Level : Beginner
The best AI agents for everyday users: a comparison
By The Info Agent IA editorial team ·
There is no single best AI agent: the right choice depends on what you want to hand off, your budget and how much you trust the tool. This comparison reviews the main consumer AI agents as of October 22, 2026 (ChatGPT, Claude, Kimi, Manus, Genspark, MiniMax Agent, Comet and Opera Neon) using explicit criteria and a verdict for each type of user.
Consumer AI agents: what are we talking about?
An AI agent does more than answer. You give it a goal, such as “find three hotels near Union Station in Chicago and compare their cancellation policies”, and it works through the steps on its own: searching, opening pages, reading, comparing, then producing a table. If the concept is still fuzzy, our complete guide to AI agents starts from scratch.
In this comparison, “consumer” means a service you can use without writing a line of code, on the web, in an app or in a browser. There are three families.
- General-purpose assistants with an agent mode: ChatGPT, Claude, Kimi or Mistral’s Le Chat. You stay in a tool you already know and switch to agent mode when the task calls for it.
- General-purpose agents that deliver a finished result: Manus, Genspark, MiniMax Agent. You hand them a whole assignment (research, a slide deck, a website) and they work in their own environment.
- Agentic browsers: Perplexity’s Comet and Opera Neon. The AI acts directly in your tabs: it clicks, scrolls and fills in forms.
Our comparison criteria
Our editorial team has not run these products through hands-on trials. This comparison relies on the vendors’ official pages, checked on October 22, 2026, and on the profiles published on this site. We give no scores and no ranking: a “number one” would make little sense for tools this different. Here are the six criteria we used.
| Criterion | What we look at | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Agent family | Assistant with an agent mode, general-purpose agent or browser | Decides where the agent acts and what it can reach |
| What is free | Is agent mode included at no cost, and with what limits? | Many free plans exclude the agent itself |
| Entry price | First paid tier shown on the official page | To estimate your real budget |
| Platforms | Web, desktop, mobile | An agent limited to macOS is useless on Windows |
| Data | Model training, hosting, what is sent to servers | An agent sees far more than a simple chat |
| Stability | Established product, beta or in transition | Avoids building habits around a tool about to change |
The table below pulls together the data from our profiles for the eight services covered: free plan, entry price and features declared by the vendors.
| Assistant | Free | Paid from | Web search | Agent mode | Voice | Images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Limited | $8/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Claude | Limited | $20/mo | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Kimi | Limited | $19/mo | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Manus | Limited | $20/mo | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Genspark | Limited | $24.99/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MiniMax Agent | Limited | $22/mo | — | Yes | — | — |
| Comet | Limited | $17/mo | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| Opera Neon | Limited | $19.9/mo | Yes | Yes | — | Yes |
General-purpose assistants with an agent mode
This is the easiest way in. You keep the interface, the history and the habits of your assistant, and you discover task delegation without switching tools.
ChatGPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT offers an agent mode that can carry out multi-step tasks, on top of conversation, web search, image generation and voice. As of October 22, 2026, the official pricing page lists a limited Free plan, then Go at $8 per month and Plus at $20 per month in the United States. One thing to know: the ChatGPT Atlas browser has been retired. According to the OpenAI Help Center, agentic browsing now runs through the ChatGPT desktop app, Codex and OpenAI’s Chrome extension.
Who it suits: people who already use ChatGPT every day and want to try task delegation in a familiar environment.
Claude
Anthropic’s Claude stands out for writing, long-document analysis and code. According to Anthropic, the free plan already includes web search, file creation, code execution and memory across conversations. The most autonomous features require a subscription, though: the Claude in Chrome extension, which acts inside the browser, and scheduled tasks are reserved for paid plans, starting with Pro at $20 per month (checked October 22, 2026).
Who it suits: people who work with documents, spreadsheets or code and want an agent that produces clean files.
Kimi, Le Chat and Grok
Three other assistants advertise an agent mode. Kimi, from the Chinese start-up Moonshot AI, focuses on long tasks: agent teams, deep research, slide decks, small websites. Its free plan, Adagio, includes one agent task and two scheduled tasks; the Plus subscription starts at $19 per month. Mistral AI’s Le Chat, renamed Mistral Vibe in 2026, offers a Work space with connectors to your tools and hosts data in the European Union by default. xAI’s Grok is trialing an agent with its own computer, Grok Bot, in beta on macOS and limited to paid plans.
General-purpose agents that deliver a finished result
Here the logic changes. You no longer chat: you hand over an assignment and get a deliverable back. These agents work in an isolated environment, with a browser and code execution, which lets them run long tasks while you do something else.
