Manychat
Manychat turns social conversations into contact records, qualification steps and appointments. Businesses connect messaging accounts and build flows triggered by interactions such as Instagram comments, messages or story responses. Questions capture email addresses and other fields, then route interested people to the next action.
The hosted workspace includes visual automation and a team inbox. AI Replies can use a business knowledge base to answer Instagram inquiries, with a playground for testing and a separate activation step. Unanswered questions can transfer to a person, and a contact's automations can be paused. A pause allows the current node to finish before stopping subsequent work.
Channel permissions determine when messages can run. Instagram and Messenger generally allow automated replies for 24 hours after the contact's latest interaction. Manual inbox responses have a longer window. The product does not turn an imported list of Instagram handles into permission for cold messaging.
HubSpot actions create and update contacts, retrieve properties and submit forms. Google Sheets receives mapped fields, and Pro includes API access. Marketing agency ASIO used a Messenger qualification flow to route business owners and decision makers to Calendly for consultations.
The current plan system runs from a free tier to Advanced. Essential starts at $17 monthly with 250 active contacts. Pro is $39 monthly with 2,500 and adds AI and further channels, while Business at $99 and Advanced at $199 raise the allowance to 7,500 and 25,000 with every channel and larger teams. Annual billing lowers the recurring rate. A contact becomes active after sending or receiving a message during the billing month; an idle imported record does not consume that allowance. Overage charges apply above the included volume, and a configurable cap can stop new contacts from entering automation.
Capability Axes
Capability grades
17 of 17 axes rated · 16 graded A or B
Manychat automates conversations with visual flows, contact fields and a team inbox, triggered by Instagram comments, messages and story replies among other channel events. Those functions work without generative AI. On Pro and above, AI can answer DMs and positive comments, handle FAQs from a business knowledge base and steer a conversation toward a goal, with a test area that previews answers before activation. Automation can collect an email address, qualify an inquiry and send a booking link. The same contact can move from a scripted sequence to a person in the inbox.
AI Replies has a test playground and a separate Go Live action, and administrators and editors can switch it off or hand a conversation to a person when it cannot answer. A contact's automations can be paused for a chosen period or indefinitely; actions already running in the current node finish, then later nodes stop. Human messages through the inbox continue during the pause, and a resume control restarts automation. Under its ISO 42001 program, Manychat runs risk and impact assessments on each AI system before and during operation, with defined human review of outputs.
The AI terms name OpenAI and Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service, and Microsoft appears on the processor list for AI functionality and logging. Model versions are not named. AI Replies works from a business knowledge base supplied as text or a URL; customers describe their business, tone of voice and goals, then test answers in a playground. Contact properties and rule conditions steer the visual flows without a model choosing each step. Manychat's AI management system is certified to ISO 42001:2023 after an audit by A-LIGN.
ASIO, a marketing agency in Cancun, used Messenger automation to qualify business owners and marketing decision makers before sending them to Calendly. Its case study reports a 500% increase in meetings from October 2020 to March 2021, without the underlying meeting counts. The flow asked about budget, authority, need and timing, and only qualified leads received the route to a consultation. Other customer results come from creators, such as one automation that drew 200 email sign ups in a single day, and Manychat counts more than one million creators, marketers and brands as users.
Manychat blocks automated messages outside each channel's messaging window, and WhatsApp needs approved templates outside its standard window. Contacts can be unsubscribed from the bot or from email without deleting their stored fields. The customer supplies notices and the lawful basis for processing, since a channel connection alone does not create permission.
Instagram and Messenger automation ordinarily runs within 24 hours of the contact's latest interaction, with seven days for manual inbox replies. Broadcasts on Pro and above reach WhatsApp, Telegram and Messenger audiences proactively.
A public processing agreement makes Manychat the processor for customer contact content and the controller for account administration data. Customers must supply consent or another lawful ground and inform their contacts, and rights requests about a customer's audience route to that customer with processor help. Transfers rely on Manychat's certification under the EU, UK and Swiss Data Privacy Frameworks, with Standard Contractual Clauses where those do not apply. The subprocessor list names hosting, support, logging and AI services, with advance notice of material changes. Accounts inactive for 18 months are flagged and deleted.
Contacts arrive through connected messaging channels, customer imports and answers given during conversations. Custom fields hold details such as email, phone, qualification answers and preferences, and tags group contacts for later follow ups. The customer warrants the permissions needed to upload and process that content, and Manychat sells no prospect database. An imported record starts counting toward active contact billing only after it sends or receives a message. Follower checks and follow prompts grow an audience from people who already engage with the account.
Manychat connects to messaging platforms through official integrations as a Meta Business Partner and a TikTok partner, and Messenger delivery uses Facebook's Send API. The Meta partnership involves periodic Data Use Checkups and compliance audits against Meta's platform data security rules. Channel rules are enforced in the sending workflow, including the standard 24 hour automation window on Instagram and Messenger. None of this authorizes messaging a harvested list of unrelated Instagram handles. Within the permitted window, a flow can answer an inquiry and collect qualification fields.
The AI terms bar providers from using customer inputs and outputs to train or improve their general services. They also let Manychat use that material to maintain and develop its own AI, a broader internal permission. AI systems go through risk and impact assessments and defined human review under an ISO 42001 certified management system with named owners for each system. Customer content otherwise follows the processing agreement's return and deletion terms. AI Replies can be switched off or its knowledge removed without deleting conventional flows.
