Instagram auto reply: comments and DMs, explained
To auto reply on Instagram, you connect an Auto-DM tool that answers a keyword comment with a private DM and, if you want, a short public reply under the comment. Meta allows one private reply per comment within 7 days, and replies to DMs within 24 hours of the person's message.
What can be auto replied on Instagram?
There are two kinds of auto reply, and most creators use both together:
| Reply type | Where it appears | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Private reply (DM) | In the person's DMs | Sending the link, file, product or form they asked for |
| Public comment reply | Under their comment on your post | Telling them, and others reading, to check their DMs |
| DM auto reply | In a DM thread someone started | Answering a keyword message, a Story reply, or a shared post |
On SuperProfile, automations can start from Comments on Reels and Posts, Story replies, Live comments and direct messages. On Facebook, the triggers are comments on any or a specific Facebook Page post, incoming Messenger DMs, and m.me links or QR codes.
What does Instagram allow natively?
Auto replies go through Meta's official API, and Meta sets the limits for every tool:
- One private reply per comment, sent within 7 days of the comment; on a Live, only while you are live. A follow-up needs the person to reply, and must go within 24 hours of that reply (Meta private replies docs, read October 2026).
- For messages people send you, a business has 24 hours to respond (Meta messaging API docs).
- The account must be a professional account, with Allow access to messages turned on under Message controls > Connected tools.
For unwanted comments, Instagram's own help center describes these in-app tools:
- Instagram hides comments with common offensive words, phrases or emojis automatically; the setting is on by default
- Hidden Words lets you add your own list of words, phrases, numbers or emojis to hide from comments
- You can hide any single comment yourself by tapping Hide under it; it stays visible only to you and the person who wrote it
How do you auto reply to Instagram comments with a DM?
- Connect your professional Instagram account to SuperProfile Auto-DM.
- Create an automation and pick the post or Reel.
- Set the keyword people will comment, such as LINK, and put "Comment LINK" in your caption.
- Write the DM: text, buttons, images, video, audio, PDFs or cards are supported, depending on your plan.
- Optionally turn on comment replies (next section).
- Turn it on and test from a second account.
Keywords match as a whole word and ignore capital letters, so "link pls" matches LINK but "links" does not. The free plan gives you Auto-DM on Instagram posts and Reels, one keyword per automation, text-and-button DMs that end with a short "Sent via SuperProfile" line. Full guide: comment-to-DM.
How do public comment replies work?
On an Instagram post or Reel automation, you can turn on comment replies. SuperProfile then posts up to three rotating public comment replies under matching comments, picked in a random order, so your replies do not all read the same. A typical set:
- "Sent! Check your DMs"
- "Just DMed you the link"
- "It's in your inbox now"
The builder itself warns that automating comment replies comes with risk. Identical public replies repeated hundreds of times look like a bot, which is why there are three that rotate. Write them in your own voice, and keep links out of public replies; the link belongs in the DM.
Can AI write the reply variations for you?
Yes, on paid plans. a Rewrite button suggests up to 3 rewordings of your DM text or public comment reply, keeping links, variables, handles and numbers exactly as you wrote them; up to 50 rewrites per day. In the comment reply step, write your first reply and tap Fill variations from reply 1: Rewrite turns it into replies two and three. The same button works on the DM text.
Through an AI assistant, AI assistants can turn on intent matching when they draft an automation, and suggest rewordings with suggest_autodm_text_variations, through the SuperProfile MCP server. See Instagram Auto-DM with Claude or ChatGPT.
Can it reply when the comment does not have your keyword?
Keyword matching misses typos, other languages and people who just write "pls send". Intent matching fixes that on paid plans: per automation, the creator can turn on “Also reply without your keywords” and describe the comment in plain words (for example “asks for the link”); comments that contain no keyword, such as typos, other languages, Hinglish or “pls send”, are read by AI and the DM goes out only when it is confident.

Tested live on production:
| Comment | Result |
|---|---|
| bhai guide ka link bhejo na | DM sent in about 3 seconds |
| gide link plz | DM sent |
| nice video bro | No DM |
The rules it follows:
- Keywords are matched first; AI reads only comments that matched no keyword
- The DM is sent only on a confident match; when the AI is unsure or unavailable, nothing is sent
- At most one AI-matched DM per person per automation per day
- Exclude keywords still block a match
- Works on Instagram post and Reel comments (not Stories, DMs, Lives or Messenger yet)
- Works across languages, including Hinglish, slang and misspellings
- Up to 1,000 AI comment reads per creator per day
More: auto DM without a keyword.
How do you auto reply to Instagram DMs and Story replies?
On paid plans, an automation can start when someone sends you a DM with your keyword, replies to your Story, or comments on your Live. Also, a fan sending you one of your posts or reels in a DM can trigger an automation. Because the person messaged first, Meta's 24-hour window is open, and follow-ups can run after a delay, when the link was not clicked, when there is no reply, when the product was or was not bought, or when a lead form was not submitted.
For Facebook, the same builder runs Messenger: Facebook Messenger Auto-DM.
What about comments you don't want to reply to?
Auto reply and moderation are two sides of the same comment section. Spam, scam links and abuse should be hidden, not answered. SuperProfile's comment moderation handles those on paid plans:
- Three rules: spam and promotion, links, and abuse or harassment
- For each rule you choose Ignore, Hide or Delete
- Optionally describe what counts on your account in your own words (Hinglish works); otherwise default definitions apply
- A strictness setting, and posts you can skip entirely
- An activity view with Hidden and Deleted tabs showing which post each comment came from, with one-click unhide or delete, kept for 30 days
- Works on new comments on your Instagram posts and Reels
Frequently asked questions
Can Instagram auto reply to comments by itself?
Instagram's in-app comment tools hide comments by word list. To send an automatic DM or public reply, connect a tool that uses Meta's official API, such as SuperProfile Auto-DM.
How do I auto reply to Instagram comments with a DM?
Connect a professional Instagram account to an Auto-DM tool, pick a post or Reel, set a keyword, write the DM with your link, and turn it on. When someone comments the keyword, the DM goes out within Meta's rules.
Can I reply publicly and send a DM to the same comment?
Yes. On a SuperProfile Instagram post or Reel automation, turn on comment replies and it posts one of up to three rotating public replies alongside the DM.
Is auto replying to Instagram comments allowed?
Yes, through Meta's official API: one private reply per comment within 7 days, and follow-ups only within 24 hours of the person's reply. Vary your public replies so they do not look like spam.
Can AI auto reply to Instagram comments?
On SuperProfile paid plans, AI intent matching reads comments that have no keyword and sends your DM only when it is confident, and Rewrite suggests variations of your replies.
More guides
- Instagram DM automation: the complete guide
- How to start a paid Telegram channel in India
- How to sell digital products online in India
- How to sell online courses in India
- How to schedule Instagram posts, Reels and Stories
- How to reply to brand collaboration DMs on Instagram
- How to hide spam, links and abusive comments on Instagram automatically
- Instagram auto DM kya hai aur kaise lagaye
- Fake brand collaboration scams on Instagram
- Free Instagram auto DM tools compared
- Influencer rate card for Indian creators
- Instagram auto DM not working: causes and fixes
- Instagram Hidden Words list: spam words to copy
- Instagram Hidden Words not working: causes and fixes
- Schedule an Instagram post with Auto-DM armed
- Everything you can sell on SuperProfile
- Run your store from Claude or ChatGPT
Last updated .