# AI chatbot for Instagram DMs that replies in your brand's voice By HeyMark · Reviewed by Crescente Martinez, CMO and co-founder of HeyMark · Updated October 16, 2026 If customers message your Instagram account, choose how to handle predictable questions, open-ended questions and conversations that need a person. This page compares fixed-text replies, AI replies and chatbot builders such as ManyChat. It covers incoming DMs; if you want to message people who comment, see [Instagram DM automation](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/instagram-dm-automation/). ## Three different things called an Instagram chatbot Search for an Instagram chatbot and you'll find three kinds of tools, each solving a different problem: | Type | How it replies | Examples, as of September 2026 | Good for | |---|---|---|---| | Fixed-text auto replies | Sends the same text when a keyword or a first message shows up | Meta Business Suite automations and Metricool Flows (up to 3 fixed texts, no AI) | Hours, links and codes: answers that never change | | Chatbot builder | Follows a flow of branches, conditions and steps you build | ManyChat, with AI-powered conversations on its Pro plan | Long flows with lots of branches, WhatsApp | | Generative AI inside your social media tool | Reads each message and writes a new reply, with no fixed tree | HeyMark | Questions you can't predict, in your brand's voice | As of September 2026, Meta has its own AI for messages too, and it's worth knowing before you pay for anything: - **AI auto replies for creators.** With Meta AI Studio you build an AI based on your content that answers messages from the audience you pick. According to the [Instagram Help Center](https://help.instagram.com/317190238019695), it requires a professional account, only works in the mobile app and is being rolled out gradually. - **Meta Business Agent.** Meta [announced it on June 3, 2026](https://about.fb.com/news/2026/06/meta-business-agent/): it answers questions about your business, recommends products from a catalog, books appointments and leaves it to you when a person on your team takes over. Meta is expanding it to Instagram, getting started is free, and paid subscriptions are coming in the following months. Turning it on [pauses your existing automations](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/395965998733706) in Meta Business Suite. ## What HeyMark's AI chatbot does **Fictional example:** imagine managing a clothing store's account and receiving questions about sizes, shipping, and an order that arrived stained. With business information added to the brand profile, these examples show what to answer and when to hand the conversation to a person: 1. **"How do I know what size to order?"** Mark reads it and writes a fresh reply in the brand's voice, using the size chart you added to the brand profile. 2. **"Do you ship to other cities?"** It answers with the shipping times you gave it. 3. **"My order arrived with a stain on it."** That's a complaint: the conversation is escalated for human attention and goes on the escalation list. Whoever picks it up pauses the AI in that conversation, sorts out the exchange and resumes the AI when they're done. Four pieces make that work: - **Generative replies.** AI DM automation writes every reply; it doesn't follow a fixed tree. It's set per brand. - **Your voice and your facts.** Mark learns your voice from what you've already published. What isn't in your posts, like sizes, shipping times or exchange policies, goes in the brand profile so it doesn't have to guess. - **Control per conversation.** Pause the AI wherever you want to answer yourself, and resume it when you're done. Labels like "sale" or "complaint" keep the inbox sorted. - **Fixed rules alongside.** For answers that never change, a keyword DM rule replies without spending credits, with up to 20 keywords per rule, on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Each AI reply uses 1 credit, and nothing is billed per contact. Creator includes 500 credits a month for $12 USD, and Company 3,000 for $30 USD. If 300 people message you in a month and the AI replies twice to each, that's 600 credits: more than Creator covers (you can turn on extra credits at $0.01 USD each) and well within Company. Here's what went through HeyMark's inbox in its first 58 days: - **96,058** comments and direct messages handled in the inbox in its first 58 days (Case study published by Zernio, HeyMark's integrations provider, https://zernio.com/customers/heymark). ## Set it up from Claude or ChatGPT With HeyMark's MCP server, your assistant reads how the AI for your DMs is set up and suggests changes. Before it saves any of them, it shows you a preview and waits for your approval. Change what's in brackets: #### Get your DM AI ready ```text Check how the AI that answers my brand's DMs in HeyMark is set up, and tell me what business information it has today. Suggest changes so it answers these questions well: which size to order, shipping times to other cities and how to exchange an item. Use these details: [size chart, shipping times, exchange policy]. Have it hand off to a person any complaint about an order and any conversation where the customer asks to talk to someone. Don't save anything yet: show me the preview and wait for my approval. ``` The steps to connect your assistant are on [Claude and HeyMark](https://heymark.ai/en/integrations/claude/). **Say it's an automated chat.** Meta's policy for Messenger and Instagram requires automated chats to tell people they're talking to an automated service where the law requires it, and it names California and Germany. Everywhere else, Meta recommends it anyway, because it sets expectations for whoever is writing. [Meta's messaging policy](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/messenger-platform/policy), checked September 25, 2026. ## HeyMark, ManyChat or Metricool Flows | Fact | HeyMark | ManyChat | Metricool | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Focus | End-to-end AI agent: plans, creates, publishes, replies and analyzes | Chatbots and message automation on Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and TikTok | Scheduling, analytics, reports and ads | | AI on comments and DMs | Replies to comments and DMs with AI in your brand's voice, with approval and handoff to a person. On every plan | AI-powered conversations on the Pro plan | No documented AI replies in the inbox. Its assistant drafts copy with 5 to 35 credits per brand a month | | Starting price | $12 USD a month (Creator: 1 brand, 1 person). Company: $30 USD with 3 brands and 5 people | Free up to 25 active contacts a month. Essential from $14 USD a month billed yearly (250 contacts) and Pro with AI from $29 (2,500 contacts); then you pay per contact | Free plan. Starter from $20 USD a month billed yearly ($25 monthly) for 5 brands | | Networks | Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube | Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and TikTok. It doesn't schedule posts | Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky, Twitch, Google Business Profile and X ($10 USD add-on per account) | Checked on each tool's public pages on September 25, 2026. Sources: ManyChat: https://manychat.com/pricing; Metricool: https://metricool.com/pricing/, https://help.metricool.com/inbox-manager-how-to-manage-messages-and-comments-from-metricool-s9zze. - **ManyChat** is a chatbot builder: you build flows with branches and conditions, and it charges by your active contacts. Its AI conversations are on Pro, from $29 USD a month billed yearly for 2,500 contacts (as of September 2026); past that, you pay per contact. It also works on WhatsApp, and it doesn't schedule posts. - **Metricool Flows** replies by keyword with up to 3 fixed texts, with no AI, on Instagram and TikTok. It's free for a limited time and will then become a paid add-on. Metricool wins if your priority is analytics or publishing to more networks. - **HeyMark** includes the AI on every plan, along with scheduling on five networks, comment replies and the inbox. If you're coming from ManyChat, we compare them in depth in [ManyChat alternatives](https://heymark.ai/en/compare/manychat-alternatives/). ## When another option fits better - **You only need a greeting or four FAQs.** What Instagram includes is enough; we cover it in [Instagram auto reply](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/instagram-auto-reply/). - **Your flows have lots of branches, or WhatsApp is your main channel.** ManyChat. HeyMark doesn't work with WhatsApp. - **Fewer than 25 people message you a month and you don't need AI.** ManyChat's free plan covers 25 active contacts and costs less than any paid plan. - **You want AI on Meta's messaging apps and don't need TikTok, LinkedIn or YouTube in the same tool.** Try Meta Business Agent: Meta says getting started is free. ## How to get started ### Connect Instagram And Facebook and TikTok too, if people message you there: messages from all three land in the same inbox. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. ### Give it the facts it can't guess Sizes, shipping times, hours and policies go in the brand profile. It learns the voice from your posts. ### Turn on AI for your DMs Set it up for the brand, or ask your assistant with the prompt above. ### Review the first week Read the conversations in the inbox, check what got escalated and, if a reply doesn't sound like you, save the correction to the brand profile. ## Frequently asked questions ### What's the best AI chatbot for Instagram DMs? It depends on what people ask you. A fixed-text rule is enough for a link or your hours; open questions need an AI that writes in your voice and escalates sensitive chats; flows with lots of branches, or WhatsApp, call for a chatbot builder like ManyChat. ### Is there a free AI chatbot for Instagram? Meta says getting started with Meta Business Agent is free, with paid subscriptions planned (June 3, 2026 announcement). ManyChat's free plan covers 25 active contacts a month, but its AI conversations are on Pro. HeyMark has no free plan; every plan comes with a 7-day trial. ### Can AI reply to Instagram DMs in my brand voice? Yes, if it has something to learn from. Mark picks up your voice from what you've already published, and facts that aren't in your posts, like sizes, shipping times or exchange policies, go in the brand profile before you turn it on. ### Does Meta allow chatbots on Instagram? Yes, through connected tools and within Meta's rules: the person messages first, and the tool has 24 hours from that message to reply. Where the law requires it, the chat has to say it's automated. ### Can I take over a conversation from the bot? Yes. Pause the AI in that conversation, reply yourself and resume it when you're done. Conversations that need a person are escalated and stay on the escalation list until someone on your team resolves them. ### Can ChatGPT reply to my Instagram DMs? Through HeyMark's MCP server, ChatGPT (with developer mode on) or Claude reads your inbox with your permissions and drafts replies in your brand's voice, and nothing is sent until you approve it. The automatic replies come from HeyMark's AI DM automation. ## See it on your own accounts. Connect Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube and use HeyMark free for 7 days. Mark answers in your voice, and you approve what goes out. [Start free](https://app.heymark.ai) · [See pricing](https://heymark.ai/en/pricing/) ## Keep reading - [Instagram auto reply: how to set it up, with message examples](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/instagram-auto-reply/): How to set up an Instagram auto reply with Meta's free tools or HeyMark, message examples for three kinds of business, and why auto replies stop working. - [Instagram DM automation: auto DM everyone who comments your keyword](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/instagram-dm-automation/): Instagram DM automation for comments: anyone who comments your keyword gets a public reply and a DM with your link. On every HeyMark plan, no credits spent. - [Unified social media inbox: every comment and DM, answered in your voice](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/unified-social-inbox/): A unified social media inbox for the comments and DMs on your accounts, with AI replies in your voice, handoff to people and access from Claude or ChatGPT. - [ManyChat alternatives for Instagram in 2026](https://heymark.ai/en/compare/manychat-alternatives/): ManyChat alternatives for replying to comments and sending DMs on Instagram: ManyChat's per-contact pricing, Metricool Flows and HeyMark, as of September 2026. - [Instagram comment auto reply, written by AI in your brand's voice](https://heymark.ai/en/solutions/ai-comment-replies/): Set up Instagram comment auto replies with AI that writes in your brand's voice, with approval and handoff to a person. When to use keywords, AI or neither. ## Developer and agent resources - [HeyMark MCP documentation](https://heymark.ai/en/mcp/) - [llms.txt](https://heymark.ai/llms.txt) - [Full site content for language models](https://heymark.ai/llms-full.txt) - MCP protocol endpoint: `POST https://mcp.heymark.ai` - OAuth protected-resource metadata: [/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource](https://mcp.heymark.ai/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource) - MCP server card: [/server-card](https://mcp.heymark.ai/server-card)