Manychat Pricing 2026: Free, Essential, Pro, Business & Advanced

Manychat pricing now uses a five-plan Active Contacts model. Free costs $0; Essential is $17 monthly or $14 annually; Pro $39/$29; Business $99/$69; and Advanced $199/$139. The headline price is only the base layer because paid plans charge per additional Active Contact and some channels create separate messaging fees.

Manychat pricing at a glance

The current five-plan model is Free $0; Essential $17 monthly or $14 annually; Pro $39 or $29; Business $99 or $69; and Advanced $199 or $139.

Those headline prices are only part of the cost because every paid plan includes a monthly Active Contact allowance and charges overages beyond that limit.

Free: $0

Free includes 25 Active Contacts per month, up to two eligible channels, one user, one Inbox seat and up to four live triggers.

It is best treated as a learning and proof-of-concept plan rather than a serious production tier for an established creator or business.

Essential: $17 monthly / $14 annual

Essential includes 250 Active Contacts, two eligible channels, two users, one Inbox seat and unlimited automations.

It removes Manychat branding and adds lead capture, tags, scheduled messages and email support.

Essential annual cost

At $14/month billed annually, Essential costs $168/year.

The monthly alternative costs $204 across 12 months, so annual billing saves $36 before overages.

Essential overage cost

Essential overages are $0.10 per additional Active Contact on monthly billing or $0.082 annually.

One thousand extra Active Contacts would therefore add about $100 monthly-billed or $82 on annual pricing.

Pro: $39 monthly / $29 annual

Pro includes 2,500 Active Contacts, three users, two Inbox seats and up to three connected channels.

It is the practical starting point for WhatsApp, SMS, Email and AI-powered conversational automation.

Pro annual cost

At $29/month billed annually, Pro costs $348/year.

Twelve $39 monthly payments total $468, so annual billing saves $120 before overages.

Pro overage cost

Pro charges $0.05 per extra Active Contact monthly or $0.038 annually.

One thousand additional Active Contacts would add $50 or $38 depending on billing frequency.

Business: $99 monthly / $69 annual

Business includes 7,500 Active Contacts, five users, three Inbox seats and unlimited eligible channels.

It is built for teams that need multichannel operation, advanced Inbox routing and higher engagement volume.

Business annual cost

At $69/month annually, Business costs $828/year.

Paying $99 monthly for a full year costs $1,188, so annual billing saves $360.

Business overage cost

Business charges $0.025 per extra Active Contact monthly or $0.018 annually.

Five thousand additional Active Contacts would therefore add about $125 monthly-billed or $90 annually billed.

Advanced: $199 monthly / $139 annual

Advanced includes 25,000 Active Contacts, ten users, five Inbox seats, unlimited eligible channels and API-oriented custom workflow support.

It is intended for high-volume brands, agencies and enterprise-level messaging operations.

Advanced annual cost

At $139/month annually, Advanced costs $1,668/year.

Twelve monthly payments at $199 cost $2,388, so the annual option saves $720.

Advanced overage cost

Advanced starts around $0.004 per additional Active Contact monthly and $0.0028 annually, with rates able to decrease at larger usage.

Ten thousand extra contacts at the starting annual rate would add about $28.

Active Contacts explained

An Active Contact is someone who interacts with the business through Manychat during the billing month.

A person can message multiple times and still count once. This is different from total followers, total contacts stored or raw message count.

Why Active Contacts matter

A brand can have a large follower base but relatively few Active Contacts if only a small share interacts in a given month.

The reverse can also happen: a viral campaign can create a sudden spike in unique engaged contacts and overage fees.

Channel limits

Free and Essential support up to two eligible social channels. Pro supports up to three selected channels, while Business and Advanced support all eligible channels.

Businesses needing WhatsApp, SMS or Email should start their price comparison at Pro rather than Essential.

User limits

The current plan ladder includes 1 user on Free, 2 on Essential, 3 on Pro, 5 on Business and 10 on Advanced.

User limits matter for agencies and teams even before contact volume forces a plan upgrade.

Inbox seats

Included Inbox seats are 1 on Free/Essential, 2 on Pro, 3 on Business and 5 on Advanced.

Pro, Business and Advanced can add Inbox capacity, with current help documentation showing $25 per added Inbox seat under the new plan structure.

14-day trials

Essential and Pro include 14-day free trials.

Business and Advanced do not provide a standard trial, so larger teams should validate the workflow on a lower tier or through vendor assistance before committing.

WhatsApp costs

WhatsApp becomes available on Pro and above, but the Manychat subscription does not eliminate WhatsApp messaging charges.

Meta's pricing and policy rules can add variable cost by market and message type, so WhatsApp-heavy businesses should budget channel fees separately.

SMS costs

SMS is available from Pro and also creates carrier/provider usage costs separate from the Manychat subscription.

The exact economics depend on geography, message volume and the connected sending configuration.

Email limits

Email is available from Pro under the current model, with plan-level sending allowances that scale across Pro, Business and Advanced.

Businesses should not treat Manychat as a pure unlimited email platform; email remains one part of a broader messaging stack.

Manychat AI cost positioning

Manychat AI is included from Pro and higher plans rather than sold only as a completely separate entry subscription.

That makes Pro particularly relevant when AI-based DM replies or FAQ handling are part of the business case.

Refund policy

First-month cancellations within 30 days of the original paid plan purchase may qualify for a refund through support.

