Is ManyChat free? What the free plan covers in 2026

Before March 2026 the free plan was described as 1,000 contacts, counted over the account's lifetime. ManyChat now counts people per billing month, and its Free-plan help article says every free account has moved to the new plan, including accounts created before 2 March. An old signup date does not keep the old allowance.

We checked ManyChat's pricing page with the toggle on monthly billing on 23 October 2026. The figures below are ManyChat's own. Its prices exclude tax, which ManyChat sets by your billing country.

ManyChat's pricing explainer describes the old lifetime model. The change helps an account with a large, quiet list and hurts a new creator running a busy launch, which is the usual comment-to-DM case.

Three things follow from that definition, per ManyChat's Active Contacts guide:

• The count resets at the start of each billing month.
• Stored contacts who do nothing that month do not count.
• One person who asks for three resources is still one contact; 25 different people who each ask once use the whole free allowance.

So plan by distinct people, not by followers or by messages. A post that brings 40 new people asking for a guide passes the free limit even if your list is small. See per-contact pricing for how this differs from tools that count sends.

A worked forecast, using made-up numbers: your first post brings 18 people asking for a worksheet and a second post brings 12. Six people asked on both. That is 24 distinct people, not 30, so the month just fits under 25. One more busy post and it does not.

ManyChat's subscription help article describes that behaviour. On paid plans the same moment bills instead: every extra person costs $0.10 on the $17 tier and $0.05 on the $39 tier, unless you set an overage threshold.

If a launch is close to the limit, check these in your own dashboard first:

1. Your plan name and this month's active-contact count.
2. The date the count resets.
3. Any warning ManyChat shows, saved word for word.
4. Which post and keyword will bring the new people.

A campaign that stalls at person 26 looks like a broken automation to the 27th commenter, so size the test before you post.

Included on the free plan, per ManyChat's comparison table:

• Comment to DM, keyword triggers and a default reply.
• Story replies, story mentions and Live comments started as DMs.
• Links, PDFs and images sent automatically in DMs.
• Referral links that open a DM from a link, QR code or website button.
• Tags to organise contacts.

Not included until a paid plan: collecting emails or phone numbers in DMs, the follower check, conditions that route people by their answers, and removing ManyChat branding. For a first test of whether people will ask for your resource at all, the free plan is genuinely useful.

Paying annually lowers these to $14, $29, $69 and $139 a month. ManyChat's page opens on the annual toggle, so a figure quoted without the billing period is usually the annual one. Every tier, overage and worked bill is in our ManyChat pricing breakdown.

Here is a worked month for one creator posting a free guide, using ManyChat's published monthly rates and ReplyMagnet's own plan catalogue. One person comments once; ReplyMagnet counts that comment's public reply and DM as one engagement.

The decision rule:

• Stay on ManyChat Free for a small test with under 25 people when you do not need the email.
• Pay ManyChat when Instagram is one channel among several and you will use its flow builder, broadcasts, AI and integrations.
• Use ReplyMagnet when the whole job is a comment answered with a reply, a DM with the file, and the email kept, at a flat price.

One honest limit on our side: ReplyMagnet covers Instagram and Facebook Page comment-to-DM only. ManyChat's free plan also reaches Messenger, TikTok and Telegram, and its builder does far more than deliver a resource.

What the free plans include for the comment-to-DM job:

• ReplyMagnet, $0: 1,000 engagements a month, 1 account, 1 live campaign, public reply plus DM, email capture on the delivery page, on Instagram and Facebook Pages. Paid plans are flat from $9 for 25,000, with no per-contact billing. Details: plans and billing.
• ManyChat, $0: 25 active contacts, 4 automations, 2 channels, no email collection.

For a wider field, our ManyChat alternative comparison and free Instagram DM automation roundup compare the other free tiers we have checked.

Five steps, in this order:

1. Pick one resource you can describe in a sentence, such as "Comment CHECKLIST for the 5-step shoot prep PDF".
2. Estimate distinct people from your last two comparable posts, not from followers.
3. Set up the trigger and delivery; our comment-to-DM setup guide covers the steps and Meta's messaging windows.
4. Comment from a second account, open the DM on a phone, and check the file opens and the email form works.
5. Launch, then compare completed deliveries against comments before changing the wording.

If the forecast is under 25 people and no email is needed, ManyChat Free is enough. If not, start free on ReplyMagnet or price the matching ManyChat tier first.