What is ManyChat?

Manychat is a platform for building chat automations that reply to DMs, comments and story replies on channels such as Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp, SMS and email, with a shared Inbox for live replies. It runs as a web app, and Manychat lists AI features (AI Step, Intention Recognition, a Flow Builder assistant, Text Improver) plus a separate AI add-on.

Who it's for

Manychat's plan pages point Essential at basic comment, story and DM automations with lead capture, and Business and Advanced at higher contact volumes, unlimited channels and team Inbox workflows. Its pricing is built around Active Contacts per month, so it suits accounts whose monthly engaged audience fits a tier.

Pros & cons

Strengths

Manychat lists a Free plan with up to 4 live automations, 25 Active Contacts a month, 1 user and 2 channels from Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and Telegram.
The Essential help page lists unlimited automations, comment, story and DM replies, email and phone capture, follower checks, contact tagging and Google Sheets sync.
Pro lists up to 3 channels including WhatsApp, SMS and email, WhatsApp broadcasts and automations, 3 users and 2 Inbox seats, and a 14-day free trial.
Business lists unlimited channels, 5 users, 3 Inbox seats (expandable to 5) and lead assignment; Advanced lists 10 users and 5 Inbox seats (expandable to 10).
Manychat says exceeding the Active Contact limit does not stop automations right away; it sends alerts at 70%, 90% and 100% and lets you set an overage threshold under Settings, Billing, Subscription.
Manychat lists a refund for cancellations within 30 days of the first plan purchase, and says you can cancel anytime and keep access until the billing period ends.

Limitations

Pricing is metered by Active Contacts (Free 25, Essential 250, Pro 2,500, Business 7,500, Advanced 25,000 a month); extra contacts are billed as overage, for example Pro $0.05 monthly or $0.038 annual, and counts reset each billing cycle even on annual plans.
Free shows "Powered by Manychat" on the first message and excludes WhatsApp, SMS and email; Essential allows 2 channels and excludes WhatsApp, SMS and email, and the Essential help page lists AI-powered automation as a reason to upgrade to Pro.
The AI add-on is described on the AI help page as in beta and currently available only for Instagram, requires an active paid plan with the add-on enabled, and AI Comments work only on Reels and Posts. Its price was not found on the pages read.
Manychat's AI terms say it may use AI inputs and outputs to provide and improve the features, that it contractually limits its AI providers from using content to train their general-use services, and that it uses OpenAI and Azure OpenAI.
Manychat's own pages disagree on API access: the Pro help page and a community moderator say it is included from Pro, the subscription help page says only Advanced mentions it, and the pricing page does not mention it. Extra Inbox seats are $25 each, annual plans cannot be downgraded until the term ends, and prices vary by country and exclude tax.

Plans and pricing

Free: $0. 25 Active Contacts a month, 1 user, 1 Inbox seat, any 2 of Instagram, TikTok, Messenger and Telegram, up to 4 live automations, Powered by Manychat branding, no credit card required.
Essential: $14 a month billed annually ($168 a year), or $17 monthly. 250 Active Contacts, 2 users, 1 Inbox seat, any 2 channels (no WhatsApp, SMS or email), unlimited automations, branding removed, 14-day trial. Overage $0.10 monthly.
Pro: $29 a month billed annually ($348 a year), or $39 monthly. 2,500 Active Contacts, 3 users, 2 Inbox seats, any 3 channels including WhatsApp, SMS and email, AI-powered automation, 14-day trial. Overage $0.05 monthly, $0.038 annual.
Business: $69 a month billed annually ($828 a year), or $99 monthly. 7,500 Active Contacts, 5 users, 3 Inbox seats, unlimited channels, lead assignment. No free trial. Overage $0.025 monthly, $0.018 annual.
Advanced: $139 a month billed annually ($1,668 a year), or $199 monthly. 25,000 Active Contacts, 10 users, 5 Inbox seats, unlimited channels, API access listed. No free trial. Overage listed as $0.004 monthly, $0.0028 annual on the pricing page.

Prices were read from the official pricing page and the Free, Essential, Pro, Business and Advanced help pages; the pricing page shows annual-billing monthly figures, and the monthly figures come from the help pages. All prices are in US dollars, exclude tax and are determined by billing country; the pricing model dated March 2, 2026 applies by default to accounts created on or after that date, with older accounts migrated gradually. Overage figures differ slightly between pages (Essential annual $0.082 versus $0.08; Advanced listed as custom on the Active Contacts page). Confirm on the live pricing page.

Details checked October 2026 against the vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change, so confirm before you buy. Official pricing page ↗

Sources

This profile was compiled from these public pages. We have not run hands-on tests.

Summary

ManyChat — at a glance

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ManyChat

At a glance