Windmill vs Manus
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Windmill and Manus.
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Verdict: Windmill wins
Windmill scores 4.2/5, edging out Manus at 4.1/5. Engineering teams who want code-first internal tools, workflows and APIs on infrastructure they control, with no per-execution billing.
Windmill Open-source workflow automation for developers | Manus Transform thoughts into actions with AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 4.2 (1 review) | 4.1 (1 review) |
| Pricing Model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting Price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best For | Engineering teams who want code-first internal tools, workflows and APIs on infrastructure they control, with no per-execution billing. | Individual professionals and small teams who want an autonomous agent that returns finished documents rather than drafts, and who can scope prompts tightly enough to keep credit costs predictable. |
| Free Tier | ||
| API Access | ||
| Team Features | ||
| Open Source | ||
| Tags | open sourcefree tierapi access | no codefree tier |
| Visit Windmill → | Visit Manus → |
Windmill
Pros
- + Script-first model: typed functions become endpoints, jobs and flow steps with auto-generated UIs — my nightly pipeline was rebuilt in one Docker session
- + Free self-hosted tier carries unlimited executions, not a trial disguised as a plan
- + Rust execution engine kept orchestration overhead sub-second between flow steps in my tests
- + Worker-group model scales throughput with replicas and tag routing instead of redesigns
- + Transparent per-unit Enterprise pricing ($20/builder, $10/non-builder, $50/worker) with published SLA terms
Cons
- - Zero no-code path — teams without developers cannot use it at any price
- - Prebuilt Community Edition images bundle proprietary Windmill Labs terms (no resale/wrapping/modifying), separate from the AGPLv3 source build
- - Worker groups and role configuration have a real learning curve before the platform pays off
- - Small vendor (under twenty employees in 2024 reporting, ~$15M raised) relative to the incumbents it replaces
- - Flow durability is lighter than Temporal for mission-critical long-running orchestration
Manus
Pros
- + Executes multi-step tasks end to end — in my runs it planned, browsed, coded and delivered a finished slide deck without me touching a toolchain
- + Manus 2.0's persistent Cloud Computer and Studio workspace kept project context alive across days of on-and-off work
- + Every claim came back source-linked once I required it, and the URLs checked out when I sampled them
- + Free plan's 300 daily refresh credits is enough for real small tasks, not just a demo
- + Deliverable range is wide: slides, websites, spreadsheets, PDFs, short video clips and playable game templates from one prompt
Cons
- - Credit burn is steep on iterating tasks — one Wide Research deck run cost me a few hundred credits
- - Fabricated two plausible figures in an early research run before I forced source links into the prompt
- - Hosted-only: no on-premises deployment, and data-training opt-out is a Team-plan feature
- - Corporate turbulence is real — the forced Meta deal reversal and a data deletion window in 2026 are risk signals for business users
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Windmill or Manus?▼
Windmill scores higher at 4.2/5 vs 4.1/5 for Manus, making it the better-rated option in our comparison.
What is the difference between Windmill and Manus?▼
Windmill: Windmill is an open-source platform that turns scripts in Python, TypeScript, Go and other languages into workflows, internal apps and scheduled jobs. It is aimed at developers who prefer code over drag-and-drop builders. Manus: Manus is an AI agent that carries out multi-step tasks end to end, such as research, analysis and building deliverables, rather than only answering questions.
Is Windmill or Manus more affordable?▼
Windmill starts at €0/mo, Manus starts at €0/mo. Check the comparison table above for current pricing.
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