Free Instagram DM automation tools compared (2026)
Updated
Almost every Instagram comment-to-DM tool has a free plan, and almost every free plan is shaped differently. One caps the number of DMs, another the number of contacts, another the number of automations or keywords. Some put a brand line on your messages. This page compares the free tier of nine tools using what each says publicly, checked on 26 October 2026, so you can pick one to try on a real post. We make Dartzo, so it is on the list, described only by its own pages and docs.
How a free plan is usually limited
- By DMs. A monthly allowance of automated messages (LinkDM, CreatorFlow, InstantDM).
- By contacts. A cap on how many people your automations can touch in a month (ManyChat, Inrō).
- By automations or keywords. A cap on how many rules you can run, or how many trigger words each can have (Inrō, InstantDM, SuperProfile).
- By features. Follow gates, follow-ups, lead capture or link tracking held back for paid plans (CreatorFlow, Dartzo, Zorcha).
- By branding. A line such as "Sent via" added to your DMs on the free plan (SuperProfile, ManyChat's free plan as reported by a third party).
The free plans, side by side
ManyChat's own pages were behind a bot check when we looked, so its free-plan details come from third-party summaries; confirm them on manychat.com/pricing.
| Tool | What the free plan allows | What it leaves out or limits |
|---|---|---|
| Dartzo | Unlimited contacts, a fair-use bound of 100 live automations, comments on posts and reels, story replies, story mentions, DM keywords, the follow-before-DM gate, delivery log, AI credits every month | Follow-ups, lead capture, broadcasts, the link-in-bio builder, more than one link button, your own AI key, API and webhooks (plans and features) |
| Zorcha | Unlimited automations, DMs and contacts, Ask for Follow, a basic DM queue, basic analytics, an AI FAQ (20 FAQs), link-in-bio, forms, 15,000 AI credits | Re-run, personalised DMs, multi-message, collecting phone and email, follow-ups and more are on paid plans |
| LinkDM | 1 Instagram account, 1,000 DMs a month, Instagram and Facebook DM automation, story automations, Next Post and Next Story, inbox starters | Comment auto-reply, flows, lead generation, reminder DMs, Live and branding removal are listed on Pro |
| Inrō | No card, 100 activated contacts a month, 3 active automations, 3 campaigns a month, 50 AI Agent credits, 1 seat | Instagram content management, live comments, campaign scheduling, payments in DMs, webhooks and the Private API |
| CreatorFlow | 1 Instagram account, 500 automated DMs a month, unlimited keyword triggers and active automations | Email gate, follow gate, link-click tracking, CSV export and top-ups are on paid plans |
| InstantDM | 1 account, 500 DM automations a month, up to 5 post automations, 3 custom trigger words, AI comment replies, no card | Hourly-limit tiers, Live, sequences and the flow editor are on paid plans |
| SuperProfile (Starter) | Link-in-bio store, unlimited AutoDMs on reels and posts, 1 keyword per automation, up to 10 leads | A "Sent via" SuperProfile line on DMs; stories, Lives, follow-ups, more keywords and no branding on Creator |
| Linktree | Instagram auto-reply with restrictions; a help article (seen via a search summary) gives 1,000 DMs a month on Free | Smart match, all-posts triggers and higher limits are on paid plans |
| ManyChat | Reported: 25 Active Contacts, 1 user, up to 2 channels, 4 live automations, a "Powered by Manychat" line, no card (third-party) | AI and WhatsApp are listed from Pro and above (third-party) |
What each free plan is best for
A quick test on one post. Any of them. Pick the one whose trigger list matches what you want: story replies, a follow gate, next-post automation.
A steady small account. If you send a few hundred DMs a month, DM-capped plans such as CreatorFlow's 500 or LinkDM's 1,000 will not bite. If a Reel can bring thousands of comments, contact- or DM-capped plans become numbers you watch.
A follow gate on a free plan. Dartzo lists the follow-before-DM gate on Free (access gate), Zorcha lists Ask for Follow, and CreatorFlow reserves its follow gate for Pro and above.
A page and DMs together. Zorcha's free plan lists link-in-bio and forms, and SuperProfile's Starter includes a link-in-bio store. Dartzo's page builder starts on Pro (link-in-bio page).
Seeing what happened to each message. Dartzo's free plan includes the delivery log: every DM is sent, expired or failed with a reason (how delivery works). We did not find an equivalent per-message record described by the others.
Paying nothing and nothing foreign. Dartzo, Zorcha and Linktree showed INR prices to us on paid plans; free plans are free everywhere, but think about where you will land when you outgrow it. Dartzo's rates are on /pricing.
What Dartzo's free plan does and does not include
To be fair to the others, here is Dartzo's free tier in plain terms. It includes automations on posts and reels, story replies and mentions, DM keywords, the follow-before-DM gate, one link button on a message, the delivery log with a reason on every outcome, AI replies drawn from your FAQs with a monthly AI-credit allowance, and unlimited contacts. It does not include follow-ups, broadcasts, lead capture, a link-in-bio page builder or API access, and it does not support Facebook or WhatsApp. Live comments are not available yet. The fair-use bound is 100 live automations, and you are warned as you near it.
A 14-day free trial of any paid plan is available with no card and does not renew; when it ends you drop back to Free and keep everything you built (plans and features).
How to test a free plan in an afternoon
- Switch your account type if neededMost tools need a Business or Creator account. See account requirements.
- ConnectFor Dartzo, connecting Instagram takes about a minute and needs no Facebook Page.
- Build one automation on a quiet postA distinctive keyword and a short DM with a link. See your first automation.
- Comment from a second accountYour own comments never trigger anything. Check the DM, the button and the time it took.
- Look at what the tool tells youIs there a record per message? A reason when something fails? Compare that across the tools you try.
- Turn off any other tool on that postOne tool at a time per post. See another tool is replying.