How does active contact billing work?
ManyChat prices its plans by Active Contacts per month. Each tier includes a number of them, and every contact beyond that is charged at the tier's overage rate. These are the monthly figures per manychat.com/pricing, checked 19 October 2026:
| ManyChat plan | Monthly price | Active contacts included | Each extra contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25 | Not listed |
| Essential | $14 | 250 | $0.10 |
| Pro | $29 | 2,500 | $0.05 |
| Business | $69 | 7,500 | $0.025 |
| Advanced | $139 | 25,000 | $0.004 |
What does that cost in a real month?
Say a reel brings 5,000 people into your automation in one month. On these figures, the cheapest ManyChat option is Business at $69 a month. ReplyRep counts DMs, not people: one DM each is 5,000 DMs, which fits Lite at $10 (10,000 DMs). If each person gets three messages, that is 15,000 DMs, which fits Boost at $25. Run your own numbers in the ManyChat pricing calculator.
Why does the billing unit matter for DM automation?
Comment-to-DM brings in new people with every post, so a contact-based bill grows with your reach, and a viral post can move you up a tier. A DM-based bill grows with how many messages you send. Which is cheaper depends on your numbers: many people with one DM each favors DM pricing, while a small audience you message often can favor contact pricing.
How does ReplyRep price it?
ReplyRep has no contact count. Plans are capped by DMs a month: Free 2,000 DMs ($0), Lite 10,000 DMs ($10), Boost 40,000 DMs ($25), MAX 400,000 DMs ($100). See ReplyRep pricing, the full ManyChat pricing breakdown or the ReplyRep vs ManyChat comparison. If you need channels beyond Instagram, pick a multi-channel tool such as ManyChat: ReplyRep is Instagram only.
Pay for DMs, not contacts
Start on the Free plan with 2,000 DMs a month.
Related terms
- Comment-to-DM: the automation that adds most new contacts.
- Conversion rate: what each contact or DM is worth to you.