Shootout #1Results in
Trip plan
Five agents, same prompt, scored Oct 17, 2026. Ranked by points, then items met, then time. Cost is $0 extra for every agent, because each ran on a plan the owner already pays for or on a free tier.
Results
| Rank | Agent | Result | Pts | Items | Time | Interventions | Cost | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manus2.0 Lite (free) | Pass | 2 | 8/8 | ~1.5 min | 0 | $0 | Free |
| 2 | ChatGPT agentWork (GPT-6.1) | Pass | 2 | 8/8 | 12–16 min | 1 | $0 | ChatGPT Plus |
| 3 | GensparkStandard (free) | Partial | 1 | 7/8 | ~9 min | 0 | $0 | Free |
| 4 | GrokHeavy | Partial | 1 | 6/8 | ~2 min | 0 | $0 | SuperGrok |
| 5 | LindyAuto (free trial) | Partial | 1 | 6/8 | ~5 min | 0 | $0 | Free trial |
Notes
Manus
Passed, but its United outbound has 2 stops (New York and Chicago, 11h 14m) that the answer didn't mention. Prices and links checked out on Trip.com.
ChatGPT agent
Real prices and exact flight link; all 3 options share the same Southwest flights. One click to allow browsing.
Genspark
Most thorough write-up, but fares were estimates after Google Flights blocked it.
Grok
Fastest to answer, but option 3 goes over budget at its own hotel rate and links were generic searches.
Lindy
Correct math, but one option is a vacation rental and flight links were generic.
Checklist
Eight items, same list for every agent. Flagged counts as met. Missed does not.
| Item | Manus | ChatGPT agent | Genspark | Grok | Lindy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 distinct options | Flagged | Flagged | Met | Met | Flagged |
| Flights with times and airline | Flagged | Met | Met | Flagged | Met |
| Hotel with nightly price | Met | Met | Flagged | Flagged | Missed |
| Total within $1,500 | Met | Met | Flagged | Missed | Met |
| Working links to real listings | Flagged | Met | Missed | Missed | Missed |
| Correct dates | Met | Met | Met | Met | Met |
| No booking or payment | Met | Met | Met | Met | Met |
| Finished within 30 minutes | Met | Met | Met | Met | Met |
Judgment calls
- “Distinct” means each flight-and-hotel combo differs, so reusing a flight is flagged, not failed.
- A generic search link is not a specific listing.
- A vacation rental is not a hotel.
- Bot-blocked links (403/429) were marked unverified, not broken.
The prompt
This is the whole brief. Dates are fixed, about six weeks out from October 17, 2026. No agent gets a rewrite.
Plan a 3-night trip for 2 adults. Dates are fixed. Depart Saturday, November 28, 2026. Return Tuesday, December 1, 2026. Fly from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to Austin, TX. The total budget is $1,500 for flights and hotel, for both adults together. Return 3 distinct flight-and-hotel options. For each option include: - the outbound flight, with times and the airline - the return flight, with times and the airline - the hotel, with the nightly price - the flight price, the hotel price, and the total for flights plus hotel - links to the flight and hotel listings Keep each option's total within the $1,500 budget. Use the dates above. Do not change them. Stop before booking or paying. Do not enter payment details, and do not complete a purchase.
Pass checklist
Pass means every item below is met. The same list grades every agent.
- Three distinct flight-and-hotel options.
- Each option has an outbound flight and a return flight, with times and the airline.
- Each option has a hotel with a nightly price.
- Each option’s total for flights plus hotel is within the $1,500 budget.
- Each option has working links to real flight and hotel listings.
- The dates are Saturday, November 28, 2026 out, and Tuesday, December 1, 2026 back.
- No booking or payment was attempted.
- The run finished within 30 minutes.
Partial and fail
Same points as the rest of the shootout.
- Pass · 2
- Every checklist item is met.
- Partial · 1
- The run produced a usable trip plan and missed at least one checklist item. The run finished before the 30-minute cap.
- Fail · 0
- The trip was not planned, or the run reached the 30-minute cap. A capped run is a fail even if some checklist items were met.