ManyChat Review (2025): Key Features, Pricing & Insights

ManyChat is an intuitive chatbot automation platform for Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, excelling at e-commerce lead gen and campaign flows, but with rising costs at scale and limits to advanced AI and integration flexibility.

Covered in this article:

• Platform strengths and weaknesses
• User ratings and real-world feedback
• Pricing breakdown and cost analysis
• Workflow builder and integration options
• Benchmark vs. leading competitors
• Scalability considerations
• Best use cases and alternative recommendations

What is ManyChat?

ManyChat is a platform for building AI-powered chatbots for messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

It lets you automate lead generation, sales funnels, and customer support conversations through visual flow builders and integrations.

ManyChat at a glance

Our verdict: 7.5/10

ManyChat is a top pick for automating sales and marketing on Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With its flow builder and strong e-commerce tools, it's ideal for D2C brands focused on lead gen.

But it's less suited for complex support use cases, with rising costs for SMS/WhatsApp and limited free-form AI. Teams wanting deeper AI or CRM flexibility may prefer Big Sur AI.

Average customer rating

Capterra: 4.6/5 (1,610+ reviews), earning high scores for ease of use and onboarding, with lower marks for advanced support and custom features

G2: 4.6/5 (490+ reviews), praised for intuitive setup, but advanced users cite limitations in flow flexibility and AI handoff

Trustpilot: 4.2/5 (370+ reviews), strong feedback on ROI and campaign results, with negative reviews mostly on billing or account lockouts

Product Hunt: Overall positive, popular for Messenger marketing; a few requests for deeper workflow/AI innovations

Reddit and Twitter: Frequently mentioned as best-in-class for Instagram and Messenger automations; “set and forget/ROI machine” but discussions about creative workarounds for more complex support and sales flows

Best for

• Ideal use cases: Automated customer conversations, pre-sale lead capture, e-commerce checkouts, DM campaign broadcasts, appointment scheduling, and quiz-based lead magnets on Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
• Strengths: Powerful visual flow builder, granular audience segmentation, seamless integration with Shopify and Stripe, and reliable omnichannel messaging. Marketers value the campaign triggers, split testing, and “one-click” setup for Instagram DMs.

Typical users

• Small to mid-sized e-commerce brands, digital agencies, solo marketers, and SaaS startups focused on boosting conversions and automating sales-qualified lead capture.
• Primary users include digital marketers, e-commerce managers, customer support teams, and online event organizers—across B2C verticals like retail, fitness, coaching, and local services.

Flagship customers

More than 1 million businesses worldwide, including international brands such as Cole Haan, Kiehl’s, Mindvalley, WestJet, HubSpot, and the MLS.

Influencers, online coaches, and direct-to-consumer stores frequently showcase ManyChat case studies and ROAS results. E-commerce partners and digital marketing agencies often cite ManyChat as a core workflow tool.

Pricing snapshot

Strengths & weaknesses

✔ Pros

• Plug-and-play Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp automation that marketers can master in hours.
• Sophisticated trigger-based campaigns, split testing, and Shopify checkout integrations.
• High reliability and strong documentation, with thriving community templates and frequent platform improvements.

✘ Cons

• Limits in natural language understanding and configurable AI (bot flows get complex with hybrid FAQ/conversational AI).
• Rapidly increasing costs as contact counts, SMS, or WhatsApp messaging volumes scale up.
• Lacks advanced fallback or direct CRM integrations beyond supported connectors (custom code required for deeper use cases).

Notable capabilities

ManyChat’s core advantage is its best-in-class campaign automation for Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The drag-and-drop flow builder empowers marketers to rapidly build conversational experiences, personalized DM campaigns, and automated follow-ups.

