Instagram has more than 3 billion active monthly users worldwide, making it one of the greatest opportunities for your business to connect with potential customers. But scaling your Instagram outreach efforts while maintaining other customer engagement channels (for example, email, messaging, and chatbots) can be difficult without the right tools.
Many teams now rely on chatbot marketing platforms to help automate their communication process. Two popular options are SendPulse and Manychat. SendPulse, a multichannel marketing platform, offers a wide range of automation tools for communications teams, while the chatbot-forward Manychat focuses on social media messaging.
Choosing the right platform, however, can be a challenge. So we rounded up key information about SendPulse and Manychat for you. Covering everything from Instagram automations and chatbots to channel scope and pricing, this guide will help answer any questions you may have about choosing the best Instagram automation tool.
 SendPulse |  Manychat | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | All-in-one multichannel marketing automation with optional CRM capabilities | Conversational marketing and chat automation for social media channels |
| Instagram automation | Instagram automation support via chatbot builder, with autoresponses to set triggers | Deep Instagram direct message (DM) automation (through a partnership with Meta), with automatic DMs, DM flows, and more |
| Chatbot style | Multichannel drag-and-drop chatbot flow builder | Visual flow builder optimized for social media and messaging |
| AI capabilities | AI-assisted chatbot replies (that can be integrated into a CRM) and customizable AI agents | Optional AI add-on for AI-powered responses, context detection, and more |
| Multichannel support | Strong omnichannel support capabilities | Multichannel support focused on social media, particularly Meta platforms |
Who should use SendPulse vs Manychat?
Several factors will play a role in your decision to use SendPulse or Manychat, but here is the short version of our advice:
- Who should use SendPulse: Businesses that need multichannel (email, messaging, and chatbots) campaign support in a single solution
- Who should use Manychat: Marketers who want Instagram and Facebook Messenger automation, and conversation flows
Ultimately, the best Instagram automation tool for you depends on your outreach focus.
Still interested in learning more about SendPulse and Manychat? Let’s review each tool’s capabilities, pricing, and strengths.
What is SendPulse?
An all-in-one marketing automation platform, SendPulse provides a wide range of outreach tools. These tools include the following multichannel automation features:
- Email marketing
- Viber
- SMS
- Chatbots
- Websites
- Pop-ups
One of SendPulse’s core features is its chatbot builder, which lets users create conversation flows from scratch or from a template. Although SendPulse does offer AI features, they are not natively built into its chatbot builder, so you’ll need to integrate OpenAI models into your chatbots on your own.
Another differentiating feature of SendPulse is its CRM capabilities. Rather than transferring vital conversational data from SendPulse to another platform, you can sort your data in its native CRM.
But while SendPulse offers many tools, each of its solutions is priced individually based on feature depth and usage. On the plus side, SendPulse offers limited free versions of its tools, which may work for small teams that need basic features.
Overall, this tool’s breadth of features works if you’re looking for full-service solutions and is a good fit for small businesses in need of free or affordable tools and enterprise organizations that want an all-in-one platform.
What is Manychat?
Manychat is a DM automation software focused on high-quality social media conversations. Instead of handling a broad range of marketing automations, Manychat prioritizes improving lead capture and conversational marketing efforts.
Its chatbot platform features a visual flow builder, custom autoreply triggers for everything from comments to keywords, and integrations with more than 2,000 third-party business tools.
Manychat also has solutions specifically designed for major social media platforms, such as the following:
- Facebook Messenger
- TikTok
Manychat is a Meta Business Partner, so its platform is optimized for communicating with customers on Instagram and Facebook Messenger. Its paid tiers come with automation solutions for SMS and email, as well as an optional Manychat AI add-on.
Pricing is straightforward, and all channels are available for an escalating, use-based monthly fee under its Pro plan. It also features a limited free plan, as well as an advanced, custom-priced Elite plan.
If your organization wants to level up its social media presence on channels such as Instagram or Facebook Messenger, using Manychat for Instagram can be a great alternative to consider for your DM automation strategy.
Key features of SendPulse
Here are some examples of the SendPulse tools you can use to enhance your outreach efforts:
- Multichannel campaign management
- Chatbot builder for Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp
- Trigger-based conversation flows
- CRM integration
- Bulk messaging
These tools can help guide users toward conversion and expand lead generation capabilities.
Key features of Manychat
Manychat makes it easy to scale and monetize social media outreach. Its Instagram chatbots simplify conversation flows, accelerate response times, and improve your overall social engagement through the following features:
- Visual flow builder
- Instagram comment-to-DM automation
- Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp support
- Keyword triggers and sequences
- E-commerce integrations
What makes each tool unique
The following factors may tip the scales in your decision to sign up for SendPulse vs Manychat. Consider their value to your organization and how they could tie into your workflows.
SendPulse’s unique strengths
- All-in-one marketing automation across channels: Why rely on just chatbots when you can automate your entire marketing process on a single platform? For teams looking for maximum marketing efficiency, SendPulse’s platform can automate outreach across multiple channels.
- Strong email and chatbot hybrid campaigns: It’s unlikely that your team will put all their efforts into a single outreach strategy. They can use SendPulse’s email features to create effective hybrid campaigns that combine email and chatbot efforts to optimize lead generation.