The 30-day window does not reset when the account later upgrades to another plan.

Cancellation

Manychat subscriptions can be canceled at any time and remain active until the end of the current billing period.

Overages incurred before cancellation can still be billed, so setting an Active Contact limit can help control spend during the final period.

Regional and legacy-account caveat

The five-plan model launched March 2, 2026 and is standard for newer accounts, but rollout to older accounts remains region- and migration-dependent.

Legacy users should verify the actual plan menu inside their account before assuming the public pricing page exactly matches their billing options.

Free vs Essential

Choose Free to learn the platform or run tiny automations. Move to Essential when unlimited automation, lead capture, two users and removal of branding matter.

Essential still does not solve WhatsApp/SMS/Email needs.

Essential vs Pro

Pro is the meaningful capability jump because it adds WhatsApp, SMS, Email, AI, broadcasts, more contacts and stronger Inbox automation.

Businesses already selling through DMs or WhatsApp should usually evaluate Pro first.

Pro vs Business

Business is justified by higher Active Contact volume, unlimited eligible channels, a larger team and stronger routing/Inbox collaboration.

A solo creator rarely needs Business purely for features.

Business vs Advanced

Advanced is primarily a scale plan: more contacts, more users, more Inbox seats and lower marginal overage cost.

Organizations should move to Advanced when volume economics or API/custom workflow needs justify the higher subscription.

Compared with Tidio

Tidio offers a Free plan, Starter around $24.17/month annually, Growth around $49.17 annually, Plus from $300 and Premium custom.

Tidio's cost model is oriented around support conversations, AI conversations and automation usage rather than social Active Contacts.

Compared with ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign now uses tailored pricing based on contacts, channels and selected products rather than a single stable public starting price.

It is a better comparison for lifecycle email/CRM automation, while Manychat is more specialized around social messaging triggers.

Compared with HighLevel

HighLevel starts at $97/month for Starter, $297 for Unlimited and $497 for Agency Pro, with annual discounts and separate telecom/AI usage charges.

It costs more but combines CRM, funnels, websites, calendars, reputation and agency sub-accounts in one broader platform.

Compared with Omnisend

Omnisend Free supports 500 emails/month to 250 contacts, Standard starts at $16/month and Pro at $59/month.

Omnisend is more ecommerce-email-centric, while Manychat is stronger for Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and DM automation.

Best-value recommendation

Use Free only for learning, Essential for simple social automation, Pro when WhatsApp/SMS/Email or AI matters, Business for multichannel teams and Advanced for very high volume.

Before annual commitment, forecast Active Contacts using a high-engagement month and add expected WhatsApp, SMS and extra Inbox costs.

Continue reading about Manychat

• Manychat tool profile
• Manychat Review: Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons
• Manychat Alternatives 2026: Tidio, ActiveCampaign, GoHighLevel & Omnisend

Additional pricing decision test 1

A useful buying test is to model one real campaign from trigger to revenue or support outcome. Start with the actual channel where the audience engages, build the automation, add lead capture and follow-up, and include any human handoff or CRM update that happens after the automated step.

Then model the same workflow at expected monthly volume. Count Active Contacts, connected channels, Inbox seats, messaging fees, integrations and staff time. This exposes whether the apparent plan price is the real operating cost.

Finally, test the failure path. Check what happens when a platform connection breaks, a Meta permission changes, an automation hits a policy constraint or a human agent needs to take over. For social automation, reliability across those edge cases matters as much as the visual flow builder.

Additional pricing decision test 2

A useful buying test is to model one real campaign from trigger to revenue or support outcome. Start with the actual channel where the audience engages, build the automation, add lead capture and follow-up, and include any human handoff or CRM update that happens after the automated step.

Then model the same workflow at expected monthly volume. Count Active Contacts, connected channels, Inbox seats, messaging fees, integrations and staff time. This exposes whether the apparent plan price is the real operating cost.

Finally, test the failure path. Check what happens when a platform connection breaks, a Meta permission changes, an automation hits a policy constraint or a human agent needs to take over. For social automation, reliability across those edge cases matters as much as the visual flow builder.

Additional pricing decision test 3

A useful buying test is to model one real campaign from trigger to revenue or support outcome. Start with the actual channel where the audience engages, build the automation, add lead capture and follow-up, and include any human handoff or CRM update that happens after the automated step.

Then model the same workflow at expected monthly volume. Count Active Contacts, connected channels, Inbox seats, messaging fees, integrations and staff time. This exposes whether the apparent plan price is the real operating cost.

Finally, test the failure path. Check what happens when a platform connection breaks, a Meta permission changes, an automation hits a policy constraint or a human agent needs to take over. For social automation, reliability across those edge cases matters as much as the visual flow builder.

Additional pricing decision test 4

A useful buying test is to model one real campaign from trigger to revenue or support outcome. Start with the actual channel where the audience engages, build the automation, add lead capture and follow-up, and include any human handoff or CRM update that happens after the automated step.

Then model the same workflow at expected monthly volume. Count Active Contacts, connected channels, Inbox seats, messaging fees, integrations and staff time. This exposes whether the apparent plan price is the real operating cost.

Finally, test the failure path. Check what happens when a platform connection breaks, a Meta permission changes, an automation hits a policy constraint or a human agent needs to take over. For social automation, reliability across those edge cases matters as much as the visual flow builder.