From flow canvas to your real posts
What changes, what carries over, and what the bill looks like when you move your Instagram automation from ManyChat to inDM.
The pricing delta
ManyChat prices on Active Contacts per month, people you exchanged messages with in that billing period, counted once each. As of 2026-08-04 that runs Free $0 for 25 a month, Essential $17 for 250, Pro $39 for 2,500, Business $99 for 7,500 and Advanced $199 for 25,000, with a per-contact overage past each allowance. The count resets monthly, so the bill tracks the months you were busy rather than the size of your list.
inDM prices on nothing you can run out of: one Growth plan at one price, $4.99 for your first month and $14.99 after, with unlimited messages. The free plan is the same product, also unlimited, on one connected Instagram account.
So only one of these bills is usage-based, and the switch stops being arithmetic. Theirs counts people per month across five plans ($0 / $17 / $39 / $99 / $199 for 25 / 250 / 2,500 / 7,500 / 25,000 contacts), so what you pay depends on how well next month goes. Ours does not count anything: at 2,500 contacts a month they are $39 and we are $14.99; at 25,000 they are $199 and we are still $14.99.
The honest math: pull up your real monthly active-contact number from ManyChat and double it to estimate DMs, then price both. For an Instagram-only creator inDM comes out cheaper at every allowance we've compared; if you're also running WhatsApp, Messenger or TikTok flows, ManyChat's breadth still earns its price and we don't replace it.
Theirs → ours
| In ManyChat | In inDM | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Flow builder canvas | Automations on real posts | Pick the post, set the keyword and DM, no nodes to wire. |
| Instagram keyword triggers | Comment, story reply, and DM keywords | The same triggers, anchored to the content they fire on. |
| Monthly active contacts (5 plans) | Contacts included on every plan | Leads, hot leads, customers, superfans, your contact list never sets your bill, because nothing you do sets your bill. |
| Growth tools & follow conditions | Follow gate | One toggle asks for the follow before the link. |
| Email collection via flows | Email capture gate | The DM asks for the email before delivering the link. |
| Live chat / inbox | Unified inbox | Every automation-opened conversation in one view. |
Moving day, step by step
Export your ManyChat contacts
Download your contact list as a CSV from ManyChat first. Conversation history can't transfer between tools, so this export is your record of who engaged.
Connect Instagram to inDM
Sign up and connect through Instagram's own login, inDM never sees your password. Both tools can stay connected during the switch; automations won't conflict unless two automations answer the same keyword, so pause the ManyChat ones you're replacing as each inDM version goes live.
Rebuild the automations that matter
Most creators run three or four automations that do the real work. Recreate each: pick the post, set the keyword, write the DM. The live preview shows exactly what will send.
Set live, then retire the old flows
Once each inDM automation is live and firing (analytics show the trigger count), archive the matching ManyChat flow. Run in parallel for a day or two if you want the safety net.
- One plan at one price, $14.99, instead of five contact tiers to forecast
- Automations that live on the posts themselves
- A live DM preview before anything sends
- A calmer product, one clear action per screen
- No multi-channel: inDM is Instagram-only, so WhatsApp/Messenger/SMS flows need to stay in ManyChat or elsewhere
- No flow canvas: complex branching logic doesn't have an equivalent, inDM trades it for simplicity
- Contacts rebuild as people engage; history doesn't transfer (true of any tool switch)
Questions, answered plainly
Can I run ManyChat and inDM at the same time?
Yes, during a switch it's the sensible way to move. Just don't point two automations at the same keyword on the same post, or the person gets two DMs. Pause the ManyChat version as each inDM automation goes live.
Will I lose my ManyChat contacts?
Export them as a CSV before you go. That list is yours. inDM can't import another tool's conversation history (no tool can), but your inDM contacts rebuild automatically as people engage.
What if I still need Messenger automation?
Then keep ManyChat for Messenger and use inDM for Instagram, or stay put, honestly. inDM only wins this comparison if Instagram is where your growth actually happens.