Manus Studio (Desktop App) Explained

Manus Studio is the desktop app that Manus rebuilt and renamed from "Manus Desktop" with Manus 2.0, announced on September 28, 2026 (local time). It lets Manus work with local files, folders, tools, and apps on your PC ("My Computer"), run Computer Use in a dedicated workspace, and take voice or text commands from your phone (Remote Control). It supports macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows; Intel Macs and Linux are not supported.

This article is based on the official page, official blogs, official help, and the pricing page as of October 12, 2026. Where the official sources are silent, we write "not stated officially." Figures such as the Cascade reductions are Manus's own measurements, not third-party verification, so read them with that in mind.

The official desktop app page positions Manus Studio as a place where you and AI create together: a workspace to build, edit, and publish websites, videos, and games integrated with your own files and tools. According to the official blog "Introducing Manus 2.0", Studio is a shared workspace for people and AI that brings in only what the project needs, keeping Manus's context focused on the work at hand. The basic facts are as follows.

The official page presents Studio through four features (quoted from the Japanese original, with our notes).

- "Control by voice": away from your desk, tell Manus what you need from your phone and it works on your desktop. This refers to Remote Control from a phone
- "Build from your files": Manus works directly with local files, folders, and tools, so every project starts from work you have already done. It carries over the idea behind My Computer, which launched in March
- "An agent across devices": take your agent with you in Cue and pick up where you left off on the desktop. Cue here is a separate app, covered below
- "A second pair of hands": with Computer Use, Manus works in a dedicated workspace on your computer while you stay in your own. A way to separate your work from Manus's work on screen

According to the official blog "Introducing My Computer", Manus used to run entirely in the cloud; My Computer lets it work with local files, tools, and apps. In practice, Manus in the cloud operates your machine through Studio installed on the PC. With My Computer, Manus runs command-line (CLI) instructions in your PC's terminal. The blog gives development examples using Python, Node.js, Swift, and Xcode, including a Mac app built with terminal commands alone, without opening Xcode. Computer Use, per the official blog, runs only inside a connected and authorized session, in Manus's own visible workspace, using only the files, browser, and apps you have approved. The approval model is summarized below.

One point to note: whether the contents of local files are sent to Manus's servers, and how much is processed locally, is not stated officially. The Manus core runs in the cloud, and the official description goes only as far as "uses only the files, browser, and apps you approve." When handling sensitive data, judge with this premise in mind.

The official blog "Introducing My Computer" gives the following six examples. All come from the March My Computer announcement, and Studio builds on the same foundation.

- Sort a florist's photo folder into categories based on image content
- An accountant renames hundreds of invoices into a standard format
- Build a Mac app with real-time meeting translation and captions in Swift in about 20 minutes
- Use a local GPU for machine learning or LLM inference
- Turn an idle Mac mini into a 24-hour assistant
- Pull a contract file from your home PC and send it by Gmail

According to the official blog, My Computer is integrated with Projects, Agents, and Scheduled Tasks, enabling recurring local jobs such as tidying the Downloads folder or generating a weekly report from local data. In Manus 2.0, Scheduled Tasks were extended to event triggers as Automations; example triggers include new email, changes in ad performance, calendar events, Slack messages, and Notion updates. At the March announcement it was offered to "all macOS / Windows users," and any plan restrictions are not stated officially.

Remote Control lets you give voice or text instructions from Manus on your phone and have the desktop do the work. The official blog's heading reads "Remote Control and Computer Use: your computer, one voice command away." The steps in the official help "What is new in Manus 2.0?" are these three.

- Open Manus on your phone
- Turn on voice commands
- Give your instruction

According to the official blog, you can change instructions while a task is running and watch the desktop live. An example instruction is "find the latest deck in the launch folder and send it," and you can also specify an output format such as PDF. As noted above, though, remote instructions run only while the PC is on and the Manus desktop app is running.

According to the official blog and official help, the main changes in Manus 2.0 are as follows. Mado no Mori's September 29, 2026 report quotes the official explanation as "not a version upgrade, but a new architecture, a new product, and new features."

