# Instagram Flow Builder: Visual DM Automation > Build Instagram and Facebook Page DM automations on a visual canvas: triggers, branching questions, tracked links, waits and folders. Free to build. Use case · Visual flow builder # Draw the conversation. Reachlee runs it in your DMs. A canvas where a comment, a DM or a story reply starts a flow: a private reply, a question with a different path for each answer, a tracked link, a wait, a folder. For Instagram and Facebook Pages. Building is free on every plan; paid steps go live from $9/mo. Updated October 2026 · Human-verified [Start free ](/app/?src=seo&page=use-cases%2Finstagram-flow-builder) Built on Meta's official API · Meta-verified Tech Provider · Instagram and Facebook Pages 1Reachlee's canvas is a visual flow builder for DM automation: a When… card holds the triggers, and you connect steps such as messages, questions, tracked links, waits and folders into branches. 2It runs on Instagram and Facebook Pages through Meta's official API, inside the rules every tool has to follow: one private reply per comment, and DMs only within 24 hours of the person's last message. 3Building is free on every plan, including all seven Flow templates. Follow-ups, contact events and Facebook Pages go live on Pro ($9/mo); the Reachlee AI steps need Growth ($14/mo). ## The short answer Yes, you can build Instagram DM automations visually. In Reachlee, a canvas automation starts with a When… card (a comment, a DM keyword, a story reply, conversation starters) and continues through steps you connect: a message, a question whose answers each take their own path, a tracked link that knows if it was clicked, a wait, a folder. The same canvas works for Facebook Page comments and Messenger. ## What a flow builder adds to comment-to-DM Most DM automation is one trigger and one reply: someone comments GUIDE, they get the guide. Reachlee's Basic builder does that well, with extras like a public reply under the comment, a follow-up nudge or a product carousel. A flow builder is for the moment one reply stops being enough, when the right next message depends on what the person says or does. On the canvas you draw that conversation. The When… card on the left holds what starts it; you add steps to the right and connect their exits. Tap this button and go here. Answer B and get that link. Don't click within a day and get one reminder. Give an email and get filed into Leads. Each contact moves through the flow on their own, one run per person at a time, and every send still respects Meta's rules: after a comment the first DM is a private reply made of text and buttons, and nothing goes out more than 24 hours after the person's last message. If you have used the flow builder in [ManyChat](/vs/manychat/), the idea will feel familiar. The difference is scope and price: Reachlee keeps to the steps creators and small businesses use every day, on flat plans that don't grow with your contact list. * Start: a When… card with one or more triggers — a comment on a post or reel, a DM keyword, a story reply or mention, conversation starters, or (on Pro) a contact event such as Added to a folder. * Continue: steps from six families — Messages, Questions & links, Contacts, Logic, Reachlee AI and Integrations — plus Public reply and Start another automation. * Branch: questions, links, follow checks, contact filters, A/B splits and AI conditions each have their own exits, so different people get different next messages. What's inside ## What you can build on the canvas Every card is a step you would otherwise do by hand in the inbox. 01 ### Several triggers, one flow The When… card can hold more than one trigger, so a comment on your launch reel, the DM keyword PRICE and your conversation starters can all lead into the same steps. Comment triggers keep the options you know: a specific post, several posts, any post or your next post (the last three on Pro), keywords plus words to exclude, and a public reply under the comment. 02 ### Questions that branch Ask a question shows up to 13 tappable quick replies, and every answer gets its own exit, plus Any other reply for people who type. Ask for an email or phone checks the reply, asks once more if it isn't valid, and saves a valid one to the contact. On Growth, Understand typed replies lets Reachlee AI send 'yeah sure' down the Yes path. 03 ### Links that know if they were opened Send a link is one tracked button with two exits: Clicked, and Not clicked after the delay you choose. Wire a reminder to the second exit and only the people who didn't open it hear from you again. Timed exits and the Wait step count as follow-ups, so they go live on Pro, exactly as in the Basic builder. 