OpenManus: Pick it and plan

This page helps you decide whether OpenManus suits you and what to have ready before you install it. It is the first of eight pages, and the install comes next.

Warning: OpenManus is the least beginner-friendly option in this guide, and most readers should use Agent Zero or Goose instead. OpenManus has no desktop app, so you install it by typing commands. Its README describes no sandbox and no approval step, so nothing asks you "yes or no?" before it acts. Its newest release tag is still v0.3.0, from 10 April 2025.

Checked 2026-11-14.

OpenManus is a free agent from the MetaGPT team. Its GitHub name is FoundationAgents/OpenManus, and its license is MIT. You type a goal into a terminal window, and it writes and runs code, edits files, and can drive a web browser to reach that goal. The README calls it a way to run a Manus-style agent "without an Invite Code."

OpenManus was researched for this guide but not scored, so it has no number in the comparison table.

Pick this if

• You already type commands in a terminal and are fine doing that.
• You want to see how a Manus-style agent works on the inside.
• You are fine with no buttons, no app, and no "are you sure?" prompts.

If any of those sounds wrong for you, go back to Agent Zero.

Before you start

The program is free, but you still need a model for it to talk to. Pick one in Pick your model and budget.

A few words you will see:

• git: a tool that downloads a project's code from GitHub.
• uv: a tool that installs Python and the parts OpenManus needs, kept in their own space.
• Config file: a plain text file of settings. OpenManus's is config/config.toml.

The README also offers conda instead of uv, but this guide uses uv, which the README calls "Recommended."

Plan for about an hour if you have never used a terminal, though that time was not measured.

The models it works with and what they cost

OpenManus reads its model settings from a file called config.toml, where you give it three things: the model name, your API key, and a base_url (the web address it sends questions to). That means a free key works if the provider offers an OpenAI-compatible address. Groq does, at https://api.groq.com/openai/v1, and Groq's free plan does not need a card. Google's OpenAI-compatible address for Gemini could not be confirmed for this guide, so this page does not give one.

The example settings file starts with an Anthropic Claude model filled in, and it has switched-off blocks for Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, and Jiekou.AI. The config folder also holds separate example files for several providers, but this guide tested none of them with a real key.

The model you pick has to support tool calls, which is how it tells OpenManus to run code or open a page. Groq's tool-use page says every model it hosts supports them, and Fixes covers what happens when a model does not.

What it costs depends only on the model, because OpenManus itself is free:

• Groq's free plan: no charge and no card, but Groq does not publish how much free use you get.
• A local model through Ollama: no charge per use, but it needs a strong computer, and this guide did not test it with OpenManus. Read "On a computer you already own" in Pick your model and budget first.
• A paid key from OpenAI, Anthropic, or another provider: pay-as-you-go, so set a spend limit at the provider before your first run.

OpenManus sends the whole job so far with every step, so a long job costs more than a short chat. For the full price table, see Pick your model and budget.

The catches

• Old release tag, newer code. The newest release is v0.3.0, published 10 April 2025, with empty release notes, but the newest code on its main branch is from 16 August 2026. git clone gives you that newer, untagged code, and what changed since the tag was not checked.
• Hardest install here. You need git, uv, a terminal, and a hand-edited settings file, while Agent Zero and Goose have apps.
• Windows is not confirmed. The README's uv install is for Mac and Linux, and this guide could not confirm that native Windows with uv works. The install itself did finish on one Windows 11 PC, but no job with a real key was run there.
• Your real browser. The browser part attaches to your own Chrome. The example settings file still lists a "Disable browser security features" option, but the current code does not use it.
• Free limits are hidden. Groq does not publish how much free use you get, and Google's OpenAI-compatible Gemini address could not be confirmed here.
• Untested models. Groq and Ollama with OpenManus were not tested for this guide.
• Removing it. Delete the agent-tryout folder. uv's install page lists how to remove uv itself.

Sources

Opened 2026-11-14.

• OpenManus README (install, conda and uv, "Recommended"): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/blob/main/README.md
• OpenManus example settings (Anthropic default, Bedrock, Azure, Ollama, and Jiekou.AI blocks, browser options): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/blob/main/config/config.example.toml
• OpenManus config folder (example files for each provider): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/tree/main/config
• OpenManus latest release, v0.3.0, 2025-04-10: https://api.github.com/repos/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/releases/latest
• OpenManus repository details (stars): https://api.github.com/repos/FoundationAgents/OpenManus
• OpenManus commits on main (newest is 3309bf4, 16 August 2026): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/commits/main
• OpenManus settings loader (the browser security option is defined there but not used anywhere else): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/blob/main/app/config.py
• OpenManus license (MIT): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/blob/main/LICENSE
• OpenManus model connection (OpenAI-style client with your base_url, whole conversation sent each step): https://github.com/FoundationAgents/OpenManus/blob/main/app/llm.py
• uv install page (removal): https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/
• Windows 11 check for this guide, 14 November 2026: uv pip install -r requirements.txt finished without errors on main at commit 3309bf4, with no real key used.
• Groq OpenAI compatibility: https://console.groq.com/docs/openai
• Groq models: https://console.groq.com/docs/models
• Groq tool use ("All models hosted on Groq support tool use"): https://console.groq.com/docs/tool-use
• Google's Gemini OpenAI-compatibility page timed out on this check: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/openai
• This project's notes: other agents, agent landscape, free APIs

Next

Continue to Install and first job.