Manus Went Local. Comet Launched. I Built a Browser Extension Instead.
Updated: March 2026
This morning, Manus launched “My Computer” — their AI agent running directly on your local machine, with access to files, terminal, apps, and browser. 1.5 million views in a few hours. The same week Perplexity Comet hit iOS.
The race to put an AI agent on your computer is officially on.
And I’m going in a different direction.
What everyone else is building
Manus My Computer (launched today): A desktop app that takes your AI agent out of the cloud and onto your machine. It can read and edit your files, run terminal commands, use your development tools, and operate your browser. Closed source. Requires approving each terminal command. Built by the company Meta acquired for $2 billion.
Perplexity Comet (launched July 2025, iOS this week): A full Chromium-based browser replacement with AI built in. The assistant can generate summaries, send emails, and buy products on your behalf. Closed source. Tied to Perplexity’s subscription.
Both are impressive. Both converge on the same thesis: AI agents doing real work, on your actual computer, not just answering questions in a chat window.
But both require something significant from you — either switching your browser entirely, or installing a new desktop app and trusting it with your files and terminal.
The browser is already where you work
Here’s the thing: the average knowledge worker spends most of their day in a browser tab. Docs, email, research, dashboards, code review, forms. The computer is just the thing running the browser.
So I built SoulSearch — a Chrome extension that brings the agent to where you already are, without replacing anything.
Open it on any tab and ask a question. It reads the page and answers in context. Build up research notes over sessions. Hit the agent mode button and describe what you want to do on the page — it clicks, types, scrolls, and fills forms for you.
No new browser. No desktop app. No terminal access (by design). Just an extension that works on top of your existing setup.
The ownership question
There’s a second difference that matters more than the UX.
Manus is closed source, owned by Meta. Comet is closed source, owned by Perplexity. Both store your context, preferences, and memory in their proprietary systems. If they change pricing, get acquired, or shut down — your data and workflows go with them.
SoulSearch stores everything in a plain markdown file in a private Git repo you own. Your MEMORY.md is readable without any app. Versionable. Portable. Works with GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, or a self-hosted Raspberry Pi.
The code is MIT open source. You can fork it, modify it, or audit exactly what it does with your data.
Your API key goes directly to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Gemini — whichever you configured. There are no SoulSearch servers.
Where each tool wins
| Manus My Computer | Perplexity Comet | SoulSearch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Works without switching browsers | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Local file + terminal access | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Browser agent mode | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (experimental) |
| Open source | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ MIT |
| BYO API key | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Memory in your own Git repo | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| No subscription required | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
The honest tradeoffs
SoulSearch doesn’t have terminal access. It can’t reorganize your file system or run a Python script. If those are the tasks you need an agent for, Manus My Computer is genuinely the right tool.
The agent mode is experimental in v0.1 — it works well on standard HTML forms, less reliably on React-heavy SPAs with custom dropdowns and multi-step wizards.
And Comet is a polished, well-funded product. It’s easy to use. If you’re already a Perplexity Pro user and happy switching browsers, it makes sense.
SoulSearch is for the person who wants AI assistance in the browser they already use, with data they actually own, using an API key they control.
The bigger picture
What’s happening this week isn’t a coincidence. Manus going local, Comet hitting iOS, SoulSearch hitting the Chrome Web Store review queue — all on the same day. The market has figured out that AI agents doing real computer work is the next thing, and everyone is racing to own that space.
Update (March 17): NVIDIA just added a fourth player. Jensen Huang announced NemoClaw at GTC — OpenClaw with enterprise security baked in. His quote: “Every company in the world today needs to have an OpenClaw strategy.” Full breakdown here.
The question that will matter in a year isn’t “which agent is most capable?” — they’ll all be roughly equivalent on that dimension. It’ll be “who controls the data, the memory, and the workflows you’ve built?”
Manus is polished and backed by billions. But you don’t own it.
SoulSearch is rough around the edges and built by one person. But you do.
Try it: Install from Chrome Web Store · github.com/menonpg/soulsearch
Full setup guide: How SoulSearch works