Real-World Shoot-out: Four AI Agents, Nine Tasks, 300 Minutes of Truth

What You’ll Get in the Next 10 Minutes

• The only side-by-side test you’ll need before choosing an AI agent
• Exact prompts, real run-times, and honest failure stories
• Zero hype, zero affiliate links, zero fluff

1. Why We Ran This Test—Again

Last month we tested “general” agents. Today we zoom in on reports: the single biggest vertical for analysts, students, and founders.
We picked four no-code agents you can open in a browser today:

2. Nine Tasks, Four Agents, Raw Numbers

Each task was run once per agent on 2025-07-21 to 2025-07-24.
Below is the master scoreboard you can bookmark.

Legend
✅ = fully completed ⚠️ = partial ❌ = failed
Human-verified; time in seconds.

3. The Big Picture First

Key takeaway

• Comet is the fastest but least reliable.
• Genspark balances speed and completion.
• Manus gives the deepest answers at the cost of time.
• OpenAI is the all-rounder, yet painfully slow and visually bland.

4. Task-by-Task Deep Dive

4.1 Finance Track

Task 1—ETH 24-Hour Price Forecast

Prompt used:
“Give me a 24-hour ETH price forecast for fun.”

Takeaway
For a quick gut check, Comet wins. For a slide deck, pick Manus.

Task 2—US Membership Economy GDP Share

Prompt used:
“What share of US GDP comes from the membership economy? Break it down by sector, give iconic companies, total members, and daily economic value.”

Takeaway
If you need footnotes for a board memo, Genspark is your friend.

Task 3—Historical S&P Crashes (30–50 %)

Prompt used:
“List every S&P decline of 30–50 % since inception. For each, date, trigger, background, cause.”

• Comet: 7 crashes, bullet style, 50 s.
• Manus: 5 0-page PDF, 1 440 s.
• OpenAI & Genspark: full lists with links.

Accuracy check
All key dates (1929, 1987, 2008, 2020) matched Investopedia timeline. No hallucinations found.

4.2 Market & Lifestyle Track

Task 4—FIRE Retirement Plan PPT

Prompt used:
“Create a FIRE model for someone earning $500k/yearwhowantstoretireat30with$5 M. Model 80 %+ savings, tax optimization, Vancouver cost of living, and make a downloadable slide deck.”

Tip
Export the Genspark deck and swap photos in Canva for a board meeting in <5 min.

Task 5—Paris Travel PPT (8 slides)

Prompt used:
“Create a visually rich 8-slide Paris itinerary with descriptions and stunning imagery.”

Task 6—NYC Rental Pitch Deck

Prompt used:
“Find 2-bed NYC rentals ≤$5 k/month, design-forward, pool + gym, <30 min to Manhattan. Build a pitch deck for a creative director.”

• OpenAI: 49 min, AI-generated images, partial success.
• Comet & Manus: failed to deliver decks.
• Genspark: 3 real listings, good layout, but no contact info.

4.3 Education & Research Track

Task 7—LLM Industry Report + PPT

Prompt used:
“Survey every major LLM since 2022, build 2- and 3-level KPIs, and create a PPT for AI-startup founders.”

• OpenAI, Genspark: delivered 15-slide decks.
• Manus: stopped at Sep 2024, labeled “partial”.
• Comet: no PPT output.

Task 8—Beginner’s Guide to AI Agents

Prompt used:
“Explain AI agents to a non-coder, list the 10 most popular ones with setup prompts, and show how to automate email, calendar, and research.”

Task 9—Netflix Top-50 Excel + Email

Prompt used:
“Compile Netflix’s 50 most-watched movies, add synopsis and poster URLs in Excel, email the file.”

Lesson
Always sanity-check rows 21–50.

5. Speed vs. Accuracy—A Visual Snapshot

Fastest
Comet ████ 70 s average
Genspark ████████████████ 606 s
Manus ████████████████████ 729 s
OpenAI ████████████████████████████ 1 012 s
Most Detailed

6. How to Replicate Our Test (No Code)

Step 1—Open the Tool

Step 2—Copy-Paste Prompts

All exact prompts are in section 4 above.

Step 3—Checklist Before You Trust the Output

• [ ] Are data sources linked?
• [ ] Can you download the raw file (Excel, PPTX)?
• [ ] Do the first 3 rows pass a Google fact-check?

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What exactly is an AI agent versus a chatbot?
A chatbot answers questions. An agent performs multi-step tasks—like searching the web, writing a report, and emailing it—without you babysitting every click.

Q2: How do I detect hallucinations quickly?
Ask for source URLs, then open three at random. If any 404 or contradict the summary, treat the entire output as suspect.

Q3: Which agent is best for a startup pitch deck?

• Need speed? Comet outline + Genspark template.
• Need depth? Manus long-form + manual polish.

Q4: Can I send results straight to Gmail?
Only OpenAI saved a draft. The rest require manual forwarding.

8. Final Verdict