# Manychat > Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger DM automation for creators and shops Manychat automates direct messages on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, TikTok and Telegram. It replies to comments, story mentions and DMs with prebuilt flows, collects emails and phone numbers in the chat, and sends links, discount codes and offers, with a live chat inbox for the team. Paid plans include Essential and Pro, billed monthly or yearly. - **Category:** SMS & Chat Marketing - **Made by:** Manychat, Inc. - **Website:** https://manychat.com - **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android - **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026 ## Pricing Manychat has a free plan. Paid plans start at $169 per year as an App Store purchase ($17 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** You can start free with a social handle or email; the free plan's limits are on Manychat's pricing page, which could not be read. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | $0 | Start free with a social handle or email. Its contact and feature limits could not be read on Manychat's own pages. | | Essential | $169 per year as an App Store purchase ($17 billed monthly) | Price as listed for the in-app purchase in the US App Store. Contact limits are not shown there. | | Pro | $349 per year as an App Store purchase ($39 billed monthly) | Price as listed for the in-app purchase in the US App Store. Contact limits are not shown there. | Read from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/manychat/id1460129210 on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Manychat before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Yearly plans cost less than 12 monthly payments** (Annual discount): In the US App Store, Essential is $169 a year against $17 a month and Pro $349 a year against $39 a month. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/manychat/id1460129210 ## Key features - **Comment and story auto-replies:** Prebuilt automations that answer post comments, Reels replies, story mentions and DMs, so engagement turns into a conversation. - **One inbox for social DMs:** Messages from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram in one live chat, where replies can be assigned to teammates. - **Lead capture in chat:** Flows that ask for emails, phone numbers or other details inside the conversation and store them on the contact. - **Links, codes and offers:** Automations that drop affiliate links, discount codes and freebies into a DM when someone comments or replies. - **Mobile apps with tracking:** iOS and Android apps for replying on the go, with push notifications, message templates and click, open and conversion stats. ## Good for - Creators who send links or freebies when followers comment a keyword - Small shops answering Instagram and WhatsApp DMs from one inbox - Marketers collecting emails and phone numbers from social traffic ## Worth knowing - Manychat's web pricing page and help center turned away automated readers, so plan limits and web prices could not be checked; App Store prices may differ. - WhatsApp messages carry Meta's per-message charges on top of the plan; Manychat's own figures could not be read. - The App Store listing names only Essential and Pro as purchases; contact allowances and any larger plans are not shown there. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.4 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. Manychat is built around one very popular trick: someone comments a keyword on your post and gets a link, a code or a freebie in their DMs. It covers Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, TikTok and Telegram, with a shared inbox and phone apps. Essential is $169 a year in the US App Store, but its contact limits aren't shown there, so check what your list size really costs. - **Value for money: B.** Essential is $169 a year as a US App Store purchase ($17 billed monthly), which sits in the cheaper quarter of this category. The catch: the App Store doesn't say how many contacts that covers, so we can't confirm it stretches to 1,000 customers, and Meta's WhatsApp charges come on top. - **Free plan and trial: C.** There's a free plan you can start with just a social handle or an email. But its contact and feature limits sit on a pricing page that turned automated readers away, so we can't say how far it gets you, and we won't credit it for more than that. - **Features: C.** Comment and story auto-replies, keyword triggers that drop links and codes into DMs, lead capture in the chat and one inbox for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram. But the listing shows no broadcasts and no integrations, so it's the DM slice of this job. - **Ease of use: C.** 4.3 from 2,142 App Store ratings, which is fine but not great. The prebuilt automations help, though you still have to hook each one up to the right post, story or keyword. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android, so you can answer DMs from your phone with push alerts. No desktop app, which an A needs, and the listing names no integrations at all. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Manychat's App Store and Google Play listings on 18 October 2026, since its own site turned automated readers away, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among SMS and chat marketing tools - Manychat's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 9 of the 14 other SMS and chat marketing tools we grade, and level with 3. - It stands best on value for money (B, above 10 of 14) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $14.08 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $26.59 for the category: 1 of the 13 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/chat-marketing ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Manychat you would be making the WhatsApp Business API, which Meta opens only through approved partners. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $169 a year. - You could not: The WhatsApp Business API, which Meta opens only through approved partners. - You could not: Email sent in volume that still reaches the inbox. - You could not: A chatbot builder hooked into the messaging apps. - You could not: A chat box on your site that reaches you the moment a customer types. - You could not: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## What people say - **App Store rating of the iPhone and iPad app:** 4.3 out of 5 from 2,142 ratings in the United States, read Oct 18, 2026. This is the store's rating of the app, not a score from ToolGPA. Source: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460129210 **Tags:** Chatbots, WhatsApp messaging, Marketing automation, Live chat ## Alternatives - [Chatfuel](https://toolgpa.com/tools/chatfuel): AI chatbots for WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook with a usage wallet. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/chatfuel-vs-manychat) - [Landbot](https://toolgpa.com/tools/landbot): No-code chatbot and AI agent builder for websites and WhatsApp. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/landbot-vs-manychat) - [Wati](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wati): WhatsApp Business API inbox with broadcasts, chatbots and ad flows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manychat-vs-wati) - [respond.io](https://toolgpa.com/tools/respond-io): Team inbox for WhatsApp, social chats, email and calls with AI agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manychat-vs-respond-io) - [SleekFlow](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sleekflow): Shared inbox and AI agents for WhatsApp, social chats, SMS and email. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/manychat-vs-sleekflow) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026: - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/manychat/id1460129210 - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manychat&gl=US&hl=en Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/manychat Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).