ManyChat and Stonechat for the customers who write to you

ManyChat is the best-known tool for Instagram and Facebook messages, and most people comparing inboxes look at it first. Its homepage describes it as "powerful automations for Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Messenger" (ManyChat), and that is its strength: you design flows, keyword triggers and broadcasts, and it runs them.

Stonechat starts from the other end of the inbox: the people who write to you. Someone asks whether you can fit twelve in on Friday, another is chasing a quote from Tuesday, a third just said thanks. Stonechat works out which of them still need you, puts the unhappy ones and the longest waits first, and has a reply drafted from your knowledge base and from how you answered the same question before.

Side by side

What Stonechat does for the people who write in

• Knows who is still waiting. A message someone opened on their phone and forgot is no longer unread, but it is still unanswered. Stonechat reads each conversation and keeps a list of the people still owed a reply. A "thanks, see you Saturday" usually drops off by itself.
• Puts the right people first. It notices when someone is getting impatient or upset and moves them to the top, then everyone else by how long they have waited.
• Drafts replies that sound like you, from day one. For the questions you answer every day, Stonechat writes a draft from your knowledge base and from how you answered before, and shows the sources each one rests on. Write your policies down once and drafts start before you have any history. Use it as it is or change a word.
• Keeps what you tell customers in one place. Short answers the team drops into a reply with /, and longer articles on delivery, returns and prices. Import a page from your website to start, and save the answers Stonechat notices your team sending again and again.
• Answers comments too. A question under your post joins the same list as your messages. Praise and tagged friends stay out of the way. Reply in public or message them privately, and hide spam or delete a comment that shares a phone number without leaving the inbox.
• Works as a team. Assign conversations, leave each other notes, search every conversation, snooze one until Thursday, and see when a teammate is already replying. Everyone is included in the price.
• Knows your store. Connect a Shopify store and a customer's orders sit beside the conversation, found by the order number or email they send. Let it read your products as well, and when someone asks about one, the suggested reply gives its price and what is in stock right then, with its link ready to send. Your refund and shipping policies can go straight into your knowledge base, and you hear when they change.
• Counts your real hours. Set your hours and an away message, and your typical wait counts only the time you are open.

Where ManyChat is the stronger choice

• Giveaways, lead magnets and launches where people comment a word and expect something in their DMs. ManyChat calls this Comment to DM (ManyChat pricing).
• Broadcasts to contacts who have opted in.
• An AI that answers on its own from business information you save, which ManyChat calls AI Replies, from its Pro plan.
• More channels than Facebook and Instagram, such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Telegram, SMS or email (ManyChat pricing).

Stonechat is not open to everyone yet. It lets people in from a waitlist in small groups.

What each one costs

Prices below are ManyChat's list prices in US dollars as of September 2026, from its pricing page. ManyChat notes that prices depend on your billing country and do not include tax (ManyChat pricing).

ManyChat charges by active contacts: "One person = one Active Contact for the month" (ManyChat Help). Someone who sends you a DM, comments on your post or replies to your story counts. Past your plan's number, each extra contact is billed, for example $0.05 each on Pro billed monthly. You can set a threshold to control whether overages are allowed at all.

Two details matter for a team answering customers:

• Seats. Taking part in inbox conversations needs an inbox seat. Pro includes 2 inbox seats and lets you add one more for $25. Business includes 3, up to 5 (ManyChat Help, ManyChat pricing).
• Assignment. The shared team inbox with assignments is listed from Business, at $99 a month billed monthly (ManyChat pricing).

The free plan adds a "Powered by Manychat" message the first time you message a contact, and allows up to 4 live automations (ManyChat Help).

Stonechat is $39 a month for the whole team, with everything included. There is no charge per seat and nothing to unlock. If more than about a thousand people write to you in a month, we would rather talk than guess. Stonechat is not taking payments yet, and you will see your own last 30 days before you pay anything.

How to decide

Ask one question: when your phone buzzes with a DM, is it someone you want to reach, or someone who wants to reach you?

If you are mostly starting conversations, with campaigns and comment triggers, ManyChat is built for that. If customers are writing to you, and a slow or missed reply costs a booking or a sale, Stonechat keeps the list, puts the right people first and has the answer half written.

ManyChat is a trademark of its owner. Stonechat is not affiliated with ManyChat, and this page compares the two only to help you choose.