# Manus AI Buyers Checklist: Data, Contracts, Credits, Access > Before buying Manus AI: which agreement covers your seats, where data is stored, training wording, Team Owner access, credits and agent permissions. _Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/manus-ai-buyers-checklist — The Professional's Toolkit · updated November 2026_ --- Manus AI is made by Butterfly Effect Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company. Four checks decide whether it belongs in your stack: which agreement covers your seats, what the Privacy Policy really says about training, how credits behave when a task runs long, and how far the agent can reach into your computer, browser and accounts. Paid plans start at Pro at $20 a month (4,000 credits). This list does not rule Manus safe or unsafe. It tells you where to look. **300** — Daily refresh credits on every plan, usable only in Manus 2.0 Lite - **US + Singapore** — Where Manus says it stores data - **No preview** — Manus cannot estimate a task's credit cost before it runs - **3 modes** — Desktop permission modes; Approve for me is the default ## Which agreement covers your seats Personal plans run under the consumer Terms. **Business buyers sign something else.** - **Team and API use**: the Team plan, the APIs and other business services fall under a separate Master Services Agreement with an Order Form, not the consumer Terms. Ask for both before rollout. - **Personal data**: an enterprise customer processing personal data through Manus must sign the Data Processing Agreement. - **Service changes**: Manus may change or end any part of the service without notice. Keep an exit path for anything it hosts. ## Where your work is stored, and who else can open it Manus says it stores data in the US and Singapore, and it lists its subprocessors (Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure AI Foundry, AWS and Cloudflare) in the US. The Trust Center shows SOC 2 Type II, SOC 2 Type I, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701. Training needs exact wording. The Privacy Policy says Manus may turn user data into aggregated or de-identified data to improve its models, and that users in some jurisdictions can opt out by email.[1] Its comparison pages claim no training on user data. The policy governs. - **Training opt-out**: the Team plan supports opting out of data training. Ask Manus how it applies to your workspace if your policy requires one. - **Sandbox logs**: the Privacy Policy says Manus may collect uploaded and generated files, shell commands and their outputs, code and task execution logs for debugging and security. - **Inside a team**: the Owner and Super Admins can access every member's tasks and session data, and the Owner can export it; an Administrator sees a subset. Individual accounts are private by default, and support views a session only if you share its public link. - **Connectors**: removing one stops future access, but content already in conversations, files or memory stays. - **Sandbox resets**: Manus's pages disagree on what survives a sandbox reset. Download anything you need to keep. > 💡 **Settle the Team training opt-out:** The Team plan supports opting out of data training. If your policy forbids model training, ask Manus how to apply it before members upload client files. ## Credits on long tasks: the bill you cannot preview This is the gate buyers underestimate most. Manus cannot estimate a task's credit cost before it runs; a pre-task estimate is described only as planned, and the help center says to treat any figure the agent quotes as a hallucination.[2] Cost follows LLM tokens, virtual machine time and third-party APIs, so long or complex jobs cost more. Chat mode uses credits too. The full plan ladder sits in our [Manus AI pricing breakdown](/articles/manus-ai-pricing). - **No rollover**: unused monthly plan credits expire each cycle, on annual billing too, and drop to zero when you cancel. - **Add-ons**: the Pro plans from $20 to $100 a month include no add-on credits, so running out means waiting for the monthly refresh or moving up the plan selector. Fixed add-on packs are sold only on the highest personal plan, pay-as-you-go top-ups need a personal plan of $200 a month or more (the $167-a-month annual plan qualifies), and on Team, Owners and Super Admins buy them in Team settings. Where available, they stay usable only while a paid plan is active and cost $10 per 1,000 credits, twice the $5 per 1,000 that plan credits work out to, by our arithmetic. - **Daily refresh**: the 300 daily refresh credits work only in Manus 2.0 Lite, on every plan. - **Refunds**: under the Terms, payments are final and non-refundable except where law requires; EU, UK and Turkey consumers have a 14-day withdrawal right.[3] App Store purchases are refunded by Apple, not Manus.