# HookSend

> HookSend automates Instagram direct messages and answers them with AI. A keyword comment, a story reply or a DM starts the message, and the questions that follow are answered from your own documents. Built entirely on the official Meta Graph API.

HookSend is a product of HOOKSEND SOFTWARE, based in India.
HookSend runs entirely on the official Meta Graph API as an approved Meta
Tech Provider.

## What it does

HookSend automates Instagram direct messages and answers them with AI.

A creator picks a keyword. When a follower comments that keyword on their
Instagram post or reel, HookSend sends that person a direct message within
seconds. The message can carry a product link, a discount code, a lead form, or
a scrollable set of shoppable product cards. A story reply, a story mention, a
comment on an ad or a keyword sent in a DM starts one the same way, and when the
person writes back an AI can answer from the creator's own documents.

Every feature, in full at https://hooksend.app/features:

- Comment-to-DM on posts and reels, with an optional public reply to the comment.
- Story reply and story mention automation: a DM to anyone who replies to a
  story with a keyword, reacts to it, or mentions the account in their own
  story. On every plan, including Free, and in the free trial.
- Keyword replies in DMs: an automatic answer when someone sends a keyword in a
  direct message.
- An AI chatbot for Instagram DMs: answers from the creator's own uploaded
  documents (price lists, brochures, web pages) in the customer's language,
  with tap-to-ask suggestions. It can answer every incoming DM, and it sends
  nothing when the documents do not cover a question. Knowledge bases come with
  the Business plan and above, and with the free trial.
- Conversational DM flows: built as a simple list or on a drag-and-drop canvas,
  with templates to start from. Buttons, questions that collect an email
  address, phone number, date or number, opening-hours checks, tags on people,
  photos or videos in messages, an AI step that picks the path from what the
  person wrote, and a webhook that sends every answer to a Google Sheet, Zapier
  or Make. Every step shows how many people reached it.
- Follow gate: the link goes only to people who follow the account.
- Comment Guard: hides abuse, spam and scam comments.
- An MCP connector, at https://hooksend.app/mcp, included in the 15-day free trial and
  on every paid plan, but not on the Free plan. It lets a customer run HookSend from their own AI client: Claude,
  ChatGPT, Codex, Antigravity or anything else that speaks the Model Context
  Protocol. 63 tools, covering what the dashboard does. A customer can describe a DM
  flow in words and have it built, set a campaign up on a chosen post, read
  their leads and send log, and ask which of their posts got the most reach.
  Everything it does runs through the same plan limits and the same monthly
  allowance as the dashboard. No tool deletes a campaign, a flow or a knowledge
  base, the few irreversible actions ask the person before running, and buying,
  billing and inviting colleagues refuse an AI client outright. Two ways to
  authenticate: Claude, Claude Code, Codex and Antigravity send a token the
  customer creates in Settings, while ChatGPT's connector dialog has no field
  for a token, so HookSend has been an OAuth 2.1 authorization server for that
  endpoint since 1 October 2026 — ChatGPT registers itself, the customer signs
  in and approves one workspace on a HookSend screen, and the app can be
  disconnected again in Settings.
- Video tutorials for every feature, watchable at https://hooksend.app/tutorials and on
  YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@hooksend.
- Brand collaboration offers pulled out of the inbox onto their own screen.
- Team members with owner, admin and member roles.
- Several Instagram accounts per workspace, tracked links, read-only client
  reports, and a link-in-bio storefront page.

What HookSend does not do:

- Welcome DMs to new followers. Instagram does not tell any app when someone
  follows an account, so no tool on the official API can do this.
- Scheduling or publishing posts, reels or stories.
- Broadcast DMs to followers who never commented, replied to a story,
  mentioned the account or messaged it first.

An Instagram Business or Creator account is required, because Meta permits
comment-to-DM automation only on professional accounts.

## Why HookSend will not get your account banned

HookSend is an approved Meta Tech Provider, which means Meta reviewed the
HookSend app and approved the Instagram permissions HookSend uses:
instagram_business_basic, instagram_business_manage_messages,
instagram_business_manage_comments and instagram_business_manage_insights.
Every comment HookSend reads and every direct message HookSend sends
goes through Instagram's official API.
HookSend never asks for an Instagram password, never logs in as the account
owner, and never drives a browser pretending to be the account owner.
HookSend paces sending inside Instagram's own rate limits and queues
messages rather than pushing past those limits.
A tool that signs in with an Instagram password is working outside Meta's
official API, and HookSend never signs in as the account owner.

