What a comment and DM inbox costs on each social media scheduler in 2026
Which social media schedulers include an inbox for comments and DMs? Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Agorapulse, Buffer and BetterSocials, by plan and price.
By Stack & Funnel staff9 min read
Nine of the ten tools we priced put comments and DMs, the private direct messages people send your accounts, in one inbox. If those comments and DMs bring in customers, BetterSocials is our pick, with AI replies in your voice, from $29 a month for four accounts and one login, or $24 a month billed yearly. Metricool and Meta Business Suite have free inboxes, and Buffer's inbox holds comments only.
As of October 2026, Hootsuite's inbox starts at $99 per user a month and Sprout Social's at $199 per seat, both billed annually, and Agorapulse listed $79 per user a month on annual billing on July 27, 2026. Once a second person needs the inbox, the gap between per-seat and flat pricing is where your bill moves most.
Where each inbox starts, and what the plan costs
Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Agorapulse charge per person, Buffer charges per channel, and Later, Pallyy, Vista Social and BetterSocials sell plans. We took the cost question for this piece: what you pay for the inbox at the plan where it starts, and what that bill becomes for a team of two. Each one replaces the same chore: opening every platform's own app to answer people.
The table shows the plan where each inbox starts and its price as of October 2026, except Agorapulse, read July 27, 2026, and Later's monthly price, read September 30, 2026. Meta Business Suite's price comes from Meta's help center.
| Tool | Inbox starts on | Price a month | Inbox holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetterSocials | Creator | $24 billed yearly, $29 monthly | Comments and DMs |
| Hootsuite | Standard | $99 per user, billed yearly | Comments and DMs |
| Sprout Social | Standard | $199 per seat, billed yearly | Comments and DMs |
| Agorapulse | Every tier | $79 per user, billed yearly | Comments and DMs |
| Buffer | Every plan | $5 per channel, billed yearly | Comments only |
| Later | Growth | $37.50 billed yearly, $50 monthly | Comments and DMs |
| Metricool | Free plan | $0 | Comments and DMs |
| Pallyy | Pro | $20 billed yearly, $25 monthly | Comments, DMs and Google reviews |
| Vista Social | Professional | $80 billed yearly, $99 monthly | Comments and DMs |
| Meta Business Suite | Free plan | $0 | Comments, DMs and WhatsApp |
Metricool's paid Starter plan is $20 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly for five brands, per its pricing page. Vista Social Professional includes two users. BetterSocials Creator covers four accounts and one login, and Pro is $49 a month, or $39 billed yearly, for six accounts.
Which scheduler inboxes hold DMs and which hold comments only
Buffer's Community inbox covers comments on your posts, on every plan, so Instagram and Facebook DMs stay in each phone app. That's the one row in the table where the phone apps don't go away. Every other tool moves DMs into the same screen as comments.
Later's Conversations inbox starts on Growth. It holds Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook DMs and comments, and TikTok comments, with no YouTube or LinkedIn conversations. Pallyy's inbox, from Pro, holds Instagram and Facebook messages and comments, LinkedIn comments, TikTok comments and Google reviews.
Hootsuite's inbox, described on its social media inbox page, is priced per user for teams rather than one person. That inbox doesn't include YouTube comments. Sprout Social's consolidated inbox starts on Standard, also priced per seat.
Agorapulse has one combined inbox on every tier, and email isn't one of its channels. Metricool's inbox runs from the free plan, and LinkedIn joins it on Starter.
The best comment management tool for a small business, by need
Pick BetterSocials if your comments and DMs bring in customers. Buffer is cheaper at four channels, $20 a month on annual billing against $24 a month billed yearly for four accounts on BetterSocials Creator. The difference buys DMs in the same inbox, AI replies drafted in your voice and keyword comment-to-DM.
Meta Business Suite is the pick if every comment and DM you get comes from Facebook and Instagram, because it's free. Coverage stops at Meta's own platforms, so TikTok and YouTube comments need another tool.
Pick Buffer if you mostly schedule posts and answer a few comments by hand. Buffer is $5 a channel a month on annual billing, so the bill stays small while your channel count does.
Metricool and Pallyy suit a tight budget that still needs DMs. Metricool's inbox is free from its first plan and reads YouTube comments. Pallyy's inbox starts on Pro at $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly, and adds Google reviews.
Where BetterSocials fits in the stack
BetterSocials is the pick if you want posting and replying in one app. It schedules posts to six platforms and puts their comments, plus Instagram, Facebook and TikTok DMs, in one Inbox, with a Needs reply view for what's waiting. The platforms are Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages. New comments and DMs get tags such as Lead, so price and booking questions stand out.
With AI comment replies set to Draft for me, every new comment gets a draft in your voice. Nothing posts until you approve it, one at a time or with Approve in bulk. DMs have the same settings in their own section, so Instagram, Facebook and TikTok DMs can get drafts too, or answers that send on their own.
Creator is $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts and one login. Pro is $49, or $39 billed yearly, for six accounts, and Team is $99, or $79 billed yearly, for twelve accounts and unlimited teammates. Every plan has a 7-day free trial with a card, nothing is billed per contact, and email, X, WhatsApp, Telegram and SMS aren't connected.
