How to write AI reply rules for prices, hours and bookings
Write your prices, hours and booking link as AI rules, and an AI reply tool answers Instagram comments and DMs from them. What each tool costs in 2026.
By Growth Ops Weekly staff9 min read
You can set up an AI reply tool to answer Instagram comments and DMs from your own prices, hours and booking link this week. You write those facts as AI rules, run the tool in a draft mode until the answers sound right, then let it answer questions on its own.
BetterSocials is best for answering from plain written rules across six platforms at a flat price for a set number of accounts. Manychat is best for multi-step flows and WhatsApp. Meta Business Suite is best for one free template sent when a comment contains your keyword.
The short version: rules in, answers out
In BetterSocials, you type your prices, hours and booking link as AI rules, and the AI drafts answers in your voice from them. It holds every answer for your approval, or sends answers itself once you turn on Answer questions too. Questions your rules don't cover wait for you in Needs reply.
An AI rule is a plain sentence of fact or instruction that the AI follows on every reply. BetterSocials applies them to every draft and automatic reply, on comments and DMs. A salon's first three rules could read like this:
- Mention we are closed Mondays.
- Give the price from these rules when someone asks how much.
- Send people to the booking link when they ask about appointments.
Some owners write "never quote prices, send people to the booking link" instead. Links you write into your rules, such as a booking link, survive the filter that strips links where platforms punish them.
Set it up in four steps this week
BetterSocials keeps the whole setup on one page, Settings, then AI voice, and the steps run in this order.
Step 1: write the rules
Open Settings, then AI voice, and find Rules just above the Your voice box. Write one fact per line: hours, price handling and your booking link. Then paste a handful of replies you've written into Your voice, or describe your tone, so drafts sound like you.
Step 2: start on Draft for me
The AI replies card has two sections, Comments and DMs, and each has three settings: Off, Draft for me and Reply in my voice. Pick Draft for me for both, and every new comment or DM gets a draft in your voice the moment it arrives, and nothing posts until you approve it. Comment drafts can go out together with Approve in bulk.
Step 3: move to Reply in my voice
When the drafts read like you, switch to Reply in my voice. Everyday comments, such as compliments and feedback, get an answer under the comment 1 to 5 minutes later. A DM gets an answer about a minute after it arrives.
Step 4: turn on Answer questions too
Questions still wait in Needs reply until you turn on Answer questions too. That switch only turns on once you've written at least one AI rule, so the AI answers from your facts. When your rules don't cover what someone asked, such as a size or an order detail, the AI doesn't guess and the message waits for you.
Treat each question that lands in Needs reply as a rule you haven't written yet. Answer it, add the rule, and the AI handles that question next time.
Which tools take your own instructions, and what each costs
Manychat, Chatfuel, InstantDM and BetterSocials all sell automated or AI replies, and each bills for them in a different way.
Manychat's AI features start on Pro, which is $39 a month for 2,500 active contacts, then $0.05 per extra contact, billed monthly, as of October 2026. Its AI Comments feature is listed for Instagram only, in beta. Pick Manychat for multi-step flows or WhatsApp.
Chatfuel bills by usage on top of its plan: one bot reply at its recommended quality costs US$0.0093, as of October 2026. Its Business S plan is shown at US$18 and US$20 a month on its pricing page.
InstantDM has the lowest paid prices here, with a free tier of 500 credits a month and paid plans at $9.99 and $24.99, as of September 2026. It covers Instagram and Facebook, and its AI agents run on ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
BetterSocials Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts and one login, with unlimited contacts and 1,000 AI credits a month. Each AI reply or draft uses one credit, and when credits run out the AI pauses instead of charging more. Pro is $49 a month, or $39 billed yearly, for six accounts and 2,000 credits.
InstantDM and Chatfuel cost less at small volumes. What BetterSocials adds is comments and DMs from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, plus comments from YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages, in one Inbox under one set of rules.
A DM receptionist inside Instagram's 24-hour window
BetterSocials has answered Instagram, Facebook and TikTok DMs with AI since October 23, 2026, from the same rules it uses on comments. That makes it a basic DM receptionist: with Answer questions too on, someone asks whether you're open Sunday and gets your hours about a minute later.
A business can only reply through an app within 24 hours of the person's last message, and every new message restarts the clock. Past that, BetterSocials and most other tools can't send a DM, though you can still answer in the Instagram app.
Two limits keep a person in the loop. After five AI replies in one conversation in a day, the rest wait for you, and story replies and voice notes get no AI reply.
On TikTok, DMs are reply-only, with at most 10 replies within 48 hours of the person's last message, and apps can answer them only for accounts outside the UK and Europe.
Meta Business Suite's free automation, and where it stops
Meta Business Suite is free and can send a message reply when a comment on your post contains keywords you set. For one fixed answer to one predicted word, it does the job. Setup is on desktop, each automation takes up to 5 case-sensitive keywords, and it waits 15 minutes before sending unless you reply first.