## Pricing

Every new workspace starts with a 15-day free trial of every feature,
then moves to the Free plan automatically. No card is required. Payment
for paid plans is by card in US dollars through Dodo Payments, and by UPI in rupees for customers in India. Paid plans are monthly and do not auto-renew.

- **Free**: $0 (₹0 in India), free for good. 8,000 DMs per month, 1 Instagram account. Product carousels not included.
- **Starter**: $6 (₹99 in India)/month (normally ₹299, 67% launch discount). 20,000 DMs per month, 2 Instagram accounts. Product carousels not included.
- **Pro**: $13.99 (₹249 in India)/month (normally ₹699, 64% launch discount). 40,000 DMs per month, 3 Instagram accounts. Includes product carousels.
- **Business**: $25 (₹499 in India)/month (normally ₹1,499, 67% launch discount). 100,000 DMs per month, 6 Instagram accounts. Includes product carousels. Includes 1 knowledge bases and 1 DM flows.
- **Growth**: $32 (₹899 in India)/month (normally ₹2,499, 64% launch discount). 180,000 DMs per month, 8 Instagram accounts. Includes product carousels. Includes 3 knowledge bases and 3 DM flows.
- **Agency**: $50 (₹1,599 in India)/month (normally ₹3,999, 60% launch discount). 300,000 DMs per month, 10 Instagram accounts. Includes product carousels. Includes 10 knowledge bases and 10 DM flows.

The Free plan and every paid plan can add 3,000 extra DMs for
$5 (₹100 in India), used only after the monthly allowance runs out and valid for
30 days. Business, Growth and Agency can add knowledge bases and DM
flows for $3 (₹49 in India) each, valid for 30 days. HookSend branding stays on
every plan.

Full detail: https://hooksend.app/pricing

## How HookSend compares on price

The competitor prices here come from our own review of each company's public
pricing page in September 2026, and are not audited figures. Any of
these companies can change a price at any time.

- ManyChat: billed per active contact per month, where an active contact is anyone who engaged that month; no figure quoted here because their pricing page blocks automated reading.
- Gallabox: about ₹5,599 per month.
- Zorcha Business: $109.99 per month, read from their pricing page.
- Respond.io: about ₹15,260 per month.

The HookSend Free plan is $0 (₹0 in India) a month, and HookSend paid plans run from
$6 (₹99 in India) to $50 (₹1,599 in India) a month.