Manus
Manus is the best-known general-purpose agent in this family. It runs deep research, analyzes data, builds and publishes a website, produces slides or schedules recurring automations. As of October 22, 2026, the free plan gives 300 credits per day, Chat mode and Manus 2.0 Lite, with one task at a time; the Pro plan starts at $20 per month for 4,000 credits. The company has had an eventful year: its acquisition by Meta, announced at the end of 2025, was blocked by Chinese regulators, and in August 2026 Manus announced it was operating independently again.
Who it suits: freelancers and creators who want to hand off long, structured tasks and are willing to check the output.
Genspark
Genspark combines a “Super Agent” with a set of production tools: slides, spreadsheets, documents, images, video, meeting notes. The focus is on deliverables that are ready to present. The free plan gives 100 credits per day up to a cumulative lifetime cap, with 1 GB of storage; Plus costs $24.99 per month (checked October 22, 2026). The pages we reviewed detail neither data hosting in Europe nor a setting to keep your content out of model training.
Who it suits: marketers, trainers and small teams who produce a lot of presentations and visuals.
MiniMax Agent
MiniMax Agent advertises a very broad feature set: scheduled tasks, websites, slides, video, persistent memory, a built-in browser, computer control and agent teams. But the product is in the middle of a transition: its “Classic” version is retired on November 20, 2026, with migration open from November 1, in favor of a new app, MiniMax Code. The free plan relies on the M3.1-Flash model with limited usage; the first paid tier, Go, costs $22 per month. We found no privacy policy specific to the agent on the official pages reviewed.
Who it suits: curious users comfortable with a fast-changing tool, for tasks that do not involve sensitive data.
Agentic browsers
The last family puts the AI inside the browser itself. This is called an AI browser, or agentic browser. The upside is obvious: the agent uses websites the way you would. So is the downside: it acts with your open sessions, in your email or your online accounts. Our article on browser agents explains how they work and what can go wrong.
Comet
Comet, Perplexity’s Chromium-based browser, has been free for everyone since October 2, 2025, on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Be careful, though: according to the Perplexity Help Center, tasks run by its agent, Comet Assistant, are not included in the free plan. You need a Perplexity Pro subscription, at $17 per month billed annually as of October 22, 2026, or Max. Perplexity describes a layered defense against malicious pages: classifiers, confirmation prompts and an external audit.
Who it suits: Perplexity users who want AI search and an agent at the heart of their browser.
Opera Neon
Opera Neon, from the Norwegian company Opera, is built around three tools: Neon Chat to converse, Neon Do to browse and fill in forms, and Neon Make to create content or code. The browser is free with a basic chat, but the Do and Make agents, deep research and model choice are tied to the Standard subscription, at $19.90 per month. It runs on Windows and macOS, with no mobile version as of October 22, 2026. Opera says it does not train models on its users’ data; the content of processed pages is sent to its servers and to OpenAI’s.
Who it suits: desktop users ready to pay for a browser designed around agents from the start.
Finally, Brave is trialing agentic browsing, called “AI browsing”, in its Leo assistant. It has to be switched on manually in the experimental settings and is still in testing.
Summary: who does what?
| Service | Family | Agent on the free plan | First paid tier | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Assistant with agent mode | Limited Free plan, agent quota not specified | Go, $8 per month | Atlas retired |
| Claude | Assistant with agent mode | Search, files and code; Chrome extension is paid | Pro, $20 per month | Usage limits not quantified |
| Kimi | Assistant with agent mode | 1 agent task | Plus, $19 per month | Training unless you opt out |
| Manus | General-purpose agent | 300 credits per day | Pro, $20 per month | Hard to predict the cost of a task |
| Genspark | General-purpose agent | 100 credits per day, lifetime cap | Plus, $24.99 per month | Little data documentation |
| MiniMax Agent | General-purpose agent | Limited usage | Go, $22 per month | Product in transition |
| Comet | Agentic browser | No, only the browser is free | Perplexity Pro, $17 per month billed annually | Malicious pages |
| Opera Neon | Agentic browser | No, basic chat only | Standard, $19.90 per month | No mobile version |
Sources: vendors’ official pages and profiles on this site, checked October 22, 2026. Prices in US dollars, as displayed by the vendors.