04 ### Contact events can start a flow On Pro, a flow can start from what happens to a contact instead of what they send: New contact, Added to or Removed from a folder, Clicked a link, Email captured, Phone captured, or Became reachable, which fires when someone messages you after 24 hours of quiet. Add contact-filter conditions to narrow who it runs for. 05 ### Edit a live flow without breaking it The canvas autosaves as a draft. While a flow is live, the status reads Live · unpublished changes until you click Publish changes, and people already mid-flow finish the version they started on. Pause stops new runs while everyone already inside finishes. Nobody gets half of an old flow and half of a new one. 06 ### See where people stop Once a flow has run, switch on Results and the canvas shows counts on every card: how many people reached it and how many left along each branch. You see which answer is picked most, how many people never tapped the first button, and where a sequence loses people. Reset counts after you change something to start a clean read. How it works ## From a blank canvas to live in four steps 01 ### Pick a template or start from scratch In Automations, click New automation. The Flow cards in Templates are complete flows you can edit: Freebie for an email; Link + reminder if they don't click; Quiz → the right product; Follow first, then the freebie; Event sign-up; Story reply → discount code; and Reachlee AI answers, hot leads go to you. Or choose Start from scratch and pick a comment, story reply or DM trigger, or a blank canvas. 02 ### Fill in the When… card and connect the steps On the trigger, pick the post, the keywords and the public reply. Add steps from the catalog and drag each exit to the step that should come next; an exit with nothing connected ends that person's flow. Templates arrive with the keyword and copy filled in, and leave the post and the links for you. 03 ### Preview, test, then Set live Preview plays the flow on a phone the way a contact sees it, with a choice at every branch. Test sends it for real to someone who messaged your account in the last 24 hours, ideally your own second account. Set live checks the flow before anything sends: steps that aren't connected or break Meta's rules, steps your plan doesn't include, and other live automations already answering the same comments or keyword. 04 ### Read the counts and adjust Turn on Results to see each card's numbers. Rewrite a message, swap a link or add a branch, then Publish changes: new runs take the new version, runs in progress finish the old one. ## Basic builder or canvas? | | Basic builder | Canvas | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Triggers per automation | One | One or more on the When… card | | What happens next | One reply, with options like a public reply or a follow-up nudge | Any sequence of steps, with a branch per answer, click, follow or condition | | Questions | Email or phone capture | Any question with up to 13 quick replies, plus email and phone capture | | Waiting | Follow-up nudge after 30 minutes to 20 hours (Pro) | Wait step up to 7 days, or timed Not clicked / No reply exits (Pro) | | Product carousel | Yes | Not a canvas step: keep carousels in the Basic builder | | Start from contact events | No | Yes, on Pro | | Moving between them | Open in canvas moves it over | Switch back works until the flow changes | Open in canvas converts any Basic automation except carousels and follow-up nudges. The automation keeps answering exactly as before. Real scenarios ## Three flows that need more than one reply ### A different offer for each kind of buyer Before Your reel about three course levels gets hundreds of comments. Everyone receives the same link to a sales page covering all three, and most people leave before they find the one that fits them. With Reachlee The flow asks which sounds most like them, with three tappable answers, and sends each answer the page for that level. Results shows how many people picked each one, which tells you which course the reel actually sold. ### An event that needs a headcount Before People comment JOIN on your workshop post. You send the details by hand when you can, and on the day you have no list of who said yes and no way to tell who got the address. With Reachlee The Event sign-up flow asks for their email, files them into an Event sign-ups folder, then sends the details. On the day, filter Contacts by that folder and the guest list is there. ### A reminder only for people who didn't open the link Before After sending a link you either nudge everyone again, annoying the people who already bought, or nobody, losing the ones who meant to and forgot. With Reachlee A Send a link step waits to see the click. People who opened it go into a Clicked the link folder; people who didn't get one reminder 23 hours later, still inside the 24-hour window. Pricing ## Building is free. Paid steps go live from $9/mo. Every plan can build any flow, use every template, preview it and send tests. The plan only matters for what a flow does once it's live. Free runs flows made of messages, questions, links, email and phone capture, folders and public replies on one specific post of one