InboxLoop / Instagram workflows
Manychat vs Inrō
Manychat vs Inrō for Instagram DM automation: free plans, paid prices and workflows compared from official sources, with InboxLoop as a third option.
Available free during Early Access. Messaging rules and technical limits apply.
Manychat vs Inrō: free plans and prices
Published plans
Manychat
New Free
Starting offer$0; 25 Active Contacts per month; up to 4 live automations
The help center says Free accounts have moved to this plan. Verify the plan shown in your account.
SourceEssential
Essential, new pricing$17/month monthly, or $14/month equivalent billed yearly
250 Active Contacts / month
Additional active contacts: $0.10 monthly billing / $0.08 annual billing. Account and regional rollout can vary.
SourcePro
Pro, new pricing$39/month monthly, or $29/month equivalent billed yearly
2,500 Active Contacts / month
Additional active contacts: $0.05 monthly billing / $0.038 annual billing. USD; verify your in-account offer.
Source
Published plans
Inrō
Free
Starting offer€0; 100 active contacts per month; 3 active automations; 3 campaigns per month
No card required. Once the monthly cap is reached, automations stop reaching new contacts until it resets or you upgrade.
SourcePro
Pro, monthlyFrom €12.99/month, billed monthly
Entry tier; price scales with active contacts
Metered by active contacts with no cap on the monthly plan; the plan card lists 500+ active contacts. 14-day trial. EUR; check taxes and currency at checkout.
SourceAnnual Pro
Annual Pro, paid yearly€1,249/year
10,000 active contacts / month, fixed
Inrō describes this as about 30% less than paying monthly at that volume. Not a monthly charge.
Source
An active contact is counted once in a billing cycle, not once per DM. Official pricing pages and older accounts can still reflect legacy contact-based plans; the reviewed help articles describe the newer model. Do not apply these prices to every existing account. InboxLoop's free launch does not establish a permanent cost advantage.
Inrō counts a contact once per billing period when an automation, campaign or AI reply touches it, not once per DM; manual DMs do not count. Prices on the reviewed page are in EUR. InboxLoop's free Early Access is a different kind of offer, not a permanent cost advantage.
Feature by feature
| Feature or control | Manychat | Inrō |  InboxLoop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free access | $0; 25 Active Contacts per month; up to 4 live automations New Free The help center says Free accounts have moved to this plan. Verify the plan shown in your account. Manychat documentation | €0; 100 active contacts per month; 3 active automations; 3 campaigns per month Free No card required. Once the monthly cap is reached, automations stop reaching new contacts until it resets or you upgrade. Inrō documentation | Unlimited automations, free during Early Access Early Access No cap on the number of automations during Early Access. Instagram messaging rules and technical sending limits still apply. Not a lifetime pricing promise. InboxLoop details |
| Comments and keywords | Post/Reel comment triggers with keyword filters and private replies Check selected plan Manychat documentation | Comment-to-DM with keyword and emoji triggers, several keywords per post and public replies Check selected plan Inrō documentation | Comment-to-DM, public replies and incoming-DM keyword replies Early Access InboxLoop details |
| Story workflows | Story-reply trigger documented Check selected plan This row does not establish identical support for every Story event. Manychat documentation | Story reply and Story mention triggers listed Check selected plan Plan-level availability was not established from the comparison table. Check the exact Story event you need. Inrō documentation | Story reply and mention workflows; optional reaction to a Story reply Early Access InboxLoop details |
| Follow gates | Follower checks listed Essential Confirm availability under your account's billing model. Manychat documentation | Ask-for-follow step with an "I have followed you" button and a follow check Check selected plan Do not assume identical follow-check behavior without testing. Inrō documentation | Ask for a follow, then check follow status when the person confirms Early Access A follow prompt is not a guarantee of follower growth. InboxLoop details |
| Product carousels | Instagram Card and Gallery message blocks documented Check selected plan Carousels are not an InboxLoop-exclusive capability. Manychat documentation | A multi-card action is documented as experimental and visible only to developer accounts Not generally available per help center The help center points everyday card-style messages to a message with buttons or a conversion link. Check the current editor before relying on multi-product replies. Inrō documentation | Up to 10 product cards; up to 3 destination buttons each Early Access Messaging eligibility still applies; this is not native checkout. InboxLoop details |
| Click visibility | Instagram automation analytics includes click-through reporting Paid plans, gradual rollout Check whether the analytics view is available in your account. Manychat documentation | Provider says you can see who clicked and who didn't, per post Check selected plan Not a claim of identical contact-level reporting. Inrō documentation | Total clicks, unique clickers, repeat clicks and contact-level history Early Access Click activity is not purchase attribution. Probable bots are excluded from the reported metrics. InboxLoop details |
| Connection controls | Provider reports SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 compliance Provider security documentation These are Manychat's published statements, not an audit performed by InboxLoop. Manychat documentation | Meta OAuth connection with no password; provider describes itself as a Meta Tech Provider Provider safety documentation Partner status and compliance statements are Inrō's own. InboxLoop has not independently audited this provider. Inrō documentation | Meta authorization, server-side tokens and disconnect controls Early Access No Instagram password is collected. This is not an independent security audit or a claim of certification. InboxLoop details |
| Delivery safeguards | No like-for-like pacing implementation assessed in this review Not assessed Not confirmed here does not mean absent or insecure. Manychat documentation | Provider describes built-in pacing, message variation and throttling Provider safety documentation The provider's page presents outcomes such as no suspension risk. No tool can guarantee that, and this comparison does not repeat it. Inrō documentation | Shared API budgets, rate-limit cooldowns and bounded retries Early Access No guarantee against restrictions, duplicates or failed delivery. InboxLoop details |
Information comes from each provider's published documentation and the InboxLoop implementation reviewed. This is not an independent audit.
Where InboxLoop fits
Consider InboxLoop for Instagram comment replies, a product carousel and click history in one launch-access workflow. Start with one clear use case and evaluate it on your own account.
Questions about this comparison
Are the older contact-based prices wrong?
Not necessarily. Manychat has multiple billing generations and regional rollout qualifications. Check your account's plan and the linked help articles before estimating a bill.
What is an active contact in Inrō?
Per Inrō's pricing FAQ, a contact becomes active when an automation, campaign, segmentation or enrichment touches it in a billing period. Manual DMs do not count, and the quota resets monthly.
How current is this information?
Reviewed in October 2026 from each provider's official pages. Plans change often, so confirm on the provider's site before you decide.
More comparisons
Start with one conversation
Make your next reply more useful.
Connect an Instagram Professional account, preview your workflow and test it before using it with your audience.
Free during Early Access, not a lifetime pricing commitment.