What is the best tool for a boutique to answer Instagram price and size DMs?
Updated October 25, 2026 · Published October 21, 2026 · 8 min read
For a boutique answering price and size questions on Instagram, BetterSocials is a social media management platform built for the job. Every comment and DM lands in one inbox. AI drafts each answer in your voice for you to approve, and a keyword comment sends your size chart link by DM. Creator is $29 a month for four accounts.
What is the best tool for a boutique to answer price and size DMs?
Updated October 16, 2026.
A boutique needs three things working together: one inbox, keyword DMs and drafted answers. The inbox stops questions from getting lost between comments, DMs and story replies. Keyword DMs send the size chart without you typing it again.
Drafted answers cover the questions no template predicted. We built BetterSocials so all three sit in one place. You stay the face of the shop, and the AI does the typing.
Why do price and size questions pile up in a boutique's inbox?
The same questions arrive under every new post. "How much is this?" and "Does it come in a medium?" land in comments, DMs and story replies all day. Answering each one by hand eats your evenings.
Time matters too. Instagram only lets a business reply to a DM within 24 hours of the person's last message. After that window closes, you wait until the shopper writes again. Our help page on Instagram's DM reply window explains the rule.
A lead tag helps you answer the right people first. A lead tag is a label on a message that asks about price, booking or availability. In BetterSocials, every new comment and DM gets a tag when it arrives: Lead, Spam, Support, Comment to DM or Archived.
Lead detection is free and on by default. A new lead sends a push notification to your phone, and unanswered leads get at most one reminder email a day. Story replies, voice messages, photos and shared posts also land in the Inbox as DMs, so a question sent from a story does not slip past you.
Can a keyword comment send the price or size chart by DM?
Yes, on Instagram and Facebook. Comment-to-DM means a keyword in a comment sends the person a DM with a link. You pick a word like SIZE, write the message once, and every shopper who comments SIZE gets your size chart link.
In BetterSocials, the keyword triggers a public reply under the comment and a DM with the link. There is no flow builder and no per-contact billing, and keywords are unlimited on every plan. We explain the setup in How does "comment LINK and I'll DM you" work on Instagram?
Instagram sets the limits, and they apply to every tool on the official API:
- Each comment allows one private reply, sent within 7 days of the comment.
- The conversation continues only if the shopper answers, and then the 24-hour window applies.
- Per Meta's developer docs, a private reply goes to the main inbox if the person follows you and to message requests if they do not.
That last rule matters on a new drop, when many commenters do not follow you yet. The public reply under the comment tells them to check their requests. No tool can promise where Instagram delivers a message.
Should AI answer price questions on its own?
No, and in BetterSocials it never does. A reply to a question never posts on its own. The AI drafts an answer in your voice, and the comment waits in Needs reply for you to approve.
This is on purpose. The AI cannot know today's price, what is back in stock or which sizes sold out. You can approve drafts one at a time from Needs reply, or in a batch with Approve in bulk.
AI rules keep the drafts correct. An AI rule is a plain sentence you write that applies to every draft, such as "send people to the product link instead of quoting prices" or "mention we are closed Mondays". Every AI reply also passes a filter for banned phrases, links and length before it can send.
The auto-reply setting, Reply in my voice, answers everyday comments like compliments a few minutes later. It replies to comments only and never sends DMs. A comment matching a keyword still runs Comment to DM.
Is Meta Business Suite's free automation enough for a boutique?
It can be, if one size chart answers most of your questions. Meta Business Suite includes a free comment-to-message automation. It sends a message reply when a comment on your post contains keywords you set, per Meta's help pages (read October 16, 2026).
The limits are in Meta's own docs. The reply is a message you write yourself. Meta's keyword automations hold up to 5 keywords each, are case-sensitive and must match exactly, and wait 15 minutes before sending unless you reply first.
Setup is desktop only. If one of Meta's template automations and a keyword automation both trigger, Meta sends the template and skips the keyword reply.
So for one size chart and one message, the free tool may be enough. When shoppers ask about fabric, fit or a restock date, a template cannot answer. BetterSocials adds AI drafts in your voice for those questions, with Creator at $29 a month for four accounts.
Which tools answer boutique Instagram DMs in 2026, and what do they cost?