## Pages

- [Instagram DM automation alternatives, compared with dated prices](https://hooksend.app/alternatives): Every Instagram DM automation tool we could verify, side by side: what each free tier really gives, what the paid plans cost, and the date each figure was read from the vendor's own page.
- [Free Instagram DM tool: 8,000 DMs a month, no card, no expiry](https://hooksend.app/free-instagram-dm-tool): HookSend's free plan sends 8,000 direct messages a month on one Instagram account, with every trigger, 100 AI credits, no card and no end date. What it includes and what it does not.
- [Free Instagram comment-to-DM automation](https://hooksend.app/free-instagram-comment-to-dm): Set up comment-to-DM on the free plan: someone comments your keyword, HookSend sends the DM through the official Meta API. Six steps, no card.
- [HookSend free trial: 15 days of everything, then the free plan](https://hooksend.app/free-trial): Every feature free for 15 days with 50,000 DMs, then the account moves to the free plan rather than stopping. Nothing renews by itself and no card is taken.
- [Is Instagram DM automation free? The free tiers, dated and sourced](https://hooksend.app/is-instagram-dm-automation-free): What each Instagram DM automation tool actually gives away, read from its own pricing page and dated, including where we could not verify a figure.
- [Instagram MCP servers compared: which keep running after the chat closes](https://hooksend.app/mcp/instagram-mcp-servers-compared): Most Instagram MCP connectors make one API call while you watch. Which ones can leave a campaign, a flow or a moderation rule running afterwards, and which cannot.
- [Official Instagram API versus unofficial MCP servers](https://hooksend.app/mcp/official-api-vs-unofficial): The Instagram MCP servers on GitHub mostly want your password. HookSend uses the official Meta Graph API as an approved Meta Tech Provider. What that difference means for your account.
- [Connect Instagram to ChatGPT with the HookSend MCP server](https://hooksend.app/mcp/chatgpt): The developer-mode click path, the HookSend sign-in screen ChatGPT sends you to, what HookSend's OAuth 2.1 server implements, and what to do if your connection dialog behaves differently.
- [Connect Instagram to Codex with the HookSend MCP server](https://hooksend.app/mcp/codex): Add HookSend to Codex with one entry in config.toml and run your Instagram campaigns, flows and moderation from the command line.
- [HookSend MCP: run your Instagram automation from your AI](https://hooksend.app/mcp): Connect HookSend to Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Antigravity or any MCP client and run your Instagram automation by asking: build a DM flow by describing it, set up campaigns, read your leads and see which post performed best.
- [HookSend tutorials: every feature, on video](https://hooksend.app/tutorials): Every HookSend walkthrough in one place: comment-to-DM campaigns, Comment Guard, AI answers from your own FAQ, DM flows, brand deals and the shoppable storefront.
- [HookSend — Instagram DM automation, answered by AI](https://hooksend.app): Product overview: what starts a DM, what the AI answers from your own documents, and why all of it runs on the official Meta Graph API.
- [Everything HookSend does](https://hooksend.app/features): Every feature in plain sentences: all six triggers, from comments on posts and reels through story replies, story mentions and keyword DMs to Instagram Live comments and click-to-DM ads, an AI chatbot that answers DMs from your own documents, conversational DM flows, the follow gate, product cards, Comment Guard, brand collaborations read out of your inbox, answering comments left before the campaign existed, the MCP connector, team roles, several Instagram accounts and tracked links. Also what HookSend does not do: welcome DMs to new followers, post scheduling and broadcasts.
- [AI features](https://hooksend.app/ai-features): Every AI capability in HookSend, with demos that run in the page: answers written from your own uploaded documents in the language people write in, AI comment moderation you set the confidence line for, brand collaborations pulled out of a busy inbox with their terms read, an AI step and AI routing inside DM flows, AI-written message variations and campaign copy, and the MCP connector that lets Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex or Antigravity run the whole thing for you.