[4] - **Failed tasks**: credit refunds cover verified bugs or platform faults, after an AI review of a shareable task link. Manus's help pages disagree on whether a poor result qualifies; confirm with Manus in writing. The part you control is scope. Manus advises being specific, splitting complex work into smaller tasks, using Chat for simple questions and checking Settings, then Usage, after each run. For a purchase that means a pilot: run the tasks you would really delegate for one billing cycle, log what each consumed, then choose a tier. Annual billing commits you. Pro at $20 a month becomes a $200 yearly charge, a $40 saving over twelve monthly payments by our arithmetic, and under the Terms that charge is non-refundable except where law requires; if you buy annual by mistake, Manus asks you to send the invoice to support and refunds it only if its requirements are met; otherwise monthly billing can start after the annual term. > 💡 **Pilot for one billing cycle:** Run the tasks you would really delegate and check Settings, then Usage, after each. Pick a tier from that log, since no estimate exists before a task. ## What the agent can do on your computer, browser and accounts Manus Studio (the desktop app, formerly Manus Desktop) runs on Apple Silicon Macs and on Windows 10 and 11. Its My Computer feature lets the agent run command-line instructions in your own terminal. Manus Studio has three permission modes: Ask for approval, Approve for me (the default, which reviews safe actions automatically) and Full access, which asks for nothing.[5] Read the fine print. Even in the two approval modes, commands can read any file your user account can open, and planning still runs in Manus's cloud. - **Folders**: authorize only the folders a job needs, and decide who may pick Full access. Our [Manus Studio guide](/articles/manus-ai-desktop-app) covers setup. - **Your browser**: Browser Operator works inside your own Chrome or Edge and uses your existing logged-in sessions. Under the Privacy Policy, page content from authorized sites, clicks, form entries and those sessions are sent to Manus servers; only your password is not seen or stored by Manus. Disabling My Browser revokes access. The [Browser Operator walkthrough](/articles/manus-ai-browser-operator) has the details. - **Attribution**: under the Terms, third parties may attribute agent actions to you, and revoking access does not undo finished actions. - **Connected accounts**: a connector can do only what that account may do, and Manus cannot switch one on without your approval. - **Automations**: a skip-confirmations option lets trusted schedules send or post without asking. Keep it off for anything customer-facing. > ⚠ **Approval modes still read files:** In Manus Studio, even Ask for approval and Approve for me let commands read any file your user account can open. Full access skips approval entirely. ## Free versus paid: what a trial can and cannot show Free costs $0 a month and is enough to judge the interface, not the full agent. It gives 300 refresh credits a day, capped at 1,500 a month (five days' worth by our arithmetic), plus 1,000 credits once at sign-up. It runs Manus 2.0 Lite in Agent mode alongside Chat, allows 2 scheduled tasks, and handles fewer tasks at once than paid plans, which allow 20. There is no Wide Research, no video generation and no custom domain. So Free tests the cheapest mode only. Manus also offers a seven-day free trial for some subscriptions; cancel before the first charge and you pay nothing. Which plans qualify is not stated. Teams have their own checks. Team starts at $20 per seat a month with 4,000 credits per seat, pooled across members, and adds an admin dashboard, audit logs and free, unlimited guests. Single sign-on costs a flat $150 SSO fee (plus tax) for teams under 30 seats and is free from 30; confirm the billing period with Manus. Open Apps over the API need a Team account. The API docs name no plan requirement for keys, but each key opens the whole account. Treat keys like passwords. ## FAQ **Can I still sign in to Manus with Facebook?** No. Facebook login no longer works; the sign-in options are Google, Apple, Microsoft, email and passkeys. **What happens to my data if I delete my Manus account?** Deletion is permanent and confirmed with an email code. Manus says data is removed within 30 days unless it must be kept longer or has already been de-identified, and deleted tasks cannot be recovered. **How do I cancel a Manus subscription?** Web subscribers use Account, then Upgrade or Manage, then Downgrade to Free; Apple and Google subscribers cancel in the store, and the Terms also allow canceling by emailing support. Canceling stops the next renewal, keeps access to the end of the period and gives no refund for it. **Can people under 18 use Manus?** No. Manus's Terms and Privacy Policy do not allow users under 18. ## The bottom line Manus fits when the work is delegable, the data may leave your machine, and the team accepts a bill it sees only after each task. Before signing, settle four points in writing: which agreement covers your seats, how the training opt-out applies, how a failed task gets refunded, and which permission mode staff may use. Then run one billing cycle as a pilot and size the plan from the usage log, not from the pricing card. ## Sources [1] Privacy Policy — https://manus.im/privacy (2026-11) [2] Manus Help Center: Is there a way to check how many credits a task will cost before I begin? — https://help.manus.im/en/articles/13185575-is-there-a-way-to-check-how-many-credits-a-task-will-cost-before-i-begin (2026-11) [3] Terms of Use — https://manus.im/terms (2026-11) [4] Manus Help Center: How can I request a refund for a purchased membership? — https://help.manus.im/en/articles/11711102-how-can-i-request-a-refund-for-a-purchased-membership (2026-11) [5] Manus docs: Manus Studio — https://manus.im/docs/features/desktop (2026-11) [6] Manus plans and pricing (US) — https://manus.im/pricing [7] Manus Help Center — https://help.manus.im/en/ [8] Manus documentation — https://manus.im/docs/introduction/welcome