How to use ManyChat the smart way

The core of ManyChat is its visual Flow Builder, which lets you design complex chatbot automations for channels like Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS 👇

Getting started fast:

1. Connect a channel
2. Select your preferred channel (Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger) and connect it in a few clicks from the ManyChat dashboard ⤵️
3. Automate with templates
4. Jump start your setup using pre-built templates for lead capture, e-commerce, or appointment booking. Templates are customizable and save hours of manual work ⤵️
5. Personalize flows
6. Open the Flow Builder to drag, drop, and edit triggers, user replies, and actions like sending images or assigning tags. Use user attributes to personalize each interaction based on contact data ⤵️
7. Integrate with tools
8. Set up integrations in the Settings to sync with Shopify, Mailchimp, or Google Sheets for seamless data flow and marketing automation ⤵️
9. Use AI-generated replies
10. Switch on AI Assist to auto-generate helpful replies or summarize conversations without writing responses manually ⤵️
11. Test and optimize flows
12. Preview every step in the Flow Builder before going live. Use the Live Chat view to see actual conversations and fine-tune messages or paths 👇
13. Deploy and monitor
14. Publish your flow, then use ManyChat’s Analytics to monitor open rates, conversion actions, and drop-off points for continuous optimization.

Pro tip: Use conditionals and smart delays to make conversations feel more natural and boost completed actions.

With these, your team can move from setup to live automation in under 30 minutes.

ManyChat's most popular features?

Here are the five most popular ManyChat features that users consistently praise, based on forum feedback and real reviews:

• Visual flow builder: Design complex automated chat flows for Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and SMS using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, allowing you to map out automations and live interactions without code.

• Omnichannel messaging: Send campaigns, respond to messages, and automate recurring conversations across multiple channels including Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and SMS, all from a single dashboard for effortless cross-platform engagement.

• Advanced audience segmentation: Target users with laser precision by segmenting contacts based on behaviors, tags, user data, messaging history, or campaign engagement, so you can trigger specific messages or nurture sequences for each group.
• E-commerce integration: Sync with major e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and WooCommerce to automate cart reminders, order notifications, post-purchase follow-ups, and tailored product recommendations directly through your chat channels.

• Built-in analytics and A/B testing: Track campaign performance, user interactions, conversion rates, and engagement metrics in real time; run A/B tests on messages or flows to optimize for leads or sales and quickly scale what works best.

💡 TL;DR → If you care about building cross-platform automations, targeting segmented audiences, and driving ecommerce results, ManyChat is a great pick. If you value open-source flexibility or deeper custom AI integrations, maybe consider alternatives.

ManyChat's customer reviews: The Good & the Bad

🎯 Overall Ratings

Capterra: 4.6/5 (498+ reviews), praised for marketing automations and usability

G2: 4.6/5 (147+ reviews), strong marks for integrations but some concerns about features

Trustpilot: 4.1/5 (160+ reviews), generally positive, with some support complaints

Reddit & Facebook Groups: Consistent mentions of effective Messenger automation and Instagram DM campaigns, along with mixed comments on recent pricing changes

👍 The good

Advanced segmentation for messaging

ManyChat’s audience targeting is often singled out for its sophistication. Users on G2 highlight the ability to segment messaging flows based on nuanced subscriber properties and behaviors, which is not as robust in competing platforms.

As one G2 review noted:

“The advanced audience filters let us send niche campaigns depending on user profile interests and past actions, which is invaluable for e-commerce drops.”

Omni-channel campaign sequencing

On Reddit and several Facebook automation groups, users praise ManyChat for the ability to orchestrate multi-step campaigns across Facebook Messenger, Instagram, SMS, and even email inside a single flow. One Facebook Group user shared:

“It’s almost like a mini marketing suite—you can nudge people from Messenger to SMS follow up automatically, which most chatbot tools just can't do without expensive add-ons.”

Extensive integrations for e-commerce and CRM workflows

Several Capterra reviews highlight pre-built integrations with Shopify, HubSpot, Zapier, and WooCommerce, particularly for automating abandoned cart messages or syncing conversations to sales pipelines. As summarized by a Capterra review:

“Syncing with Shopify lets us trigger chat reminders instantly for cart abandonment, and Zapier tie-ins let our sales reps see Messenger chats in HubSpot cards.”

