A flow builder for Instagram and Messenger, no code
Free for 7 days, no credit card required
A drag-and-drop chatbot builder for Instagram and Messenger: one start, up to 60 steps, conditions that read the person’s profile and answers, and HTTP requests to your own systems. It refuses any wire Meta would refuse, before you go live.
- Meta's official API, no password, nothing installed
- Unlimited contacts on every plan
- AI replies in your customer's language
- From $29 a month
What starts a flow
Every flow has one start, from six kinds. Comments and ad comments share one, first messages and ice breakers another; each gets its own page here.
- Comments on posts and reelsA keyword, or any comment, under a post or reel starts the flow.InstagramMessenger
- Comments on adsThe same start on your Facebook and Instagram ads, ads only if you like.InstagramMessenger
- A keyword in a DMSomeone messages MENU or PRICE and the flow answers.InstagramMessenger
- Story replies and mentionsA reply to your story, or a mention in theirs.Instagram
- A DM link you shareAn ig.me or m.me link in an email, an ad or a QR code.InstagramMessenger
- Their first messageOnce per person, the first time they ever write to you.InstagramMessenger
- Ice breakersUp to four questions above an empty chat, each its own path.InstagramMessenger
- A post shared to youSomeone sends one of your posts or reels into your DMs.Instagram
What a flow can do
The steps panel groups them the way the canvas colours them. Each one has its own page.
Send
Messages that go out in the chat.
Ask and wait
Steps that wait for the person.
Decide
Which way the flow goes, and when.
Do
Work behind the scenes.
On the comment
Only after a comment start, before the chat is open.
Logic, APIs, and the safety net
Conditions, HTTP requests with an AI builder, templates, tests and versions.
- ConditionsUp to 8 rules in one step, all or any: their Instagram profile, tags, fields, what they said, the time, their history.
- HTTP requestCall any API with the person’s details, test it on the spot, map the answer into fields.
- AI HTTP builderName the service and what you need; it sets up the request and tests it.
- Ready servicesRequests already set up for common services, ready to fill in.
- TemplatesNine ready flows, from Comment LINK to a welcome menu, opened as a draft.
- Test and versionsTest on your phone, see every run step by step, restore any saved version.
- Build with AIDescribe it in a sentence and watch the flow being built on the canvas.
Most people begin with comment to DM or start from a template, then grow the flow: conditions for who gets what, an HTTP request to their store or CRM, and the AI agent for every question nobody scripted. Or describe the whole thing to Build with AI. Coming from ManyChat? See how the two compare and what each plan includes.
Built to be hard to break
The same rules run on the canvas, on save and in the engine, so a live flow behaves the way it looks.
The canvas
Drag a step in, or click it to add it after the selected step.
- StepsSeventeen steps in five groups
Send, Ask and wait, Decide, Do, and On the comment; search them by name.
Up to 60 steps in one flow.
- Drag to connect the next stepWires that cannot break
A wire Meta would refuse is refused on the canvas, with the reason, by the same rules the save uses.
A message cannot go before the chat is open; a comment gets one private reply.
- Ready to go liveThings to fix, counted
Problems are counted on the bar; steps not reached from the start are marked. A paused flow saves as a draft with its problems; going live refuses them.
- Tidy upOne press, a readable flow
Lays the flow out in your direction, left to right or top to bottom (right to left in Arabic), with wires that skip a column in their own lanes; positions only, never what it does.
- LayoutYour view, your way
Direction (Left to right or Top to bottom) and Arrow style (Angled, Curved or Straight) are yours alone: saved for you, never into the flow, so a teammate keeps their own.
Around the canvas
What makes a flow safe to change while it is live.
- UndoEvery change, named
Undo: Add Message, Redo, Duplicate; right-click anything for more.
- VersionsEvery save, newest first
Preview a version with what changed since, restore it as unsaved changes, or copy it as a new paused flow.
Named versions are kept for good, plus the last 100 saves.
- Test on your phoneRuns for you only
A QR code and a link run the saved version for you only, even while the flow is off. Nobody else gets anything.
The test link works for 30 minutes.
- InsightsNumbers on every step
How many people reach each step, take each way and open each link, over 7 days, 30 days or all time.
The real canvas, live
Northwind’s tasting bookings, whole and live: a comment, a private reply, a message with four choices, a question, then a tag and a hand-off to a person, or a message when no answer comes.
- Ready to go live
- Shown on the canvas when nothing needs fixing.
- Build with AI, Test, Versions, Runs, Insights
- One bar above every flow.
Every limit, in one table
The builder holds each flow to them as you build, so Meta never refuses it later.
| What | The limit | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Steps in one flow | 60 | CommentWatchDog |
| Keywords on one start | 50, up to 80 characters each | CommentWatchDog |
| Text in one message | 1,000 on Instagram, 2,000 on Messenger, 640 with buttons | |
| Buttons on a message | 3 | |
| Quick replies | 13, up to 20 characters each | |
| Cards in one step | 10 | |
| Rules in one condition | 8 | CommentWatchDog |
| Ice breakers | 4, up to 80 characters each | |
| Private replies per comment | 1, within 7 days |
Meta’s numbers: the Instagram Messaging and Messenger Platform documentation, read 2026-10-05, several confirmed by live probes.
A builder with more in it
Rows we checked on each tool’s own pricing and help pages.
CommentWatchDogBuilt step by step by handNo Facebook posts or adsFrom each tool’s own pricing and help pages, October 2026. Logos belong to their owners.
Questions people ask
Short answers before you start.
A conversation drawn as a map: one start, such as a comment or a DM, then steps joined by wires. The person’s taps and answers choose which way it goes. In CommentWatchDog a flow runs on Instagram and Messenger.
No. Drag a step onto the canvas, fill it in and wire it to the next. The HTTP request step is optional, and even it can be set up by AI from the name of the service.
Six kinds of start: comments on posts, reels and ads; a keyword or any message in a DM; story replies and mentions (Instagram only); a named ig.me or m.me link; a first message or an ice breaker tap; and a post shared into your DMs (Instagram only).
Up to 60, chosen from seventeen kinds in five groups: Send, Ask and wait, Decide, Do, and On the comment.
Yes. Test on your phone gives you a QR code and a link that run the saved version for you only, for 30 minutes, even while the flow is off. Nobody else gets anything. See test and versions.
Yes. Describe it in your own words and Build with AI builds it on the canvas step by step, each with its reason. Nothing goes live until you save and switch it on.
Contacts and DMs are never metered on any CommentWatchDog plan, where ManyChat prices by contacts. Comment moderation runs in the same product, so spam is hidden before a DM goes out. How often per person is your choice on a comment start, where ManyChat’s Instagram comment trigger runs once per person per post. More in the full comparison.