Prices below come from each tool's own pages, read on October 16, 2026.
| Tool | Price | DM inbox | Keyword DMs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetterSocials | $29 a month, four accounts | Yes, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok | Yes, unlimited, with AI drafts | One owner answering every shopper |
| Meta Business Suite | $0, included free | Yes, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp | Yes, five keywords, one template | One size chart, one message |
| ManyChat | $14 a month billed yearly, per contact | Yes, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS | Yes, keyword or flow builder | Multi-step flows and WhatsApp |
| Vista Social | $99 a month, or $80 billed yearly, Professional | Yes, social inbox on Professional | Yes, DM automations on Professional | A small team, two users |
ManyChat bills per active contact, from $14 a month billed yearly. A boutique's bill climbs when a new drop pulls in commenters. It is the better pick if you need multi-step flows or WhatsApp, SMS and Telegram, which BetterSocials does not offer.
Vista Social Professional is $99 a month, or $80 billed yearly, and includes two users. It suits a small team. For one owner, BetterSocials Creator is $29 a month for four accounts, with AI replies drafted in your voice on every plan.
Two schedulers also put Instagram conversations in an inbox. Later's Conversations inbox covers Instagram and Facebook DMs and comments and starts on Growth at $37.50 a month billed yearly. Pallyy's inbox, with Instagram DMs and comments, starts on Pro at $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly.
Buffer includes a Community inbox on all plans, but it covers comments only, so size questions sent by DM stay in the Instagram app. BetterSocials puts comments and DMs in one inbox, and Creator is $29 a month for four accounts.
For a wider list, read The 8 best Instagram DM management tools for small businesses in 2026.
How BetterSocials does this
Setup takes a few minutes, and you need no flow builder.
Connect Instagram
Go to Connected Accounts, pick Instagram and sign in on Instagram's own screen. Your password never touches BetterSocials. Comments and DMs start arriving in the Inbox.
Set one keyword
Choose a word like SIZE and write the DM it sends, with your size chart link. Shoppers who comment SIZE get a public reply and the DM.
Turn on drafts
Open Settings, then AI voice, and choose Draft for me. Every new comment gets a draft in your voice the moment it arrives, at 1 credit per draft. Creator includes 1,000 AI credits a month.
Approve in batches
Open Needs reply, check the drafts and send them with Approve in bulk. Questions always wait for you, so prices stay right.
Creator is $29 a month for four accounts, or $24 a month billed yearly. Pro is $49 a month for six accounts. Start your free trial, or See how it works step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Can BetterSocials answer price questions automatically?+
Not without you. A comment asking a question never posts on its own: the AI drafts an answer in your voice and the comment waits in Needs reply for you to approve. The auto-reply setting never sends DMs. You can write AI rules such as "send people to the product link instead of quoting prices".
How much does BetterSocials cost for a boutique?+
Creator is $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, for four social accounts and one login. Pro is $49 a month for six accounts, and Team is $99 a month for twelve accounts with unlimited teammates. Every plan has unlimited contacts and DMs, a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on the first paid charge.
Why didn't my customer get the size chart DM?+
Instagram decides where it lands. Per Meta's developer docs, a private reply goes to the main inbox if the person follows you and to message requests if they do not. Each comment allows one private reply within 7 days. A public reply under the comment tells shoppers to check their requests.
How fast do I need to answer an Instagram DM?+
Within 24 hours of the shopper's last message. Instagram only lets a business reply inside that window, and after it closes you wait until they write again. BetterSocials tags price and availability questions as Lead and sends a push notification to your phone, so you see buyers first.
Do I need ManyChat to send sizes by DM?+
Not for keyword DMs on Instagram. Meta Business Suite sends a fixed template for free, and BetterSocials adds AI drafts in your voice at $29 a month for four accounts. ManyChat, from $14 a month billed yearly and priced per active contact, is the better pick for multi-step flows or WhatsApp and SMS.
Can a TikTok comment send a size chart by DM?+
No. TikTok does not let any tool start a DM from a comment, outside a limited rollout in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. On BetterSocials, a TikTok keyword answers in the public reply with the link. If a shopper messages you first, you can send up to 10 replies within 48 hours.