Instagram direct messaging automation

Numerous positive reviews on Instagram-focused creator forums mention ManyChat’s ability to automate DM conversations triggered by story mentions, keywords, and comments, streamlining lead-gen for influencers and microbrands. As noted by an Instagram growth community user:

“Responding automatically to thousands of ‘DM me X’ comments makes launching contests way faster—this feature is the main reason most creators I know switched to ManyChat.”

👎 The bad

Pricing hikes and audience-based billing

Over the last year, ManyChat shifted to a subscriber-count-based pricing model, upsetting some long-time users who saw costs rise sharply. Trustpilot features multiple complaints such as:

“Our bill doubled overnight when we crossed a 1k subscriber threshold, and there’s no warning or grace period.”

Facebook and Instagram API dependency outages

Several Reddit threads and G2 reviews cite reliability issues when Meta’s APIs change or go down, leaving ManyChat bots unable to deliver messages or respond to automations. A G2 reviewer wrote:

“When Instagram’s API updates, message delivery just stops for hours—support can’t do much since it’s a Meta issue, but it’s business-critical downtime.”

Limited custom logic and developer flexibility

Advanced users on specialized automation forums mention the platform’s low-code logic builder can feel restricting compared to full dev frameworks, with not enough scripting or webhook flexibility.

A Power User in a chatbot builders group said:

“There’s no way to build truly dynamic flows or call external APIs in real-time—if you want anything beyond buttons and triggers, it’s pretty limiting.”

Multi-language and localization gaps

Several G2 and Capterra reviews point out that ManyChat’s UI and automations do not fully support multi-language flows or localization for non-English audiences.

As mentioned in a Capterra review:

“It’s tricky to manage bots for brands in multiple countries—the translation options are basic, and you can’t set up nuanced language switching logic.”

Pricing: How much does ManyChat cost?

ManyChat pricing is based on the number of contacts in your account, with a free plan and paid tiers that unlock additional features and higher usage limits.

Choose between these 2 plans:

• Free plan $0/month, includes up to 1,000 contacts and core chatbot features for Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp (branding included).
• Pro plan starts at $15/month, includes advanced integrations, unlimited broadcasts, automation, analytics, removes branding, and scales with your subscriber count.

Price limitations & potential surprises

• Pricing for the Pro plan increases as your contact list grows; the base $15/month covers up to 500 contacts, and costs scale up quickly for larger lists.
• Some messaging channels (such as SMS and WhatsApp) have additional per-message charges not included in the plan price.

Add-ons?

No traditional add-ons are offered—extra charges only occur for SMS and WhatsApp usage, which are billed based on actual volume.

💡 Expect your costs to rise automatically as your contact list grows or as you use more SMS/WhatsApp messaging.

ManyChat vs competitors: Workflows, automation & integrations

Workflow builder offers visual editing and conditional logic

ManyChat’s drag-and-drop builder allows users to assemble multi-step flows with triggers, actions, and conditional logic. Custom fields can branch conversations dynamically based on user data or responses.

Automation triggers easily capture user actions

ManyChat supports event-based triggers like message keywords, button clicks, and time-based actions. These can initiate personalized follow-ups, reminders, or branch users into targeted flows automatically.

Built-in integrations cover major platforms

Native integrations include Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, SMS, and email. ManyChat can sync audience data and automate responses across these channels from one dashboard.

Webhooks allow for custom integrations and API calls

API and webhook support enables real-time data exchange with CRMs, e-commerce tools, and databases. Example: send order data to Shopify or update a lead in HubSpot directly from the bot flow.

Third-party app marketplace extends functionality

ManyChat’s App Store provides prebuilt extensions for Stripe, Google Sheets, Calendly, and Zapier, quickly connecting to broader tech stacks with no custom coding required.

💡 TL;DR → If you care about visual workflows and omnichannel automation, ManyChat is a great pick. If you value deep natural language, advanced integrations, or ready-to-deploy AI agents, consider BigSur AI or platforms like Botpress.

