9 social media tools for answering comments and DMs (2026)

BetterSocials is our pick when your comments and DMs bring in customers and you want replies and posting in one tool: one inbox across six platforms, AI replies in your voice, from $29 a month for four accounts. Buffer is the cheaper choice when the job is mostly scheduling. ManyChat fits a team building multi-step DM funnels.

Which job are you buying a social media tool for?

BetterSocials, Buffer and ManyChat each do a different job, and that's how we sorted this list. Some tools schedule posts. Some answer the comments and DMs those posts bring back. A few do both behind one login.

A unified inbox is one screen that collects the comments and DMs from every connected account. It matters most when a DM is where someone asks for a price or a booking.

Speed matters there. Instagram only lets a business reply to a DM within 24 hours of the person's last message, and after that the conversation is closed until they write again.

The nine tools below run from replies and posting together, through scheduling-first, to DM automation. Each gets a "best for" line, a price with its billing period, and the point where it stops.

How we sorted the nine tools

Each tool on this list, from BetterSocials to ManyChat, was checked against the same questions:

• Which platforms reach the inbox, and whether that means DMs or comments only.
• Whether AI drafts replies, and whether you approve them before they send.
• Whether a keyword in a comment can send the person a link by DM.
• What it costs at a matching number of accounts, users or contacts.

Each price below carries its billing period and the month it was seen. Where a vendor lists monthly and yearly billing, you get both figures.

BetterSocials: best for replies and posting in one tool

BetterSocials is best for local businesses and creators whose comments and DMs bring in customers. It puts comments from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages in one inbox, along with Instagram, Facebook and TikTok DMs. It also schedules posts to all six platforms.

The AI drafts replies in the owner's voice, from a voice profile built on past replies plus AI rules the owner writes, such as prices, hours and a booking link. On Draft for me, nothing posts until you approve it. On Reply in my voice, everyday comments get an answer 1 to 5 minutes later, and a DM gets one about a minute after it arrives.

Questions your AI rules don't cover wait for you in Needs reply. A keyword in an Instagram or Facebook comment sends the person a DM with your link, with no flow builder. On TikTok and YouTube no tool can turn a comment into a private DM, so there, and on Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages, the keyword posts a public reply with the link.

Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts, one login and 1,000 AI credits a month. Pro is $49, or $39 yearly, for six accounts. Team is $99, or $79 yearly, for twelve accounts and unlimited teammates. Every plan has unlimited contacts and a 7-day free trial with a card required. It doesn't cover WhatsApp, email inboxes, X or SMS.

Buffer: best for scheduling on a small budget

Buffer is best for scheduling posts on a tight budget and answering comments by hand. Essentials costs $5 a channel a month on annual billing, as of October 2026, so four channels run $20 a month.

Buffer is cheaper than BetterSocials at four accounts: $20 a month against $24, both billed yearly. Buffer's Community inbox covers comments, YouTube comments included, on all plans. It has no DMs, so Instagram and Facebook messages stay in the phone apps.

The few dollars a month more on BetterSocials buy the DM side of the inbox, AI replies and keyword comment-to-DM. If your posts rarely get DMs, Buffer is the better spend. We set the two side by side in Buffer, BetterSocials and the per-seat schedulers: 2026 prices side by side.

Metricool: best for starting with a free inbox

Metricool is best for seeing your comments in one place before you pay anything. It has an inbox from the free plan, and it reads YouTube comments on the free tier too. LinkedIn joins the inbox on Starter, and paid plans are priced per brand.

Metricool fits when the inbox is the main need and the budget is zero. When a comment should send the person a DM with your link, BetterSocials does that from a keyword on Instagram and Facebook, with no flow builder.

Later: best for Instagram-first brands that also answer TikTok comments

Later is best for brands whose audience talks on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Its Conversations inbox covers Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook DMs and comments, and TikTok comments.

Conversations starts on Growth, at $50 a month or $37.50 billed yearly, as of September 2026. Starter is $25 a month, or $18.75 yearly. Later has no YouTube or LinkedIn conversations, so pick it when those two platforms aren't where your customers ask questions.

SocialBee: best for recycling evergreen posts

SocialBee is best for solo marketers who keep a queue full by recycling evergreen posts. Content categories sort posts into folders by topic, and SocialBee can repost top-performing or evergreen posts at a later date.

Bootstrap connects five profiles for $29 a month, as of October 2026, with one user and unlimited AI content generation. Accelerate connects ten profiles for $49 a month, and yearly billing takes 16% off either plan.

SocialBee manages comments, mentions and DMs on Facebook Pages and Instagram Business accounts. It also reads Threads, LinkedIn Company and YouTube comments. Pick it when the posting queue is the main job and replies come second.

Agorapulse: best for a team that shares one inbox

Agorapulse is best for teams that share one inbox and assign replies. It has one combined inbox on every tier, and its pricing page lists assignments, reply collision detection, saved replies, inbox labels and AI reply suggestions.

Agorapulse costs $79 per user a month on annual billing, as of July 2026. Two people answering cost twice that. Pick it when several people work the inbox and need to see who is answering what.

Hootsuite: best for larger teams already paying per user

Hootsuite is best for larger teams that already budget per user. Its inbox comes with Standard, at $99 per user a month billed annually, as of October 2026. Three people cost three times that.

Hootsuite's inbox does not include YouTube comments, so YouTube stays publishing and analytics there. Pick it when YouTube replies aren't part of the job.

Sprout Social: best for companies with a social team

Sprout Social is best for companies with a dedicated social team and the budget for it. Its consolidated inbox starts on Standard at $199 per seat a month, billed annually, as of October 2026.

A two-person team on Sprout Social pays double that, close to four hundred dollars a month. Pick it when the team and the reporting needs are already there.

ManyChat: best for multi-step DM funnels

ManyChat is best for building multi-step DM funnels in a flow builder. It works on Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and TikTok. Pro is $39 a month with 2,500 active contacts, billed monthly, as of October 2026, and each extra contact costs $0.05.

ManyChat's bill follows your audience. A Pro account that reaches 4,000 people in a month pays $39 plus $0.05 for every contact past 2,500, a little over a hundred dollars. ManyChat has no YouTube and leaves posting to a separate tool, so it sits beside a scheduler. Pick it when WhatsApp or a multi-step sequence is the job.

How the nine tools compare on price and inbox

BetterSocials and the other eight are shown below at the plan where each one's inbox or automation starts. Prices are monthly unless marked yearly, as of September and October 2026, and Agorapulse as of July 2026.

At six accounts on annual billing, Buffer runs $30 a month and BetterSocials Pro $39. Buffer stays cheaper, and the difference buys DMs, AI replies and keyword comment-to-DM. The per-user tools cost more with each person you add, and ManyChat costs more with each contact past 2,500.

For the inbox plan on each scheduler in more depth, see What a comment and DM inbox costs on each social media scheduler in 2026.

Pick BetterSocials if your comments and DMs bring in customers and you want them in one inbox with AI replies in your voice. Pick Buffer if you mostly schedule, Metricool to start free, and ManyChat for multi-step funnels or WhatsApp.