Guide
ManyChat Pricing in 2026: Plans, Real Costs, and Cheaper Alternatives
ManyChat's plans run from a limited free tier to $199 a month, and the number that decides your bill is active contacts, not features. Here is what each plan includes, what it costs after a viral post, and when a different tool is the better deal.
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The short answer
ManyChat has a free plan and four paid plans. Paid plans start at $17 a month, or $14 a month if you pay for a year up front, and go up to $199 a month. Every plan includes a fixed number of active contacts; go past it and you pay per extra contact. AI replies are only included from the Pro plan up. Essential and Pro come with a 14-day free trial. Those are the facts. The rest of this guide is about what they mean for a brand whose comments and DMs come from paid ads.
ManyChat plans and prices in 2026
Prices below are from ManyChat's pricing page on 2 September 2026 for US billing, before tax. ManyChat sets prices by billing country, so check the page for yours.
Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Contacts included | Each extra contact | AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 | 25 | Not available | No |
Essential | $17 | $14 ($168 a year) | 250 | $0.10 | No |
Pro | $39 | $29 ($348 a year) | 2,500 | $0.05 | Yes |
Business | $99 | $69 ($828 a year) | 7,500 | $0.025 | Yes |
Advanced | $199 | $139 ($1,668 a year) | 25,000 | $0.004 | Yes |
The extra-contact prices above are the monthly-billing rates. On annual billing they drop to $0.082, $0.038, $0.018, and $0.0028 respectively, but note ManyChat's own footnote: on annual plans, active contacts are still counted monthly and overages are still billed monthly. Paying for a year does not cap your bill.
How ManyChat pricing actually works
Features matter less than one number: active contacts. Every plan includes a monthly allowance of people your automations interact with. Once you pass it, each additional contact that month is billed at the plan's per-contact rate. Your bill therefore tracks the size of your audience, not the revenue those conversations produced.
Channels. Free and Essential connect two channels, Pro three, Business and Advanced unlimited. Instagram plus Messenger uses two; add TikTok or WhatsApp and you need Pro or higher.
Automations. The free plan allows four active automations. Every paid plan removes the cap.
AI. AI-powered conversations are a Pro, Business, and Advanced feature. On Free and Essential, replies are the scripted flows you build by hand.
Branding. Free-plan messages carry ManyChat branding. Paid plans remove it.
Team. One user on Free, two on Essential, three on Pro, five on Business, ten on Advanced. Shared team inbox and assignments start at Business.
WhatsApp. Meta bills its own per-message fees for WhatsApp on top of your ManyChat subscription.
Is ManyChat free?
Yes, with limits that make the free plan a sandbox rather than a working tool. You get 25 active contacts a month, four active automations, one user, a basic inbox, self-serve support, and ManyChat branding on your messages. There is no AI. For a creator testing a single comment-to-DM keyword it is enough to learn the builder. For a brand running ads, 25 contacts is a single afternoon of comments, so the free plan is really a preview of the paid product.
ManyChat also offers a 14-day free trial on the Essential and Pro plans, which is the better way to evaluate it: you see the real contact counts your posts generate before you commit.
What ManyChat really costs after a viral post
The included contacts look generous until a post takes off, because a comment-to-DM campaign turns every commenter into a contact. Three illustrations at the monthly list prices:
Essential, $17. A product post brings 1,000 people into your automation. 250 are included; the other 750 cost $0.10 each. That month is $92.
Pro, $39. A Reel pulls 6,000 comment-to-DM contacts. 2,500 are included; 3,500 extra at $0.05 is $175. That month is $214.
Business, $99. A launch drives 12,000 contacts. 7,500 are included; 4,500 extra at $0.025 is $112.50. That month is $211.50.
None of that is hidden; it is how the model is designed. The point is that the best month for your content is the most expensive month on your invoice, and the bill does not know whether any of those contacts bought anything.
Where ManyChat is worth the money
ManyChat is the most established chatbot builder on Instagram, and for some jobs it remains the right choice. Creators running giveaways and "comment the keyword to get the link" campaigns get a mature visual flow builder, a large template library, and an official Meta partnership. Businesses that need WhatsApp or Telegram alongside Instagram get them on one platform. If your automation is a predictable script with a predictable audience, the Essential or Pro plan is fairly priced for what it does.
Where the bill stops making sense
You pay for audience, not outcomes. A contact who asked one question and never returned costs the same as one who bought twice.
Scripts break off-script. Flows handle the questions you anticipated. A customer who asks about sizing in the middle of a shipping flow waits for a human, and on Free and Essential there is no AI to catch them.