Instagram account, within 1,000 DMs a month. Pro ($9/mo) adds waits and timed follow-ups, Ask for a follow, contact filters, A/B splits, Email me, contact-event triggers, several or any posts, Facebook Pages and unlimited DMs. Growth ($14/mo) adds the Reachlee AI steps and the Message is about… trigger, with 1,000 AI credits a month. Business ($29/mo) adds Add to Google Sheet. [Start free ](/app/?src=seo&page=use-cases%2Finstagram-flow-builder) FAQ ## Before you build your first flow Is a visual flow builder hard to learn? Less than it looks. Start from one of the seven Flow templates: each arrives with the keyword and the copy filled in, so you only pick the post and paste the links. The canvas autosaves while you work, Preview walks you through every branch on a phone screen, and Set live lists exactly what to fix before anything sends. When a flow grows too big to read, split it: the Start another automation step hands a person to a second flow. Will editing a live flow break it for people halfway through? No. When a flow goes live, Reachlee saves that version, and every run uses the version it started on. Your edits go into a draft, the status reads Live · unpublished changes, and new runs only switch when you click Publish changes. Someone who was waiting for a reply or a click while you edited finishes the old version. Pause works the same way: no new runs start, and people already inside finish. Does the canvas work for Facebook Pages? Yes. Choose a Facebook Page as the account and the trigger picker shows Page post comment, Messenger message, Conversation starters and Message is about… instead of the Instagram triggers. Story triggers and the follow check are Instagram-only, because Meta sends no story events for Pages and offers no way to check a Page follow; on a Page, Ask for a follow lets everyone through. Facebook Pages are part of Pro, so Page flows go live on Pro and above. Can a flow message people whenever it likes? No, and no tool on Meta's official API can. After a comment, the first DM is a private reply that can only be text with buttons, and the rest of the flow reaches people once they tap or reply. From then on, steps can only send within 24 hours of the person's last message. A Wait can last up to 7 days, but if the window has closed when it ends, the person leaves through Can't message any more instead of getting a message Meta would refuse. The [24-hour window guide](/guides/instagram-24-hour-messaging-window/) explains the rule. Can I move my existing automations onto the canvas? Yes. In the Basic builder, Open in canvas moves a saved automation onto the canvas, where it keeps answering exactly as before. Carousels and follow-up nudges stay in the Basic builder. Until you change the flow, Switch back to the Basic builder returns it to how it was; once you edit it, it lives on the canvas. Can a flow send leads to my email marketing tool? Not directly. Emails and phone numbers a flow collects are saved to the contact in Reachlee, where you can filter and file them and, on paid plans, export them as CSV for your email tool. On Business, the Add to Google Sheet step writes a row with the person's details and answers to your connected sheet. On Pro, the Email me step emails you when someone reaches it, which suits hot leads you want to answer yourself. What if two automations answer the same comment? They can't both be live. When you click Set live, Reachlee checks the other live automations on the same account and refuses if one already answers comments on the same post with an overlapping keyword, the same DM keyword or the same story replies. The message names the automation in the way and links to it, so you can pause it or change a keyword before going live. Is the flow builder on the free plan? Yes. Every plan builds flows, uses the templates and sends tests. On Free, a flow goes live on one specific post of one Instagram account with messages, questions, links, email and phone capture, folders and public replies, within 1,000 DMs a month and 3 contact folders. Steps your plan doesn't include carry a plan badge; you can still add and test them, and Set live tells you which plan they need. Keep exploring ## Related use cases [DM quiz funnelOne question in the DM, a different product link for each answer.](/use-cases/instagram-quiz-funnel/)[Giveaway entry flowComment to enter, a DM confirmation and a folder of entrants.](/use-cases/instagram-giveaway-automation/)[Link in bio with email captureAn email form on your bio page, with every address in one list.](/use-cases/link-in-bio-email-capture/)[DM past commenters (Retrigger)Run an automation on the last 7 days of a post's comments.](/use-cases/retrigger-old-posts/)[Comment-to-DM automationThe core pattern: auto-DM everyone who comments your keyword.](/use-cases/comment-to-dm/)[Reachlee vs ManyChatFeatures and pricing side by side.](/vs/manychat/) --- Source: https://www.reachlee.co/use-cases/instagram-flow-builder