- [Answer every DM from your own documents](https://hooksend.app/ai-features/knowledge): Upload a price list, brochure or web page and HookSend answers Instagram DMs from it, in the language the question was asked in, with tap suggestions drawn from the same documents. Nothing is sent when the documents do not cover the question.
- [Never miss a brand collaboration](https://hooksend.app/ai-features/collabs): Paid and barter collaboration offers are read out of the Instagram inbox as they arrive and listed on their own screen with the terms offered. The AI never replies to one, because a collaboration is a negotiation.
- [AI comment moderation for Instagram](https://hooksend.app/ai-features/comment-guard): Comment Guard hides abuse, scam links and follower-selling spam under Instagram posts within seconds, keeps real questions visible, archives everything it hides, and can run in watch-only mode first.
- [DM flows and giveaways](https://hooksend.app/ai-features/flows): Build an Instagram DM flow that asks for an email, then a phone number, then sends a link, saving every answer against the person and counting every link button tap.
- [Pricing](https://hooksend.app/pricing): A Free plan and 5 paid plans, with a 15-day free trial of every feature: monthly DM allowances, Instagram account limits, AI credit allowances, knowledge bases and DM flows, extra DMs, and which features each plan includes.
- [Affiliate & referral programme](https://hooksend.app/affiliate-program): Earn up to 30% commission for 12 months on every customer you refer, across four tiers, open worldwide. Take it as instant credit against your own plan, or as cash by UPI in India or Binance Pay elsewhere, arranged with you directly. The people you refer get 50% off their first month.
- [How AI credits work](https://hooksend.app/ai-credits): What a HookSend AI credit is, what each AI action costs, how many credits each plan includes, how to top up, and how long credits last.
- [Automation templates](https://hooksend.app/templates): Ready-made comment-to-DM campaigns for common cases: product links, lead capture, course delivery, bookings.
- [Blog](https://hooksend.app/blog): Posts on what Meta permits for Instagram DM automation, the documented rate limits and messaging windows, what the tools in this category really cost, and how to set comment-to-DM up without getting an account flagged.
- [Frequently asked questions](https://hooksend.app/faq): Answers on how the automation works, Meta API limits, account safety, where in the world HookSend can be used, billing and cancellation.
- [Instagram comment-to-DM templates](https://hooksend.app/instagram-comment-to-dm-templates): Template library for turning comment keywords into DMs.
- [For agencies](https://hooksend.app/instagram-dm-automation-agencies): Running comment-to-DM automation across multiple client Instagram accounts from one workspace.
- [ManyChat alternative](https://hooksend.app/manychat-alternative): How HookSend compares to ManyChat for Instagram comment-to-DM automation.
- [Comment link automation](https://hooksend.app/comment-link-automation): Sending a link by DM when someone comments on a post or reel.
- [About](https://hooksend.app/about): Who builds HookSend, what it does, and how it works with Instagram's official API.
- [Contact](https://hooksend.app/contact): How to reach support, billing and the company.
- [Refund and cancellation policy](https://hooksend.app/refund-policy): Refunds within 24 hours of payment if nothing from the purchase has been used, how to ask for one, and what happens when a plan ends.
- [Terms of service](https://hooksend.app/terms): The agreement for using HookSend, including Instagram messaging rules, acceptable use, payments and refunds.
- [Privacy policy](https://hooksend.app/privacy): What data HookSend collects, including Instagram data from Meta, why, who processes it, how long it is kept and how it is protected.
- [Data deletion instructions](https://hooksend.app/data-deletion): How to remove HookSend from Instagram, delete your HookSend account and data, and ask for the rest to be deleted through a support ticket.