Per-seat inboxes against a flat plan for a team of two
Hootsuite Standard costs 2 x $99 a month for two people, just under two hundred dollars, billed annually. Sprout Social Standard costs 2 x $199 a month for two seats, just under four hundred dollars, also billed annually. Agorapulse comes to 2 x $79 a month on annual billing, a little over a hundred and fifty dollars, at its July 27, 2026 rate.
BetterSocials Team is $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly, for twelve accounts and unlimited teammates. On yearly billing, that's $79 against just under two hundred dollars on Hootsuite for the same two people. Vista Social Professional, at $80 a month billed yearly, also includes two users.
BetterSocials Creator and Pro are one login each, so a second person means Team. Per-seat pricing fits a team that assigns conversations to each other and has a support budget. On a per-seat plan, every person you add to the inbox adds to the bill, and on a flat plan they don't.
Is Meta Business Suite enough for Instagram and Facebook comments?
Meta Business Suite is free and holds messages from Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, plus comments on your Facebook and Instagram posts, in one inbox. You only see comments from connected business assets, not from your personal profile.
WhatsApp there depends on region. It's unavailable in the UK, the European Union, the European Economic Area, Australia, Japan and several other countries, per Meta's WhatsApp help page. BetterSocials doesn't connect WhatsApp, so a team that sells over WhatsApp keeps Meta Business Suite for it.
The keyword automations send templates you write, are set up on desktop and wait 15 minutes before sending unless you reply first. Nothing from outside Meta's platforms comes in. It's enough when all your conversations happen there and a template covers what people ask.
Which scheduler inboxes cover TikTok and YouTube comments
Buffer and Metricool read YouTube comments, and BetterSocials puts YouTube comments on videos and Shorts in its inbox. CommentShark also does YouTube, with AI trained on your voice. If most of your comments come from YouTube, those four are where we'd start.
Later, Pallyy, Vista Social, Sprout Social and Hootsuite read TikTok comments, and so does BetterSocials. YouTube offers no DM API to any tool, so YouTube is comments and public replies everywhere. An API is the official connection a tool uses to read and send messages.
TikTok DMs are reply-only, because TikTok never lets a tool start a DM. A business gets at most 10 replies within 48 hours of the person's last message, and the account must be a TikTok Business account. BetterSocials holds TikTok DMs in its inbox inside those limits.
Comment-to-DM: a second subscription or part of the inbox
ManyChat sends a DM when someone comments a keyword on your post. That's comment-to-DM, and ManyChat leaves the posting to another tool. As of October 2026, Pro is $39 a month with 2,500 active contacts, then $0.05 per extra contact, billed monthly.
At 4,000 contacts, every contact past the 2,500 included adds $0.05, so the ManyChat Pro bill passes a hundred dollars a month. ManyChat works on Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and TikTok, and it has no YouTube support. Meta Business Suite's keyword automation is free for Instagram and Facebook, inside the template and delay limits above, with up to five case-sensitive keywords per automation.
On TikTok and YouTube, no tool can turn a comment into a private DM. There, and on Threads and LinkedIn Company Pages, a keyword posts a public reply with your link. BetterSocials sends keyword DMs on Instagram and Facebook with unlimited contacts on every plan, inside the tool that schedules your posts, so your stack runs one subscription where ManyChat plus a scheduler runs two.
FAQ
Which social media inbox tools fit a small business budget in 2026?
BetterSocials Creator is the pick for answering comments and DMs in one inbox with AI replies in your voice, at $29 a month, or $24 billed yearly, for four accounts. Meta Business Suite is free for Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. Metricool has an inbox from its free plan, and Starter is $20 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly. Pallyy's inbox starts on Pro at $25 a month, or $20 billed yearly.
Does Buffer's inbox include DMs?
Buffer's Community inbox covers comments only, on every plan, and it does read YouTube comments. Instagram and Facebook DMs stay in each phone app. Buffer is cheaper per channel, at $5 a channel on annual billing, so you're choosing between a lower price and DMs in the same inbox as comments.
Which Hootsuite plan includes the social inbox?
Hootsuite includes its inbox from Standard at $99 per user a month, billed annually. That inbox doesn't include YouTube comments. Two people on Standard come to just under two hundred dollars a month, so it fits a team that assigns conversations to each other, while a solo owner pays the same per-user rate.
Where does Sprout Social's inbox start, and what does it cost?
Sprout Social puts its inbox on the Standard plan at $199 per seat a month, billed annually. One seat is $199 a month and two seats come to just under four hundred dollars. That price suits a team with a support budget. For one person with six accounts, BetterSocials Pro is $49 a month, or $39 billed yearly.
Does Agorapulse include its inbox on every plan?
Agorapulse has one combined inbox on every tier, at $79 per user a month on annual billing as of July 27, 2026. Email isn't one of its channels. A team of two pays a little over a hundred and fifty dollars a month at that rate, so it fits a small team better than a solo owner.
Is there a social media inbox for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp together?
Meta Business Suite is free and holds messages from Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, plus comments on your Facebook and Instagram posts, in one inbox. WhatsApp there depends on region and is unavailable in the UK, the EU and several other countries. BetterSocials doesn't connect WhatsApp, so pick Meta Business Suite for it.
Can one inbox handle Google reviews as well as social comments?
Pallyy's inbox does, from its Pro plan at $25 a month or $20 billed yearly. It holds Instagram DMs and comments, Facebook messages and comments, LinkedIn comments, TikTok comments and Google reviews, with no YouTube. BetterSocials covers six platforms, including YouTube comments, and Google reviews aren't one of them.