Manychat: pricing, features and alternatives
Automates social DMs and comment replies on Instagram, WhatsApp and more
What is Manychat?
Manychat is a chat marketing tool that automates conversations on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram, SMS and email. Creators and small businesses use it to reply to comments and direct messages, collect leads and send broadcasts. Pricing is based on active contacts per month, with AI-powered conversations on Pro and higher plans.
Good for
- Replying automatically to Instagram comments and direct messages
- Collecting email addresses from social media followers
- Managing messages from several social channels in one inbox
Key features
- Automated replies to comments and direct messages
- Channels: Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram, SMS and email
- Broadcasts and AI-powered conversations from the Pro plan
- Shared team inbox and assignments on Business and Advanced
- Official Meta Business Partner and TikTok partner
Limitations to know about
- Free plan: 25 active contacts a month, 2 channels and up to 4 active automations, with Manychat branding
- Each plan includes a set number of active contacts; contacts above that cost $0.004 to $0.10 each, by plan
- WhatsApp, SMS and email start on Pro; unlimited channels start on Business
Manychat pricing
Manychat has a free plan. Essential, Pro, Business and Advanced cost $14 to $139 a month billed annually, or $17 to $199 billed monthly.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 Active Contacts/month, any 2 channels (no WhatsApp, SMS or email), up to 4 live automations, 1 user |
| Essential | $17/month, or $14/month billed annually | 250 Active Contacts, 2 channels, unlimited automations, 2 users, no Manychat branding |
| Pro | $39/month, or $29/month billed annually | 2,500 Active Contacts, 3 channels including WhatsApp, SMS and email, broadcasts, AI, integrations and API, 3 users |
| Business | $99/month, or $69/month billed annually | 7,500 Active Contacts, unlimited channels, shared team inbox and assignments, 5 users, priority support |
| Advanced | $199/month, or $139/month billed annually | 25,000 Active Contacts, unlimited channels, shared team inbox, 10 users, priority support |
Free plan limits: 25 Active Contacts per month, 1 user, up to 4 live automations, any 2 channels from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Messenger and Telegram (no WhatsApp, SMS or email), Manychat branding; no credit card required
Costs on top of a plan
- Extra Active Contacts: $0.10 each on Essential, $0.05 on Pro, $0.025 on Business, $0.004 on Advanced (monthly billing) (lower on annual billing; automations keep running over the limit, and the overage can be capped)
- Extra Inbox seats: $25 a seat (Pro, Business and Advanced; up to 3, 5 and 10 seats)
- WhatsApp messages: Per message by market; in the US and Canada, $0.0287 for a marketing message (paid from the Manychat Wallet; 1,000 free service messages per number a month; WhatsApp starts on Pro)
Manychat alternatives
Tidio
Live chat, ticketing and an AI agent (Lyro) for customer service
Chatbase
Builds AI support agents trained on a company's own content
Voiceflow
Platform for building AI customer service agents for chat and voice
Intercom
Customer service helpdesk with a built-in AI agent, Fin
Zendesk
Customer service software with ticketing, messaging, voice and AI agents
Freshdesk
Freshworks help desk with ticketing, a knowledge base and Freddy AI
Compare Manychat with these side by side
Head to head: Manychat vs Chatbase · Manychat vs Tidio
Frequently asked questions
Is Manychat free?
Manychat has a free plan. 25 Active Contacts per month, 1 user, up to 4 live automations, any 2 channels from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Messenger and Telegram (no WhatsApp, SMS or email), Manychat branding; no credit card required. Paid plans start at $14/mo billed annually.
How much does Manychat cost?
Essential, Pro, Business and Advanced cost $14 to $139 a month billed annually, or $17 to $199 billed monthly. There is also a free plan. On Essential: 250 Active Contacts a month included, then a fee per extra contact; $168 billed annually. Prices as published on Manychat's pricing page on 16 October 2026.
What is Manychat?
Manychat is a tool that automates conversations in direct messages and comments. It works across Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, email and SMS. It has a Free plan and four paid plans, Essential, Pro, Business and Advanced, priced by Active Contacts: each real person you interact with in a monthly billing period counts once. Paid plans start at $14 a month billed annually.
What features does each Manychat plan include?
Free covers comment-to-DM, follow-to-DM, story and keyword replies, with up to 4 live automations. Essential adds unlimited automations, collecting emails and phone numbers, follower checks and Google Sheets. Pro adds AI replies and goals, broadcasts, the WhatsApp, SMS and email channels, and integrations such as Zapier, Make, HubSpot, Klaviyo and Stripe. Business and Advanced add conversation assignment, team Inbox analytics and priority support.
Does Manychat have a free trial?
Yes. Essential and Pro can be tried free for 14 days; Business and Advanced have no free trial. Starting a trial means entering billing details, and the subscription renews automatically after 14 days unless you cancel. A connected channel, such as an Instagram account, can be used for a trial only once, even with a different Manychat account.
How does Manychat pricing scale with Active Contacts?
Each plan includes a monthly number of Active Contacts: 25 on Free, 250 on Essential, 2,500 on Pro, 7,500 on Business and 25,000 on Advanced. A person counts once a month, however many messages you exchange. Above the limit, automations keep running and each extra contact costs $0.10 on Essential, $0.05 on Pro, $0.025 on Business and $0.004 on Advanced with monthly billing. You can set an overage cap.
How much do broadcasts cost on Manychat?
Broadcasts are included in the Pro, Business and Advanced plans, not Free or Essential, and cannot be sent on Instagram or TikTok. Each person who receives a broadcast counts as an Active Contact that month. Some channels add message fees: WhatsApp template messages are charged per message from your Manychat Wallet, for example $0.0287 for a marketing message in North America, and SMS is billed by Twilio.
Can Manychat send SMS, and what does it cost?
Yes, on the Pro, Business and Advanced plans; SMS is not available on Free or Essential. You connect your own Twilio account, and Twilio, not Manychat, charges for sending each message. One SMS holds 160 characters, or 70 with emojis, so longer texts are billed as several messages. Images go out as MMS, which works only with US and Canadian Twilio numbers.
What is Manychat used for?
Manychat is a chat marketing tool that automates conversations on Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram, SMS and email. People use it for replying automatically to Instagram comments and direct messages, collecting email addresses from social media followers and managing messages from several social channels in one inbox.
What are the alternatives to Manychat?
Tools that do a similar job include Tidio, Chatbase, Voiceflow, Intercom and Zendesk. Each has its own page here with its plans, limits and prices.
Who makes Manychat?
Manychat is made by Manychat, Inc. The company was founded in 2015.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Manychat, Inc.'s own pages, read on the dates shown.
- manychat.com/pricing (plan prices (monthly and annual toggle), contact limits, overage rates, channels, trial, features, FAQ) read 16 October 2026
- manychat.com/about (launch year (on Telegram in 2015), legal name) read 23 September 2026
- help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/25800197498652-Free-plan (Free plan limits and channels) read 16 October 2026
- help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/25800323349020-Active-Contacts (Active Contacts per plan and overage pricing) read 16 October 2026
- help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281375479324-How-to-start-or-renew-your-subscription (free trial plan terms (card required, renewal, one trial per channel)) read 16 October 2026
- help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281249064092-How-to-send-SMS-MMS-through-Manychat (SMS through Twilio, plans that include it) read 16 October 2026
- help.manychat.com/hc/en-us/articles/14281380243740-WhatsApp-pricing-guide (WhatsApp per-message pricing from 1 Oct 2026) read 16 October 2026
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