What Is Manychat? DM Automation for Instagram and More
By Joris van Huët · Manychat's own site
The short answer: if your buyers comment and send DMs more than they fill in forms, Manychat's Pro plan, $39 a month on monthly billing for 2,500 people who interact in a month, is the first plan that connects WhatsApp, SMS and email; the $17 Essential plan stops at 250 people and at Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and Telegram (Pro plan, Essential plan, checked on 26 October 2026). Manychat, often written ManyChat, automates replies to comments, story replies and DMs, collects emails and phone numbers, and keeps an inbox for the conversations a person should take.
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Manychat's pricing page blocked automated reading on 26 October 2026, so the figures here come from its help centre plan articles, which say availability varies by region.
Before you choose a plan:
- People, not messages. An Active Contact is anyone who interacted through Manychat in the billing month, and the count resets monthly even on annual plans, per the Active Contacts article. For example, a reel that brings 3,200 people into your DMs in a month on Pro is 700 over 2,500, so 700 x $0.05 = $35 on top of the $39.
- The Instagram account you already have. It must be a professional account, Business or Creator, per the connection guide.
- The count to watch. Insights shows Active Contacts by date range, with notifications at 70%, 90% and 100% of the limit, per the same article.
How Manychat works
An automation starts from a trigger: a comment on a post or reel, a DM keyword, a story reply, a new follower. Quick Automations set up the common ones; the Flow Builder adds branches, delays and integrations. An AI Step pursues a goal inside a flow, and AI Replies answer DM questions from a knowledge library, on Instagram only and in beta. Manychat is a Meta Business Partner on Instagram's official API, and its help centre is plain that it cannot reverse a ban Meta imposes on an account that automates too aggressively.
It suits creators and consumer brands whose sales start under a post. It suits less well a B2B team routing website leads to several reps, since Pro includes two inbox seats, extendable to three at $25 each.
Plans and the WhatsApp wallet
From the help centre plan articles, checked on 26 October 2026, in USD:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Billed annually, per month | Active Contacts | Each extra contact, monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 25 | Not listed |
| Essential | $17 | $14 | 250 | $0.10 |
| Pro | $39 | $29 | 2,500 | $0.05 |
| Business | $99 | $69 | 7,500 | $0.025 |
| Advanced | $199 | $139 | 25,000 | $0.004 |
WhatsApp is paid from a Manychat Wallet topped up separately from the subscription, per the wallet article. Every template is charged, and since 1 October 2026 so is each service reply after the first 1,000 a month per number. Manychat's WhatsApp pricing guide lists $0.1836 per marketing message, $0.0575 per utility message and $0.0500 per service message to Dutch numbers, where Meta's own USD rate card has $0.1597, $0.05 and $0.05 (Meta pricing).
Overage is billed automatically unless you set a cap under Settings, Billing, Subscription, so a post that outperforms is charged per extra person before anyone has looked at the number.
Next to Chatfuel, Landbot and LinkDM
- Chatfuel sells an AI sales agent paid from one wallet that also covers Meta's fees; Business is $18 a month billed yearly, per its pricing page. Choose it when an agent should run the conversation, Manychat when you want to design the flow.
- Landbot starts on your website and bills by chat, for conversations that begin on a landing page rather than under a post.
- LinkDM does comment-to-DM on Instagram alone, with Pro at $19 a month for up to 25,000 DMs per account, per its homepage. It fits when the auto-DM is the whole job.
Getting started
Start on Free, which allows four live automations, and follow How to use Manychat to turn post comments into email leads.
FAQ
Do my followers count as Active Contacts?
No. Only people who interact through Manychat in the billing month count; quiet contacts stay in your list without counting.
Can I stop overage charges?
Yes. Set a contact limit under Settings, Billing, Subscription; past it, automations run only for contacts already active that month.
Which plan adds WhatsApp?
Pro and above. Free and Essential connect Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and Telegram only.