The message is a fixed template you write yourself, with no AI drafting. A customer who types "open Sunday" instead of your keyword gets nothing back.
Meta Business Agent pauses your existing automations when you turn it on, rather than upgrading them. Instagram's AI Auto Replies answer messages from a knowledge base you assemble, are mobile-app only and are "being gradually introduced," and Meta warns that "messages generated by AI may not be accurate or appropriate" (help.instagram.com, checked July 2026).
The Instagram API rules every tool works inside
Instagram's official API sets the same limits for Manychat, BetterSocials and every other approved tool. Meta's private replies documentation states: "Only one message can be sent to the Instagram user who commented. The message must be sent within 7 days from when the comment was created." After that, the conversation continues inside the 24-hour window only once the person writes back.
Public comment replies have no time limit. A private reply lands in the person's Inbox folder if they follow you, and in their Request folder if they don't. Meta caps private replies to comments at 750 calls per hour per professional account (Graph API rate limiting docs, checked July 2026).
So the difference between tools is what writes the answer. A keyword trigger sends what you wrote in advance, and AI rules answer the question the customer asked.
The monthly bill for a salon with four accounts
Manychat Pro and BetterSocials price the same salon in different ways, because Manychat meters contacts and BetterSocials meters AI writing. Take a salon with four accounts and 3,000 people a month who comment or message. The sums below use the prices above, as of October 2026, at monthly billing.
| Plan | Included | Worked sum | Monthly bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manychat Pro | 2,500 active contacts | $39 + 500 x $0.05 | Sixty-four dollars |
| BetterSocials Creator | 4 accounts, 1,000 AI credits | Flat price | $29 |
| BetterSocials Pro | 6 accounts, 2,000 AI credits | Flat price | $49 |
| BetterSocials Team | 12 accounts, 4,000 AI credits | Flat price | $99 |
Creator is the cheapest bill, at $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, with unlimited contacts. Its 1,000 credits cover 1,000 AI replies, though, and after that the AI pauses and you answer the rest yourself.
If the AI has to answer all 3,000 people, Team's 4,000 credits fit at $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly, and Manychat Pro's contact bill comes in lower at that volume, before any extra charge for AI. What Team's extra money buys is twelve accounts, unlimited teammates and AI answers from your rules across six platforms. Demand Memo prices what a chatbot, a scheduler and an AI manager cost a small business in 2026.
How BetterSocials handles it end to end
BetterSocials puts comments and DMs from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, and comments from YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages, into one Inbox. Rules live in Settings, then AI voice, and apply to every draft and automatic reply.
Keyword comment-to-DM is separate from AI replies. A keyword in an Instagram or Facebook comment sends the person a DM with your link, and on TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages the keyword posts a public reply with the link instead.
Plans run from Creator at $29 a month for four accounts to Team at $99 a month for twelve, and every plan has a 7-day free trial with a card required. For the rest of the field, see our list of 10 Instagram DM tools for small businesses in 2026: our pick, then by price.
FAQ
These answers cover BetterSocials, Manychat and Meta, as of October 2026.
Can AI reply to Instagram comments through Meta's official API?
Yes. Meta built an approved API so tools can answer comments and DMs for a business, and it publishes rate limits for tools that use it. A tool on that API can post public replies with no time limit and send one private reply per comment within 7 days. Bots that log in with your password break the rules.
Does Meta Business Suite answer DMs with my prices automatically?
Only with a fixed template you write. Meta Business Suite is free and sends that template when a comment contains one of your keywords, up to 5 case-sensitive keywords per automation, and it can wait 15 minutes first. It sends the template with no AI drafting, so a question phrased in a way you didn't predict gets no answer.
How much does an AI comment reply tool cost in 2026?
Manychat Pro is $39 a month for 2,500 active contacts, then $0.05 per extra contact, billed monthly. BetterSocials Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts with unlimited contacts and 1,000 AI credits. Every BetterSocials plan has a 7-day free trial.
Can I give the AI custom instructions for TikTok and Facebook comments too?
Yes. In BetterSocials, the AI rules you write apply to every draft and automatic reply on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Page comments. DMs on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok follow the same rules. TikTok only lets apps answer DMs for accounts outside the UK and Europe, and only as replies.
What happens when a customer asks something my rules don't cover?
The AI doesn't guess. If your rules don't cover what someone asked, such as a price you haven't listed or an order detail, the comment or DM waits for you in Needs reply. You answer it yourself, and you can add a rule so the AI handles that question next time.
Can the AI send my booking link in a reply?
Yes. The BetterSocials reply filter strips links where platforms punish them, but keeps links you write into your own AI rules, such as a booking link. On Instagram and Facebook, a keyword comment can also send the link straight to the person's DMs.
Does Manychat's AI answer Instagram comments?
Manychat lists AI Comments for Instagram only, in beta, and its AI features start on Pro. Pick Manychat if you need multi-step flows or WhatsApp, and pick BetterSocials if you want AI answers from written rules across six platforms at a flat price for four, six or twelve accounts.