Autonomous AI Agents & Agentic AI: How to Build and Deploy Them (2026 Guide)
A practical 2026 guide to building and deploying autonomous AI agents — covering architecture, frameworks, memory, tool use, production deployment, and cost controls.
Comparison
Rerun vs Manus
Manus is a general AI agent that researches, builds and delivers, billed in credits per task. Rerun runs a team of agents on recurring business work, on a private machine, for one flat price.
Last reviewed , against each product’s public pricing and docs.
The short answer
Pick Manus for one-off deliverables, like deep research, a slide deck or a website, which its general agent is built for. Pick Rerun for work that repeats: agents on a schedule or a webhook, as many as the work needs, sharing data and answering to your team, for $49 a month instead of credits per task.
Choose Manus if
- You need one-off research, slides or a website
- You want Wide Research across many sources at once
- You run a few tasks a month and would rather pay per use
Choose Rerun if
- The work repeats every day or on every event
- You need more than 20 scheduled tasks
- You do not want every task to spend credits
- Several agents should share data and hand work to each other
Side by side
Rerun vs Manus at a glance.
Manus delivers one-off research, slides and sites, billed in credits. Rerun runs your recurring work every day, for one flat price.
How usage is billedEvery task spends credits: $20 a month buys 4,000, plus 300 a day.
Every task spends credits: $20 a month buys 4,000, plus 300 a day.Rerun never counts tasks: $49 a month, flat.
Recurring workUp to 20 scheduled tasks on the individual plans.
Up to 20 scheduled tasks on the individual plans.As many schedules and webhooks as the work needs, down to the minute, all in one Routines list.
A team of agentsOne agent that takes your tasks, up to 20 at a time.
One agent that takes your tasks, up to 20 at a time.Several agents with their own jobs. Tell Rerun what you have in mind and it hands each task to the right one.
Your teamTeam plans from $25 a seat each month.
Team plans from $25 a seat each month.Invite your team to the same workspace: everyone sees and answers the agents.
Key differences
Where Rerun and Manus part ways.
Four differences that change your day to day, shown on the real product.
Recurring work without a cap
Automate a taskManus plans include up to 20 scheduled tasks. Rerun agents take as many schedules and webhooks as the work needs, down to the minute, on the same flat plan, and one Routines list shows what runs next, with pause and run now.
listening
running
A payment just failed
Margo is chasing it
done
New email from a lead
Jules is drafting a reply
done
Every morning at 7:00
Sam sorted your inbox
Your AI, not a credit balance
Connect your stackEvery Manus task spends credits: $20 a month buys 4,000, plus 300 a day. Rerun never counts tasks: agents run on your ChatGPT or Claude plan, your own key, or the included credit.
A team of agents
See how it learnsOn Rerun, several agents each own a job and share one database and folder. Tell the Foreman, the assistant that runs them, what you have in mind, and it hands each task to the right agent.
## Procedure
1. Pull unpaid invoices from Stripe daily
2. Send a first reminder on day 7 past due
3. Escalate to the account owner after 2 tries
4. Log every touch in the CRM thread
## Exceptions
- Never chase an invoice under $50
- Read references/tone.md before escalating
3files
## Billing
- Pays around day 30, sometimes later
- A PO number is required on every invoice
- Invoices go to ap@acme.co, not to Dana
## People
- Dana Reyes runs ops, answers within a day
- Escalations go through their COO
74%
## Voice
- English, formal, no emoji
- Sign off as the founder, not an assistant
- Keep it under 120 words
## Timing
- Follow up twice, then stop
- Send whenever the draft is ready
44%
One board for the whole team
Set up approvalsOn a Manus team plan, each member runs their own tasks. On Rerun your team shares the same agents, and any teammate can answer one that stops to ask.
M
Margo · Invoice ChasingTwo invoices at acme.com are 20 days overdue. How should I chase them?
1
Send a firm reminder to billing@acme.com
2
Call their AP contact first
3
Escalate to the account owner
Something else
Switching
Move from Manus in three steps.
No migration project. Start with the one task that costs you the most, and let it prove itself.
Step 01
Chase invoicesEvery Monday
Reply to leadsOn every new email
Find 20 new leadsEvery day, 8:00
Pick the task you schedule most
Describe it in plain words, or install a ready-made agent that already does it.
Step 02
Connect your apps and your AI
One click per app. Sign in with your ChatGPT or Claude plan, or use your own key.
Step 03
This morning07:00
- Sort the inbox07:04
- Chase 2 invoices07:09
- Write the weekly reportRunning
Put it on a schedule
Any schedule or webhook. It runs on its machine and asks when it needs a decision.
