Instagram DM automation, every door into the DM
Free for 7 days, no credit card required
People reach you on Instagram six ways: a comment, a DM, a story reply, your link, an ice breaker, a shared reel. Answer only some of them by hand and the rest go cold. CommentWatchDog automates your Instagram direct messages through Meta’s official API, so every door gets an answer.
- Meta's official API, no password, nothing installed
- Unlimited contacts on every plan
- AI replies in your customer's language
- From $29 a month
From connect to live in four steps
CommentWatchDog automates Instagram DMs through Meta’s official Instagram API: a DM when someone comments, replies to or mentions your story, sends a keyword, taps an ice breaker, opens your ig.me link or shares your post. Flows can check they follow you, collect an email and let AI answer, with unlimited contacts.
- 01
Connect the account
Sign in with Facebook’s own login and pick the Instagram professional account linked to your Page.
Meta’s official API, no password
- 02
Pick what starts it
A comment, a DM keyword, a story reply or mention, your ig.me link, an ice breaker or a shared post.
One start per flow, six to choose from
- 03
Build what they get
A message and its buttons, a follow check, a question that saves their email, or an AI answer.
Or describe it in a sentence and Build with AI
- 04
Switch it on
Go live and watch every run: who started it, where they went, what they gave you.
Unlimited contacts on every plan
Every start and rule, in the app’s words
The starts and steps the flow builder offers on Instagram, and the Meta rule behind each one. The same flows answer Messenger on a Messenger chatbot.
What starts a flow on Instagram
Six starts, all of them on Instagram, each with the rule Meta sets for it.
- Post or reel commentsComments on posts, reels and ads
A keyword, exact words or any comment under a post, a reel or an ad sends the one private reply. See comment to DM.
One private reply per comment, within 7 days.
- Instagram messageA DM with a keyword
Someone writes MENU or PRICE, or anything at all, and gets its answer at once; up to 50 keywords, capitals and accents ignored.
- Story reply or mentionStory replies and mentions
A reply to your story, or a mention in theirs, gets a thank-you, a code or a link back; replies can be limited to stories you choose. See story replies.
GIF and sticker replies send nothing to apps.
- ig.me linkYour chat link
ig.me/m/your-account?ref=name opens the chat and starts the flow, from your bio, an ad, an email or a QR code. See DM links.
New people carry the link name only while your ice breakers show.
- Ice breakers and first messagesIce breakers and a welcome
Up to 4 questions above an empty chat, each with its own way out, or a welcome on someone’s very first message. See ice breakers.
80 characters a question; not shown on Instagram’s website.
- Shared postYour post, shared back
Someone sends you one of your posts or reels in a DM and gets what it promised. See shared posts.
Instagram only.
Only on Instagram
What Instagram lets a flow know about a person, and where your reply lands.
- Ask to followA follow check
Ask them to follow before the link goes out; Instagram confirms it once they tap. See follow to unlock.
Instagram answers only after they message or tap, never for a commenter alone.
- Follower countRules on their profile
A condition can go one way for followers, people with more than 10,000 followers, verified accounts or a profile picture.
Messenger shares none of this.
- Your private reply sits in their message requestsInbox or Requests
A private reply lands in their inbox when they follow you, in their message requests when they do not; the Live inbox says which.
Meta’s rule for private replies on Instagram.
What an Instagram message can carry
Meta’s limits, and how the builder keeps you inside them.
- MessageText, buttons and quick replies
Up to 1,000 characters, up to 3 buttons and up to 13 quick replies, all on one message if you like. Collect their email with a question in the DM.
640 characters when the message has buttons; 20 characters a button.
- CardsA carousel
Up to 10 cards in one message, each with an image, an 80-character title, a line and buttons.
- Image, video or filePictures, video, PDFs
PNG or JPEG up to 8 MB; video and audio up to 25 MB; files as PDF.
Instagram refuses .docx and .webp.
- AI agent answersAI answers in their language
Your AI agent answers what a flow cannot, from your site, files and FAQs, and hands the chat to a person when it does not know.
5 AI credits an answer.
When they write back, you are there
Every chat the automation starts lands in the Live inbox beside your Facebook Pages’ chats, each message labelled with who sent it.
- Primary or Requests
- The panel says when your private reply sits in their message requests.
- The app, not the website
- Buttons, quick replies and cards show in the Instagram app; Instagram’s website shows the text only.
- Take over
- Pause for 24 hours in a chat and a person answers while the automation waits.
Instagram’s numbers, in one table
What Meta allows in an Instagram DM, and the caps the builder adds.
| What | The limit | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Who writes first | The person: a comment, a DM, a tap or a link open | |
| Private replies per comment | One, within 7 days of the comment | |
| Reply window | 24 hours after their last message, tap or link open | |
| One message | 1,000 characters; 640 with buttons | |
| Buttons and quick replies | Up to 3 buttons, up to 13 quick replies, 20 characters each | |
| Cards in a carousel | Up to 10; 80-character title and line | |
| Ice breakers | Up to 4 questions, 80 characters each | |
| Images | PNG or JPEG, up to 8 MB | |
| Video, audio and PDFs | Up to 25 MB | |
| Keywords per start | Up to 50, 80 characters each | CommentWatchDog |
| Contacts and DMs | Unlimited, on every plan | CommentWatchDog |
Meta’s numbers: the Instagram Platform messaging, private replies and ice breakers references, each also sent live through the product (Meta’s docs mix bytes and characters; 1,000 characters passed and 1,001 failed). CommentWatchDog’s numbers are the builder’s own caps.
Instagram DMs, without the catches
Coming from ManyChat for Instagram? These are the rows that decide it; the full ManyChat alternative comparison has the rest. Comments are covered too: Instagram comment moderation is in every plan, and Instagram auto reply answers under your posts.
CommentWatchDogOr no AI agent at allBuilt step by step by handFrom each tool’s own pricing and help pages, October 2026. Logos belong to their owners.
Questions about Instagram DM automation
What people ask before they turn it on.
Instagram’s own tools are free: an instant reply, frequently asked questions and keyword replies, set up in Meta Business Suite. Instagram auto reply has the steps. CommentWatchDog has no free plan. It has a 7-day free trial with every feature and no credit card, then plans from $29 a month. Contacts and DMs are never metered on any plan, so the price does not grow with your audience.
DM automation is in every plan from Starter, $29 a month, up to Elite at $199. Contacts and DMs are unlimited on all of them; what changes is pages, teammates, history and the monthly AI credits. See pricing.
Connect your Instagram professional account with Facebook’s own login, pick what starts the automation (a comment, a DM keyword, a story reply, your ig.me link, an ice breaker or a shared post), write what they get, and switch it to Live.
Yes, through Meta’s official Instagram messaging API and within its rules: the person writes first, a comment allows one private reply within 7 days, and everything else goes inside the 24-hour window after their last message. CommentWatchDog follows those rules on every send.
It does the job people mean by an Instagram DM bot: it answers comments, DMs and story replies by itself, day and night. It is not a bot that logs in as you or messages strangers. You connect with Facebook’s own login, it runs on Meta’s official API, and it only answers people who came to you first, with a comment, a message, a tap or your link.
The usual causes: the automation is not Live; the comment is older than 7 days or the 24-hour window closed; the keyword did not match, or the person already got it under How often per person; or new people opened your ig.me link while the page shows no ice breakers. A reply to someone who does not follow you lands in their message requests.
Switch the automation off in Automation and it stops at once, its runs kept. To stop it for one person only, press Pause for 24 hours in that chat in the Live inbox; anyone who writes stop is skipped automatically.