- Built-in CRM: Although it may cost more, SendPulse’s CRM can directly integrate with your conversational marketing automation. This built-in management feature allows you to store and organize important data, reducing the headache of managing a tech stack.
Manychat’s unique strengths
- Intuitive visual flow builder: Although SendPulse’s flow builder is a drag-and-drop system, it lacks the intuitiveness of Manychat’s user-friendly interface. Building flows is simple with Manychat, which has clearly designated buttons and actions that keep your flows under control.
- Strong Instagram and Facebook Messenger automation triggers: Thanks to its business partnership with Meta, Manychat’s chatbot integrates with Instagram and Facebook Messenger effectively, triggering automations with story replies, comments, and other actions.
- Easy-to-deploy lead-capture flows: Manychat’s conversation flows can be designed to collect contact information from your users in their DMs. Simply choose a trigger, customize a response, and deploy. Once live, these flows automate lead collection and run in the background throughout your campaigns.
Pro Tip
Want Instagram automation that feels human? Jotform Instagram Agent goes beyond rigid conversation flows by providing AI-powered replies to DMs, comments, and story mentions in your brand voice, no matter the scale.
Pricing and value of SendPulse and Manychat
Cost is always a key consideration when shopping for a new digital tool, and SendPulse’s and Manychat’s pricing structures vary significantly. Check out the pricing and value points listed in this section, and keep in mind that these prices are based on plans billed annually.
SendPulse pricing
SendPulse’s pricing structure is complex because of its à la carte approach to features.
- Free: The free plan offers access to three chatbots for up to 500 subscribers, and it sends up to 10,000 messages per month. It also comes with flow-building features.
- Pro: Plans range from $8 to more than $2,500 per month, depending on your number of subscribers. This plan includes unlimited chatbots and live chats, unlimited messages, and access to advanced features.
As you scale, SendPulse offers more value as a multichannel tool by reducing your per-subscriber cost across all channels. However, the free version may be sufficient for you, because it provides a wide range of tools.
Manychat pricing
Manychat’s pricing falls into three key categories:
- Free: The free plan offers unlimited conversation flows, with up to 1,000 contacts across Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and TikTok.
- Pro: Paid plans range from $15 to $8,835 per month, based on your number of contacts. The Pro plan provides unlimited contacts, advanced tools, integrations, analytics, and access to SMS, email, and WhatsApp channels. You can also add Manychat AI to your plan for an additional $29 per month.
- Elite: Custom pricing is available for the Elite plan, which comes with access to unlimited team members, dedicated onboarding and support, and more.
Manychat’s pricing offers the most value for teams that need a dedicated social media conversation tool. It also has a higher user threshold than SendPulse for teams that want to use a free plan.
Either of these tools can add value to your marketing strategy, but neither offers the flexibility you might find in Manychat and SendPulse alternatives, such as Jotform Instagram Agent.
Why Jotform Instagram Agent beats template-based automation
SendPulse and Manychat are limited by rule-based conversation flows. This chatbot style is predictable but doesn’t leave room for nuanced, humanlike interactions.
Context-filled conversations are what make Jotform Instagram Agent the smarter alternative for engaging customers on social media. This AI-powered assistant allows potential customers to engage with your brand authentically on social media. And thanks to a few key features, you don’t have to sacrifice the efficiency of automation.
Context-aware AI, not just triggers
How is a chatbot different from an AI agent? Whereas a chatbot follows set rules to respond in specific ways to certain keywords, a Jotform Instagram Agent can understand the context behind your users’ messages to deliver more humanlike responses. These responses provide a more dynamic experience than preprogrammed canned responses.
Complete Instagram coverage
While DM automation software is useful, messages are only one aspect of your Instagram outreach efforts. Engagement with story mentions and comments is also essential to connecting with your target audience fully. Jotform Instagram Agent allows you to manage interactions throughout your Instagram community in a single dashboard, so nothing goes unnoticed.
On-brand consistency
Not only can you train an agent to mimic your brand voice and tone, but this AI agent can also adapt its interaction style based on past conversations. Using previous interaction data, Jotform Instagram Agent can update its tone and style to mirror prior positive interactions with your customers.
Beyond Instagram
Jotform Instagram Agent is useful on its own, but it’s only a small part of the greater Jotform ecosystem. Manage your email outreach with Jotform Gmail Agent, or automate other common business processes by choosing from the more than 7,000 AI Agent templates. These AI assistants also integrate directly with the full Jotform suite of products, helping you manage your data, build custom forms, collect signatures, and more.
Your team doesn’t have to be hands-on 24-7 to create an authentic, engaging Instagram customer experience. Tools such as SendPulse and Manychat help you conduct outreach while working in the background and maintaining the quality your users expect from your brand. But for a solution that grows with your organization, consider Jotform Instagram Agent, and discover, for free, why it’s the best Instagram automation tool for businesses of all sizes to elevate their social media presence.
This article is social media managers, e-commerce store owners, and marketers comparing two multi-channel messaging platforms — one with broader marketing automation (SendPulse) and one with specialized chatbot flows (ManyChat) — to see which better serves Instagram engagement goals.
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