ManyChat charges by active contacts: the more people your automations talk to in a month, the higher the plan. When we checked its pricing page and help center in 2026, paid plans started at $14 a month billed yearly ($17 billed monthly) for 250 contacts, and the plan for 2,500 contacts was $29 a month billed yearly ($39 monthly). ManyChat also has a free plan with 25 active contacts. Prices depend on your billing country and change, so treat the numbers below as a dated snapshot and confirm them on ManyChat’s pricing page.
For ManyChat next to respond.io, Chatfuel, and VivaDialog in one place, see the total cost comparison.
ManyChat plans by contact count
| Plan | Contacts included | Billed yearly, per month | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 25 | $0 | $0 |
| Essential | 250 | $14 | $17 |
| Pro | 2,500 | $29 | $39 |
| Business | 7,500 | $69 | $99 |
| Advanced | 25,000 | $139 | not confirmed |
Checked in 2026 from the United States, in US dollars. The free plan also had 4 live automations. We did not confirm Advanced’s monthly price, so it is left out instead of guessed.
Two things on this table are easy to miss:
- The yearly price is a monthly rate. Essential at $14 a month billed yearly is $168 charged for the year. The same plan billed monthly is $17 a month, or $204 over twelve months.
- Contacts are people, not messages. ManyChat counts the active contacts in a month. Someone who comments once and someone who sends twenty DMs are one contact each.
What the plan costs over a year
The yearly total makes plans easier to compare with tools that bill differently. Each figure is twelve times the monthly rate.
| ManyChat plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Essential (250 contacts) | $168 | $204 |
| Pro (2,500 contacts) | $348 | $468 |
| Business (7,500 contacts) | $828 | $1,188 |
| Advanced (25,000 contacts) | $1,668 | not confirmed |
The gap between billing modes grows with the plan. On Business, paying monthly costs $360 more over a year than paying yearly.
What happens when a post brings in a crowd
On a per-contact plan, a post that goes well adds contacts. Our check found that going over a plan’s contacts is charged per contact; the rate per extra contact was not on the pages we read, so look it up before you rely on it. The other route is moving up a plan.
Say you are on Essential with 250 contacts and one post draws 1,500 people who comment a keyword and get a DM. Those 1,500 people now count as contacts for the month, which is more than Essential includes. The month ends on either extra charges or the next plan up, and you find out when the bill arrives or when you read the contact meter.
A flat plan behaves differently. VivaDialog charges the same each month and sets quotas on automated replies instead, so a busy month uses up quota and the bill stays put. Flat vs per-contact pricing walks through what each model does in that month.
VivaDialog next to ManyChat
The two do not count the same thing, so no row lines up exactly. ManyChat counts contacts. VivaDialog counts conversations (a comment thread or DM thread that got an automatic reply, counted once a month) and AI replies. Replies your team writes by hand are never counted.
| ManyChat (checked in 2026) | VivaDialog | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest paid plan, billed yearly | $14 a month, 250 contacts | $7.20 a month, 500 conversations, 200 AI replies |
| Lowest paid plan, billed monthly | $17 a month | $9 a month |
| Mid plan, billed yearly | Pro: $29 a month, 2,500 contacts | Growth: $9.60 a month, 2,000 conversations, 1,000 AI replies |
| Mid plan, billed monthly | Pro: $39 a month | Growth: $12 a month |
| What grows the bill | Active contacts | Nothing; plan quotas are the limit |
| Free plan | 25 contacts | None; a 14-day trial opens after early access |
VivaDialog’s prices come from its pricing page. Yearly billing is 20% off and paid once for the year, so Starter is $86.40 a year and Growth is $115.20.
ManyChat’s own pages disagreed on AI when we checked: one described AI as a paid add-on and another as part of ManyChat Pro. Confirm that on its site if AI replies matter to you. In VivaDialog, AI replies are included in every plan with a monthly quota, and you can use your own AI key instead.
When ManyChat is the cheaper or better pick
A flat price is not always lower. ManyChat can be the better choice when:
- Your contact count is tiny. Its free plan covers 25 active contacts, and VivaDialog has no free plan.
- You need channels VivaDialog does not have. ManyChat lists WhatsApp, TikTok, SMS, Telegram, and email depending on the plan. VivaDialog does not support WhatsApp or SMS, and on TikTok it only schedules video posts.
- You build long visual flows. ManyChat has a visual flow builder with step metrics. VivaDialog flows start on the Growth plan and are a list of steps, with no canvas.
VivaDialog can be the better choice when contact count is the thing that surprises you, when you want Threads replies in the same inbox as Facebook and Instagram, or when you want AI replies on the lowest plan. The full side-by-side is on VivaDialog vs ManyChat.
Frequently asked questions
How much does ManyChat cost?
In 2026, ManyChat’s paid plans were $14 a month billed yearly for 250 contacts, $29 for 2,500, $69 for 7,500, and $139 for 25,000. Billed monthly, the first three were $17, $39, and $99. A free plan covers 25 contacts.
Does ManyChat charge per message?
The plans we recorded are priced by active contacts per month, not by messages. Check ManyChat’s pricing page for any charge we did not record, such as add-ons.
What is the cheapest ManyChat alternative?
It depends on what you count. Tools priced by DM volume can cost less at low volume, and several have free plans. Best Instagram DM automation tools lists eight with their prices and the date we checked them.
Can I switch from ManyChat without losing my automations?
There is no import, so you rebuild each automation. A ManyChat alternative for Instagram, Facebook, and Threads lists the steps and what you give up.
VivaDialog is in early access right now, and participants get the Growth plan free for 30 days. The pricing page has the details.