Instagram story reply automation

Trigger on a story reply

Pick story_reply as the trigger instead of a comment. From there the builder is identical: keywords with a contains, exact, or any match, then the DM, then an optional follow-up.

Any is the setting most stories want. A story that says reply YES for the link works, but so does a story that just asks a question, and half your audience will answer it in their own words rather than yours.

Answer without opening the inbox

The reply arrives as a normal DM with an optional tappable button, so a link, a booking page, or a price list can go out on its own. If the person writes back, any follow-up you queued is cancelled and the conversation is yours from there.

Stories expire after 24 hours, which means a story automation has a short, busy life. Turn it on for the day, watch the counts, and pause it when the story does.

How ManyChat prices this

Story-reply automation exists in both tools, and the bill is calculated differently. ManyChat charges for Active Contacts, the people who reply to you: 25 a month on the free plan since 2 March 2026, 250 on Essential at $14 a month, 2,500 on Pro at $29 a month. A story that lands is exactly the event that spends those contacts fast, because a story reply is a person replying.

ReelDrop counts automations, not people. The story-reply trigger is on the Influencer plan at $9.99 a month, which also makes the number of automations unlimited, and a story that does ten times its usual numbers does not change what you pay that month. ManyChat has no post publishing, so it cannot schedule the story or the Reel that points at it. Its flow builder is still the better tool if your replies need to branch.

The poll that turns into a waitlist

A skincare brand runs a story asking which shade people want back in stock, and tells them to reply with the name. Every reply gets a DM with the restock link. The replies arrive faster than anyone could type back, which is exactly the situation stories create and exactly the one nobody staffs for.

Price questions, answered once

A tattoo artist posts flash designs to stories with reply BOOK to check dates. The automation sends her booking link and her deposit terms, which is the same two things she used to type forty times a week.

A story that runs while you are on stage

A speaker posts a story from the venue: reply SLIDES and I will send the deck. She is on stage for the next ninety minutes and cannot look at her phone. The automation answers each reply with the deck link, and because the follow-up is set to four hours, the people who never opened it get one nudge that evening rather than a second message during the talk. She reads the actual conversations afterwards, in an inbox that is not 200 identical requests deep.