Cue is a separate app from Studio. According to the official help, each agent has its own email, phone number, wallet, and computer; it pays within a budget you set, takes calls, and leaves summaries. Multiple agents divide work in a group chat. It is in early access and free with an invite code; iOS follows after App Store review. You reach it from the Agents (Cue!) tab in the Manus sidebar. The "agent across devices" on the desktop page refers to this Cue.

These requirements come from the official help "Troubleshooting the My Computer feature" (updated 2026-03-30). Whether that help page has been updated for Studio 2.0 is not stated officially. The minimum macOS version and required memory are also not stated officially. On an unsupported environment you see "Application not supported on this Mac"; there is no workaround, and the official help points to the web version as the alternative. Per the official help, after installing you sign in, click "My computer," and add the local folders Manus may access.

The official pricing page showed the following three tiers as of October 12, 2026, with monthly-billing amounts.

Annual billing is shown as a 17% saving. The pricing page does not show plan names (such as Standard), and no free plan appears (not stated officially). The plan required to use Manus Studio or Computer Use is not stated officially, and neither is the price of Cloud Computer. Team plans ("Team" and "Startup") are on a separate page. With Manus Flex, started on September 30, 2026, you can connect your own API key from a supported provider.

The Studio story should be read alongside changes in how Manus is run. Here are the official updates page, official blog, and press reports in chronological order.

The official blog "A note to our users" (2026-08-11) says Manus will soon return to operating as an independent company, as part of its separation from Meta. Data is stored in the United States and Singapore, and for affected users the data from 2025-12-29 onward was deleted on August 23-24 (SGT) and made restorable from August 25. Mado no Mori's September 29 article describes it as under Meta in the US, but based on the official blog and an October 2 report, it is in the middle of separation as of the 2.0 announcement. This article treats it as "separating from Meta." Changes in the operating entity and data location are items to check when using it for business.

Several vendors offer AI agents that run on your PC. Anthropic's desktop agent is covered in the Claude Cowork beginner guide, OpenAI's Mac Computer Use in the Codex Computer Use and memory article, a self-hosted open-source agent in What Is OpenClaw, and always-on cloud agents in the OpenAI dots and Meta Muse articles. This article does not state other vendors' specifications or prices. When comparing, check the following points in each article and on each official page.

When putting an AI agent on a work PC, decide how much it may touch before enjoying the convenience. Here are six cautions for trying Manus Studio.

- Keep authorized folders minimal: authorize only the folders the work needs during setup. Do not authorize your entire home folder
- Use "Always allow" carefully: every command is approval-based, but choosing "Always allow" skips the confirmation. Reserve it for trusted tasks, and start with "Allow once" to see how it behaves
- Do not place sensitive files in scope: whether local file contents are sent to Manus's servers is not stated officially. Do not authorize folders containing personal data or client confidential information
- Remote commands assume an always-on PC: instructions from your phone run only while the PC is powered on and the app is running. Consider the electricity cost and the physical security of an unattended PC
- Check the operating entity and data location: separation from Meta is in progress, and data is stored in the United States and Singapore. For business use, check the terms and storage location
- It does not work on Intel Macs: PCs that are Intel Macs or Linux are out of scope, and My Computer is unavailable in the web version

For concrete measures when letting an agent touch your PC, see OpenClaw security best practices; for rollout steps in business operations, see the guide to starting AI automation at small and mid-size businesses.

- Manus desktop app official page
- Official blog "Introducing Manus 2.0"
- Official blog "Introducing My Computer"
- Official help "What is new in Manus 2.0?"
- Official help "Troubleshooting the My Computer feature" (requirements, updated 2026-03-30)
- Manus official updates
- Manus official pricing
- Official blog "A note to our users" (2026-08-11)
- Mado no Mori, "Manus 2.0 announced" (2026-09-29)
- Mado no Mori, "My Computer" (2026-03-17)
- Wikipedia, "Manus (AI agent)")