How to set up ManyChat comment-to-DM on Instagram (free plan)

Comment-to-DM means someone comments a keyword on your reel and your link lands in their messages automatically. We run ManyChat comment-to-DM on the free plan on our own pages. This guide is the exact build we use, including the parts the free plan doesn't cover and what we do about them.

Our example page is "Pip · Puppy Workday Tips", and the example link is yourdomain.com/?ref=dm. Swap in your own.

Last checked against ManyChat's Help Center: 29 Oct 2026.

What ManyChat's free plan gives you for comment-to-DM

From ManyChat's Help Center, as of 29 Oct 2026:

• 25 Active Contacts a month. An Active Contact is someone who interacts with you through ManyChat that billing month, by DM, comment, story reply or tapping a button. Each person counts once a month, and the count resets every billing cycle. Followers who never interact don't count.
• 4 live automations at once.
• A "Powered by Manychat" message the first time ManyChat messages a contact. Paid plans remove it.

What we found inside the app on our own free account: the comment trigger only worked on a specific post or reel. "Any post or reel" and "next post or reel" showed an upgrade label, so every reel needs its own automation. The follow-up DM if the link isn't clicked, "ask to follow" and "ask for email" were marked as upgrades too.

So the free plan is a test bench: enough to build the whole flow, prove it works, and run it on your newest reels.

How the two-step flow works

Here is what a viewer sees:

1. They comment GUIDE on your reel.
2. ManyChat posts a public reply under the comment.
3. A DM arrives (DM 1) with one button.
4. They tap the button, and DM 2 arrives with your link.

Why not send the link straight away? Two rules from ManyChat's help. The first private reply to a comment can only be one content block (text or an image, with buttons). And the conversation doesn't really open until the person taps a button or replies. A tap on an "Open website" link doesn't count as opting in. So DM 1 asks for a tap, and that tap opens the chat for DM 2.

The Requests folder. Instagram puts messages from accounts someone doesn't follow into their message requests, not the main inbox. That is why our public replies mention Requests, and why our captions say "Follow first so the DM reaches you."

Before you start

You need two things on your Instagram account:

1. A professional account. ManyChat can't connect a personal account. In our Instagram app the path was: Settings → Account type and tools → Switch to professional account → Creator. We picked the category "Digital creator" and skipped the contact info and Facebook steps.
2. Message access for connected tools. Settings → Messages and story replies → Message controls → Connected tools → turn "Allow access to messages" on. If you can't find it, search "access to messages" in Settings.

Also have a second Instagram account ready for testing. Testing from the account you automate won't show you what a viewer gets.

Sign up and connect

1. Go to manychat.com and tap Get started.
2. Sign up. We used Google.
3. Choose Instagram, then Connect Via Instagram. ManyChat calls this the quickest route, and it doesn't need a Meta Business account or a Facebook Page. The trade-off: some advanced features, like Follow-to-DM, need the "Via Meta" route instead.
4. Instagram opens its own permission screen. Check it's the right account, then Allow. You log in on Instagram's screen, not inside ManyChat.
5. On the dashboard, open Settings and confirm the right account name shows.

Build a DM-keyword automation first

Start with the simpler automation, so you know the DM part works before you add comments.

1. On our account the path was Automations → New → DM keyword.
2. Add the keyword plus typo versions: GUIDE, guide, Guide, gide, guid. People type fast on phones.
3. Write DM 1. Ours: "Hey! Your free 7-step guide is ready. Tap below and I'll send you the link." Add a button: Send me the guide.
4. Write DM 2: "Here you go. Add your name and email, and the guide lands in your inbox in about a minute." Add a button: Get the free guide, linking to yourdomain.com/?ref=dm.
5. Click Preview and read every line. Typos hide in small text boxes.
6. Click Set Live.

Now test from your second account:

1. DM "GUIDE" to your page. DM 1 should arrive.
2. Tap the button, then tap the link in DM 2.
3. DM "gide". It should trigger too.
4. DM "love this". It must not trigger anything.

If "love this" gets a reply, a keyword is too broad. Fix it before moving on.

Build the comment automation on one reel

You need a published reel for this step, so do it right after you post.

1. On our account: Home → Auto-DM links from comments.
2. Pick a specific post or reel, then select your newest reel.
3. Add the keywords: GUIDE, guide, Guide, gide, guid.
4. Add three public replies. ManyChat rotates them, and its help recommends varied wording so Instagram doesn't flag the replies as spam:
   • Sent! Check your DMs, and the Requests tab if you don't see it.
   • Just sent it; look in your message requests.
   • On its way! Requests folder if it's not in Primary.
5. Add DM 1 with the Send me the guide button, then DM 2 with the Get the free guide button pointing to yourdomain.com/?ref=dm. Reuse the texts from above.
6. Check the preview, then click Set Live.

One trigger per person per reel. ManyChat's help says the comment trigger only fires on a person's first comment under a post. If your test account already commented, use a fresh reel or a third account.

For the caption, we write: "Comment GUIDE and I'll send it to you. Follow first so the DM reaches you."

Run the full end-to-end test

Do this before you point anyone at the reel:

1. From your second account, comment GUIDE on the reel.
2. Look for the public reply, then open Requests and find DM 1.
3. Tap the button, then open the link in DM 2.
4. Sign up on your opt-in page with a test email. Don't use your Systeme.io login email: in our test, the Systeme.io rule ran but the email didn't arrive at that address.
5. Confirm the thank-you page opens and your first email arrives. Ours took about 51 seconds.
6. In ManyChat, check the contact appears. In Systeme.io, open Contacts and confirm the source URL shows ref=dm.

If a step fails, work backward. Is the automation live? Is it attached to the right reel? Did this account already comment on that reel once? Is the link typed correctly?

Living with 25 contacts and 4 automations

Newest on, oldest off. When you post a new reel, give it its own automation. If all 4 slots are full, turn off the oldest one first. On our pages, older reels got few new comments anyway.

Watch the meter. ManyChat sends notifications at 70%, 90% and 100% of your contact limit. You can see the count any time under Insights on the Home tab.

Past 25 people in a month. The $0 fallback is replying by hand. Keep a short DM with your link in your phone's notes so you can paste it in a few taps.

When upgrading makes sense. When the 70% or 90% notice keeps arriving and reels keep bringing people in. Essential is $17/mo, or $14/mo billed yearly, with 250 Active Contacts, unlimited automations, email capture, follower checks and a 14-day free trial (ManyChat Help Center, 29 Oct 2026). The help pages don't say which paid plan covers "any post or reel" triggers, so check it during the trial before you pay. On a paid plan you can cap extra charges under Settings → Billing → Subscription → Set your contact limit.

Checklist

• Instagram is a professional account and "Allow access to messages" is on
• ManyChat connected with Connect Via Instagram
• DM-keyword automation live and tested from a second account
• "gide" triggers it, "love this" does not
• Comment automation attached to one specific reel, with 3 public replies
• DM 2 uses your tracked link (yourdomain.com/?ref=dm)
• Caption says "Follow first so the DM reaches you"
• End-to-end test passed, and ref=dm shows in Systeme.io Contacts
• Manual DM saved in your notes
• No more than 4 automations live

What to do next

The DM only works if there is a page waiting at the other end. If you haven't built it yet: build your opt-in page on Systeme.io's free plan, then connect your own domain so your emails can send.

Want to see the page your DM should lead to? Sign up for our free 7-step guide, The First Commission Blueprint, and look at the opt-in page, thank-you page and first email from a reader's side. Get the free guide.

Our DM scripts, keyword lists and every setting are in The Faceless Playbook.

Not affiliated with Instagram or Meta.