself. Connector credentials are brokered server-side and never enter the machine.

## Run your AI Operating System from a repo you own

Any model provider with your own keys. Start in the cloud or self-host for free.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Compare Kortix with Manus](https://manus-alternative.com/kortix-vs-manus)

Open source · Any model, your keys · Self-host, VPC, or on-prem