## Blog

Reference articles on how Instagram DM automation works, what Meta documents,
and what the tools in this category charge. Each one names its sources and the
date they were read. Listed here because they are the pages on this site most
worth quoting: they carry figures from Meta's own documentation that most of
this category reports incorrectly.

- [How to hide spam comments on Instagram, by hand and automatically](https://hooksend.app/blog/hide-spam-comments-instagram): Instagram's Hidden Words filter hides comments containing words you list. How to set it up, what it misses, and how to hide spam and scam comments automatically.
- [An Instagram AI chatbot that answers DMs from your own documents](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-ai-dm-chatbot-own-documents): Upload your FAQ, price list or policy page and AI answers Instagram DMs from it, in the language people write in, and says so when your documents do not cover it.
- [Instagram DM flows: how to build a conversation people finish](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-dm-flow-builder): A DM flow is a conversation you build once and the software replays one reply at a time. How to design one people finish, every step available, and the caps.
- [How to find the brand deals hiding in your Instagram DMs](https://hooksend.app/blog/find-brand-deals-instagram-dms): Paid offers get buried under hi and price? messages in your requests folder. The words to search for, the ones that fail, and how to spot the pay-a-fee scams.
- [Instagram bio link shop: how to turn one link into a page that sells](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-bio-link-shop): Instagram gives you one link. What decides whether the tap becomes a sale is the page behind it. What belongs on a shoppable bio page, in what order, and why.
- [Connect Instagram to Claude: running your DM automation from an AI client](https://hooksend.app/blog/connect-instagram-to-claude-mcp): Create a token, paste one address into Claude, Codex or any MCP client, and run HookSend by asking. What MCP is, what it can do, and what it refuses.
- [Is Instagram DM automation safe? What Meta actually allows in 2026](https://hooksend.app/blog/is-instagram-dm-automation-safe): Automating Instagram DMs is allowed when it runs on Meta's official API. Here is the line between an approved tool and one that gets accounts restricted.
- [Instagram DM rate limits in 2026: every documented cap in one table](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-dm-rate-limits): Meta documents 750 private replies an hour, not 200. Every published Instagram messaging limit, where the wrong number came from, and what happens at the cap.
- [Will Instagram ban you for automation? What actually gets accounts restricted](https://hooksend.app/blog/will-instagram-ban-you-for-automation): Instagram does not restrict accounts for automation as a category. It acts on behaviour it can observe, so here is each mechanism and the risk it carries.
- [What is a Meta Tech Provider, and how to check a tool actually is one](https://hooksend.app/blog/what-is-a-meta-tech-provider): A Meta Tech Provider is a verified business allowed to access other businesses' data through Meta's APIs. Here is the programme, and how to check any tool.
- [Instagram automation rules in 2026: what is allowed and what is not](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-automation-rules-2026): A reference list of what Instagram automation Meta permits, what it does not, and every documented limit, with each rule tied to the API mechanism behind it.
- ["We suspect automated behaviour": what the flag means and how to clear it](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-automated-behaviour-flag): Instagram flagged your account for automated behaviour. Stop the action that caused it, remove anything holding your password, and leave the account alone.
- [The Instagram private reply API, explained without the jargon](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-private-reply-api): A private reply is the one DM Instagram lets you send to somebody who commented. How the call works, why an ordinary DM cannot do it, and the limits on it.
- [Instagram's 24-hour messaging window: what you can send, and when you cannot](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-24-hour-messaging-window): Instagram gives you 24 hours from somebody's last message to reply through the API. What opens the window, what the human agent tag changes, and the limits.
- [Comment-to-DM not sending? The causes ranked by how often they actually happen](https://hooksend.app/blog/comment-to-dm-not-working): Instagram comment-to-DM not working? Start with the log row. The keyword, the post, the token, the queue and the one-DM-per-comment rule, each with its fix.
- [How to set up Instagram comment-to-DM automation, step by step](https://hooksend.app/blog/how-to-set-up-comment-to-dm): Switch to a professional account, connect through Meta, pick the post and a keyword, write the DM, go live. A walkthrough with the settings that matter.
- [Instagram keyword triggers: picking words that convert, and the ones that backfire](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-keyword-triggers): How Instagram keyword matching really works: case, whole words, emoji and punctuation. Then which trigger words earn DMs and which collide with real comments.
- [Instagram story reply and mention automation: setup, triggers and the hard limits](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-story-reply-automation): Story replies and mentions can trigger an automatic DM on every plan, the free one included. How the trigger differs from comment-to-DM, and what a story campaign cannot include.
- [Comment-to-DM vs link in bio: which actually converts, and when each one wins](https://hooksend.app/blog/comment-to-dm-vs-link-in-bio): Comment-to-DM wins on a post with one specific offer. A link in bio wins for evergreen destinations and profile visitors. How to pick, and when to run both.
- [How to deliver a lead magnet and capture emails inside Instagram DMs](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-lead-magnet-automation): A lead magnet can be delivered and an email captured inside one Instagram DM thread. Here is the build, the wording that keeps conversion, and the consent part.
- [Instagram DM automation for coaches and course creators: flows that book calls](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-dm-automation-for-coaches): Four DM flows coaches can build: qualify before booking, deliver a resource, capture a cohort waitlist, answer pricing at 3am. What automation cannot do too.
- [ManyChat pricing in 2026: what active contacts actually cost you](https://hooksend.app/blog/manychat-pricing): ManyChat bills on active contacts, and an active contact is anyone who engaged that month. What that means for a viral post, and what happens when you go over.
- [Which Instagram automation triggers actually work, and which ones cannot](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-automation-triggers): Meta documents 15 Instagram webhook fields and none of them fires on a new follower. Here is every real trigger, and what a tool is doing when it offers one that is not.
- [Does comment-to-DM automation hurt your reach?](https://hooksend.app/blog/does-comment-to-dm-hurt-reach): Instagram names comments as a ranking signal and says nothing about automation. What that does and does not tell you, and how to test it on your own account.
- [Instagram DM automation tools compared: what nine of them actually charge](https://hooksend.app/blog/instagram-dm-automation-tools-compared): Nine tools, every price read off the vendor's own page in September 2026. The billing models differ more than the prices, and that is what decides your bill.
- [ManyChat alternatives in India: what each one really costs in rupees](https://hooksend.app/blog/manychat-alternatives-india): Indian Instagram DM tools start at ₹99 a month. Every price here was read off the vendor's own page, with the GST, revenue shares and hourly caps included.

## Optional

- [Full site content](https://hooksend.app/llms-full.txt): every page's detail, the full
  FAQ and the complete plan comparison, in one file.
- [Sitemap](https://hooksend.app/sitemap.xml)

## Contact

- Support: support@hooksend.app
- Billing: billing@hooksend.app