Moderation is not the product. Spam, scam links, and abuse on ad comments are the fastest way to lose paid reach, and hiding them is not what ManyChat is built for. Most brands end up paying for a second tool.
Reporting counts messages. You can see how many people entered a flow. You cannot easily see how much revenue a conversation recovered, which is the number that tells you whether the subscription is paying for itself.
Cheaper alternatives to ManyChat
Which alternative is cheaper depends on what you are automating.
Exerta. Best for DTC brands and advertisers who want comments, DMs, and moderation handled together and tied to revenue. Exerta's Free plan is free forever with no credit card: 100 AI actions a month, comment-hiding rules, stock replies, and one connected Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok page. That is a real free tier, not a 25-contact preview. The Starter plan is $79.99 a month, or $769 a year with two months free, with a 7-day free trial: 500 AI credits a month, four AI agents across two pages, AI replies in your brand voice, and seven moderation rules. Pricing is based on AI actions, not on how many people are in your audience, so a post that goes viral does not multiply the bill by itself. Two differences matter more than the price tag: AI replies are included on every plan, including free, and Exerta reports the revenue each conversation recovered, so you can see the tool paying for itself instead of comparing pricing tables on faith. Exerta reports an average 14× return across the brands it serves.
Flat-rate creator tools. A newer group of Instagram-only tools such as InstantDM, ReplyRush, and LinkDM charge roughly $10 to $20 a month flat with high or unlimited DM allowances. They do one job, sending a DM when someone comments a keyword, and do it cheaply. They are not customer service tools and do not cover Facebook or TikTok.
Meta Business Suite. Free, and enough if all you need is an instant reply, an away message, and a few FAQ buttons for DMs. It cannot send a DM from a comment or reply with any intelligence. See how to set up auto-reply on Instagram for exactly what it does.
ManyChat vs Exerta on price
ManyChat | Exerta | |
|---|---|---|
Free plan | 25 active contacts, 4 automations, no AI, ManyChat branding | Free forever, no card: 100 AI actions a month, hiding rules, stock replies, 1 page |
Entry paid plan | Essential, $17 a month ($14 annual), 250 contacts, no AI | Starter, $79.99 a month ($769 a year), 500 AI credits, AI replies included |
What drives the bill | Active contacts, with per-contact overage | AI actions used |
AI replies | Pro plan and up ($39 a month) | Every plan, including free |
Comment moderation on ads | Not a core feature | Included: hide spam and negativity across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok |
Channels | Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram (count limited by plan) | Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, website chat |
Revenue attribution | Flow and conversion reporting | Recovered revenue per conversation |
Free trial | 14 days on Essential and Pro | 7 days on Starter, plus the permanent free plan |
Read that table honestly and it says two things. If you want the cheapest possible scripted keyword-to-DM flow for a creator account, ManyChat's Essential plan or a flat-rate creator tool costs less than Exerta's Starter plan. If you are a brand spending on ads and you need replies, moderation, and proof of return, Exerta's entry plan replaces a ManyChat Pro subscription plus a moderation tool, and shows you what it earned.
Which should you pick?
Pick ManyChat Free or Essential if you are a creator with a predictable script, a small audience, and no need for AI or moderation.
Pick ManyChat Pro or Business if you need WhatsApp or Telegram on the same platform as Instagram and your contact counts are steady.
Pick a flat-rate creator tool if the whole job is delivering a link after a keyword comment.
Pick Exerta if comments and DMs are a sales channel, you run ads, and you want the bill measured against recovered revenue rather than audience size. Start on the free plan and let the attribution decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is ManyChat free? There is a free plan with 25 active contacts a month, four active automations, one user, and ManyChat branding on messages. AI is not included. Paid plans start at $17 a month, or $14 a month billed annually.
Does ManyChat have a free trial? Yes. The Essential and Pro plans offer a 14-day free trial.
What is an active contact? A person your ManyChat automations interact with during a billing month. Each plan includes a set number; extras are billed per contact at the plan's rate, monthly, even on annual plans.
How much is ManyChat Pro? $39 a month, or $29 a month when billed annually ($348 a year). It includes 2,500 active contacts, three channels, three users, and AI-powered conversations.
Does ManyChat charge extra for WhatsApp? ManyChat's subscription covers the platform; Meta charges its own per-message fees for WhatsApp conversations on top.
Is there a cheaper alternative with AI included? Exerta includes AI replies on every plan, including a free plan with 100 AI actions a month and no credit card required.
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