The AI terms prohibit misleading recipients into believing that generated output was written solely by a person. The free plan adds Powered by Manychat to the first message each contact receives, and paid plans remove it. No AI notice is imposed on every paid conversation. Replies use the business's connected channel and identity, and administrators can transfer unanswered questions from AI Replies to a person in the team inbox. Business and Advanced add assignment and routing, so a handed over conversation reaches the right teammate.
HubSpot actions create or update a contact by email, pull contact properties into custom fields and submit form data, all as steps in a flow rather than a full opportunity sync. Form selection shows the latest 50 HubSpot forms and accepts a form ID for others. Google Sheets receives mapped contact fields from Essential up. Pro adds the Manychat API and email, SMS, CRM and commerce integrations, and Business adds lead assignment and inbox routing. A Calendly link can close a qualification flow with a booked meeting.
Manychat runs as a hosted service with all production data in AWS data centers in Frankfurt, encrypted in transit with TLS 1.3 or 1.2 and at rest with AES 256. US processors also support the service, so Frankfurt is not an exclusive European processing boundary, and customers cannot choose a region. Data is backed up continuously, with daily full database backups stored apart from the main data center. Teams work in the web application or on mobile, and connected channels deliver messages without a desktop sending session.
Manychat holds SOC 2 Type II, audited by A-LIGN over an extended observation period; ISO 27001:2022, certified by BSI; ISO 42001:2023 for its AI management system; PCI DSS SAQ A for card processing; and a listing in the Cloud Security Alliance STAR registry. The ISO certificates are open to download, while the SOC 2 report comes through a signed request. Independent penetration tests run at least annually, and a private Bugcrowd bounty program takes reports in between. Staff access follows least privilege, and a status page reports availability.
Five plans price by monthly active contacts. Free covers 25; Essential is $17 a month, or $14 billed annually, for 250; Pro is $39 or $29 for 2,500 with AI and the API; Business is $99 or $69 for 7,500; Advanced is $199 or $139 for 25,000. Overage per extra contact falls from $0.10 on Essential to $0.004 on Advanced, although the annual Essential rate reads $0.082 in the price table and $0.08 in help. Extra inbox seats cost $25. Essential and Pro carry a 14 day trial, refunds are available within 30 days, and an overage cap can stop new contacts from entering automation.
Contact data can leave through CSV, JSON per contact or mapped Google Sheets exports. EU switching terms also cover flows and analytics, with two months' notice, a usual 30 day transition and 30 days afterward to retrieve data; they apply to EU and EEA customers and exclude some third party platform data. Closing an account removes personal data from active systems, while billing records stay for tax and accounting rules. Annual plans cannot be downgraded or moved to monthly billing until the term ends. Deleting a contact removes its fields and inbox chat.
Sending follows each channel's messaging window rather than a daily cold DM allowance. Automation ordinarily ends 24 hours after the recipient's latest interaction, Instagram and Messenger allow manual inbox replies for seven days, and WhatsApp needs approved templates outside its standard window. Queued automated messages that fall outside the allowed period are blocked. Email volume is capped by plan at 10,000 on Pro, 30,000 on Business and 100,000 on Advanced. A contact pause stops automated flows but leaves the inbox open for human replies.
Manychat serves agencies, creators, online stores and brands across Instagram, Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, WhatsApp, SMS and email, and counts more than one million creators, marketers and brands as users. ASIO gives a named B2B acquisition example using qualification questions and booking. Essential connects two channels, Pro three, and Business and Advanced all of them, with users rising from two to ten and inbox seats from one to five. Prices vary by billing country and exclude tax. The site runs in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
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Compared With
Editorial comparisons are published only where the index assesses two vendors as direct competitors for the same buyer. Each carries a verdict, the buyer conditions that favor each vendor, and a graded side by side.
Pricing
What this vendor charges, what it commits to in writing, and where the bill can move. Figures the vendor publishes itself are labeled Vendor Published. Figures labeled Estimated come from other sources and the vendor has not confirmed them.
- ›Essential starts at $17 monthly for 250 active contacts and two channels. Pro at $39 monthly includes 2,500 active contacts, three channels, AI and the API. Business at $99 and Advanced at $199 raise the allowance to 7,500 and 25,000 with every channel and more seats. Annual billing lowers each rate. Usage resets each billing month, with extra charges above the allowance, and a cap can stop new contacts from entering automation.
How the price works
What you are charged for, and what makes the bill go up.
Monthly active contacts, channels, users and inbox seats. Essential includes 250 active contacts, Pro 2,500, Business 7,500 and Advanced 25,000. Annual billing costs $168, $348, $828 and $1,668 a year.
What the contract says about your data
What the vendor commits to in writing once your data is in the product.
The public processing agreement covers customer content, rights assistance, named processors and international transfers. Customers supply the lawful ground for processing their contacts.
Getting started
What it costs and what is included before the product is running.
Channel connection and flow creation are self serve. Essential and Pro carry a 14 day trial; Business and Advanced have none. Extra inbox seats cost $25 each.
What to watch for
Where this pricing can surprise a buyer who has not read it closely.
The current plan system began March 2, 2026, with regional and legacy account exceptions. Monthly overage runs $0.10 per active contact on Essential, $0.05 on Pro, $0.025 on Business and $0.004 on Advanced. Annual Essential overage is $0.082 in the pricing table but $0.08 in help. Channel messaging fees and taxes can add to the subscription, and prices vary by billing country.