Building your own agent: accessible platforms
The agents above work for you on demand. If you want an agent that handles a recurring task on its own (sorting incoming email, enriching a contact list, preparing a summary every Monday), you have to build it. The good news: several platforms let you do that without programming.
| Tool | Type | License | MCP | Multi-agent | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier Agents | No-code | proprietary | — | — | Beginner |
| Make | No-code | proprietary | Yes | — | Beginner |
| n8n | Low-code | fair-code | Yes | Yes | Intermediate |
| Gumloop | No-code | proprietary | Yes | — | Beginner |
| Dify | Low-code | Dify Open Source License | Yes | — | Intermediate |
| goose | Low-code | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Yes | Beginner |
- Zapier Agents: no-code agents connected to the apps linked to Zapier, with a free plan of 400 activities per month as of October 22, 2026. On October 6, 2026, Zapier announced that these capabilities are moving into “AI by Zapier”, with no shutdown date set.
- Make: a visual scenario editor with a Free plan of 1,000 credits per month; Make says its AI agents are included in paid plans, starting with Core at $9 per month.
- n8n: more technical, but you can install it for free on your own server (Community edition), which keeps your data in-house.
- Gumloop: aimed at business teams, with no permanent free plan: a 14-day trial, then Pro from $37 per month.
- Dify: for building a chatbot or agent that answers from your documents, in the cloud or on your own server.
- goose: an open-source agent that runs on your computer as a desktop app, with the model of your choice.
Developers also have Python and TypeScript frameworks; our overview of agent-building tools compares them on the same criteria. A word of caution: OpenAI Agent Builder is deprecated and scheduled to close on November 30, 2026. Do not start a new project on it.
Verdict: which AI agent for whom?
No absolute winner, but clear matches between profiles and tools.
- You are a beginner who already uses an assistant: start with the agent mode of the tool you know, ChatGPT or Claude. You learn how to write an assignment without changing your habits.
- You want to hand off a complete deliverable (report, slide deck, small website): Manus or Genspark, using their free credits first to see how much a task consumes. Kimi is an option if its data policy does not bother you.
- You want the AI to act in your tabs: Comet if you already use Perplexity, Opera Neon if you work on a desktop and accept the subscription. In both cases, the agent is a paid feature.
- Privacy comes first: favor a service that documents its rules clearly. Mistral’s Le Chat hosts data in Europe by default; avoid giving sensitive data to services whose policy is vague or missing.
- You want to automate a recurring work task: Make or Zapier Agents to start without code, n8n if you prefer to self-host.
- Your budget is zero: our guide to free AI agents details what each plan lets you do without paying.
Check yourself You want an agent to compare renters insurance quotes across several websites, without signing up for anything. Which family of agent fits, and what precaution should you take?
A general-purpose agent such as Manus or Genspark, or an agentic browser such as Comet or Opera Neon, because the task requires visiting several websites. State in your instructions that it must not sign up for anything or enter personal data, then review the final table by opening the sources.
Before you hand a task to an agent
An agent that takes action is more useful than a chatbot, but it also carries more risk. Three habits apply to every tool in this comparison.
- Keep control of sensitive actions. Payments, sending a message, deleting files: approve them yourself. That is the human-in-the-loop principle.
- Watch out for booby-trapped pages. A web page can hide instructions meant to hijack the agent: this is prompt injection. Vendors keep adding safeguards, but none promises complete security.
- Check the result. An agent can get one step wrong and carry the error all the way into the deliverable. Re-read the figures and open the sources. Our article on the limits of AI agents lists the most common failures.
The Can I hand this to an agent? tool helps you assess a task before delegating it, and the assistant comparison tool puts the services side by side on the same criteria.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free AI agent?
There is no single winner, because it depends on the task. As of October 22, 2026, Manus gives 300 credits per day and Genspark 100 credits per day up to a lifetime cap, while the agent inside the Comet browser is not part of the free plan. For a first try, start with the assistant you already use.
What is the difference between an AI assistant and an AI agent?
An assistant answers your questions in a conversation. An agent receives a goal and chains several actions on its own to reach it: searching, clicking, filling in a form, producing a file. Many assistants now include an agent mode.
Can an AI agent shop online for me?
Some browser agents can fill in a checkout form. It is still wise to approve payments yourself, because an agent can make mistakes or be hijacked by a malicious page. Always confirm the final step.
Does ChatGPT Atlas still exist?
No. According to the OpenAI Help Center, the ChatGPT Atlas browser has been retired and no longer receives updates. OpenAI moved agentic browsing into the ChatGPT desktop app, Codex and its Chrome extension.
Do I need to code to build my own agent?
Not necessarily. Platforms such as Make or Zapier Agents let you build an agent by assembling blocks; Zapier Agents, for example, has a free plan to get started. Python or TypeScript frameworks are aimed at developers.