Pricing
What you actually pay.
Manus bills in credits per task: $20 a month for 4,000 credits plus 300 a day, $40 for 8,000 and $200 for its top plan, with up to 20 scheduled tasks. Team plans start at $25 a seat. Rerun is one plan from $49 a month for 5 agents, and never counts tasks.
Rerun
Everything you need to put agents to work
From$49/month
Start your free trialAdd agents, Boxes, seats or model credit whenever you need them.
3-day free trial · cancel anytime
Included
5 agents
Five agents running side by side, each with its own job and tools.
Your own machine
A private computer in the cloud where every agent of your workspace lives, shares its files and its data. Only yours.
3 seats
You and two teammates on the same workspace, with extra seats whenever your team grows.
Also included
Bring your own AI
Optional: your own key, subscription or local model.
200+ apps
All your tools ready to connect, plus any MCP or API.
Delegate any task
Hand off the busywork. Your agents run it around the clock.
Invite your teammates
Share your workspace and build your agents together.
Further reading
More on Manus and its alternatives.
What Are Computer Use Agents? The 2026 Guide to AI That Operates Your Desktop
Computer use agents operate your whole desktop, mouse, keyboard, any app. How they work, the 2026 landscape (Claude, Operator, Mariner, Copilot), and how to run one safely.
AI Agent Cost: Pricing Models, Token Optimization & the ROI Math That Actually Matters (2026)
What AI agents really cost in 2026: the five pricing models, the hidden token spend that dwarfs the sticker price, and the ROI math to justify buy vs. build.
Other comparisons
Weighing something else?
Rerun vs Claude Cowork
Claude’s agent for tasks, now built into ClaudeClaude takes on the tasks you hand it. Rerun runs your recurring work with a team of agents, on any model, your Claude plan included.
Read the comparison
Rerun vs Grok Bot
Always-on agents from xAIGrok Bot comes inside SuperGrok and Cursor plans. Rerun is a plan of its own, with agents ready to install on the model you choose.
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Rerun vs Hermes Agent
Self-improving open-source agentHermes is an agent you set up and run. Rerun gives you agents already doing the job, hosted, with your apps connected in one click.
Read the comparisonRerun vs OpenClaw
Open-source personal AI assistantOpenClaw is an assistant you install, host and secure. Rerun agents do the same jobs from an isolated machine we run for you.
Read the comparisonRerun vs Zapier
App-to-app automationA Zap moves data between apps. A Rerun agent sorts the inbox, answers the lead and chases the invoice.
Read the comparisonRerun vs Make
Visual automation scenariosA Make scenario passes data from module to module. A Rerun agent answers the lead, chases the invoice and learns from your corrections.
Read the comparisonRerun vs n8n
Workflow automation, self-hosted or cloudn8n gives engineers workflows to build and host. Rerun gives your team agents that answer leads and chase invoices, with nothing to host.
Read the comparison
Rerun vs Lindy
AI assistant for your team and your toolsLindy bills every seat, then every task in credits. Rerun runs the same jobs for one flat price, on the AI you already pay for.
Read the comparisonRerun vs Twin
AI agents built from a descriptionTwin meters every run in credits. Rerun runs your agents hourly, daily or on every event, for one flat price.
Read the comparison
Rerun vs Dust
AI agents on your company knowledgeDust answers from your company’s documents, priced per seat. Rerun agents do the recurring work for the whole team, at one price.
Read the comparisonRerun vs Squad
AI teammates on the AI plan you bringSquad is $99 a month on top of the AI plan you bring. Rerun costs less, includes model credit and has agents ready to install.
Read the comparisonFAQ
Rerun vs Manus, your questions.
Is Rerun a Manus alternative?
For recurring work, yes. Manus shines at one-off deliverables. Rerun agents own jobs that repeat, on a schedule or a webhook, for one flat price.
Does Rerun use credits like Manus?
No. Rerun never counts tasks. The plan includes a small credit for the models Rerun hosts, and agents on your own ChatGPT or Claude plan or key cost nothing extra on Rerun’s side.
Can I hand Rerun a to-do list?
Yes. Write or dictate what you have in mind to the Foreman, the assistant that runs your agents. It hands each task to the right agent, proposes a new agent when none can do it, and keeps what only you can do in your task list.
How many scheduled tasks can I run on Rerun?
As many as the work needs: each agent can have several schedules and webhooks, down to the minute.
Can Rerun agents browse the web and build files?
Yes. They search, drive a headless browser and write files on your workspace’s private machine, and can publish a file to a public link.
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