Is ManyChat scalable?

ManyChat supports significant growth in both user base and automation complexity, but there are practical scaling limits around cost, capacity, and integrations.

Scaling and pricing specifics

ManyChat's subscription plans are heavily user-based. As you add more subscribers, pricing jumps in brackets (e.g., from 1k to 5k, 10k, 25k, etc.).

There’s no flexible pay-as-you-go for truly granular scaling; every jump increases the base cost rather than charging just for your actual overage. For example, going from 1,000 to 10,000 subscribers more than quadruples your monthly cost, even if you’re only slightly over a threshold.

Features like SMS and email messaging are add-ons and priced per message, separate from your main plan, which can cause unpredictable costs.

Technical capacity and performance

ManyChat handles large subscriber lists and high-volume campaigns without major slowdowns on core features. However, automation mapping and broadcast speed can lag with complex flows or large message blasts.

Bulk editing and analytics views are basic; there’s no robust workflow for managing tens of thousands of conversations across team members inside the dashboard.

Practical tips

If you expect rapid growth or spikes in volume, monitor your subscriber bracket and message credits to avoid price shocks.

Test performance with sample campaigns before full-scale rollouts, especially for non-Meta channels.

For true enterprise automation (multi-account, custom workflows), plan for custom dev work or migration if ManyChat's limits become an issue.

Does ManyChat offer templates to get going quickly?

Yes, ManyChat offers an extensive library of pre-built templates designed for specific use cases like lead generation, appointment booking, e-commerce sales, customer support, and more.

These templates are built around popular workflows and industry-proven best practices.

There are also user-contributed templates in the Marketplace, covering niche industries or advanced automation sequences for Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

What’s the best alternative to ManyChat?

Summary:

• If you want enterprise-ready, pre-built AI agents requiring minimal setup and robust performance across channels, Big Sur AI is the best fit.
• For small businesses seeking easy automation on Facebook and Instagram, Chatfuel offers the strongest tools and integrations.
• For multichannel outreach (including SMS, web chat, Messenger, and Instagram), MobileMonkey is an excellent choice for B2C marketers.
• If you primarily need easy conversational forms and website lead capture with a no-code setup, Collect.chat is the most straightforward option.

Consider your team’s technical skill, channel needs, and the value of turnkey AI versus customizability when selecting a ManyChat alternative.

✅ Best “Ready-Made” Alternative: Big Sur AI

If you want the best turnkey, production-ready chatbot to launch fast, Big Sur AI is the clear choice over ManyChat.

Why?

Big Sur AI is designed specifically for organizations seeking a premium, no-code chatbot that delivers exceptional user experience with minimal setup.

Unlike ManyChat, which is focused primarily on automating messaging for social channels and may require complex flows and manual optimization, Big Sur AI is crafted to work instantly out of the box.

Here’s what makes it stand out:

• Pre-trained, advanced conversational AI that handles complex user queries without the need for extensive manual setup.

• Beautiful, fully customizable widget for seamless embedding on any website, tailored to match your brand identity.

• Proven performance with LLM-powered search, instant recommendations, and even advanced content automation—far more than basic chatbot Q&A.

• Built-in lead capture and intelligent routing—convert website visitors to customers automatically.

• Effortless integration with CRMs, Zapier, and webhooks for streamlined automation.

Bottom line 👇

If you’re looking for a chatbot that “just works”, delivers high-quality answers, polished design, and requires little time for training or configuration, Big Sur AI is the best ready-made alternative to ManyChat.

Next steps: Deploy your own AI chatbot in minutes

Here’s how you can deploy a fully-trained, customizable AI chatbot on your website in under 10 minutes with Big Sur AI 👇

• Sign up on Big Sur AI's Hub (link here).
• Enter your website URL. Big Sur AI will automatically analyze your site content.
• Customize your AI agent. Set up specific AI actions and decide where the AI agent will appear on your site.
• Launch and monitor. Your AI agent will be live in minutes, and you can track performance with real-time analytics.