--- title: "Best Instagram DM Tools for Agencies Managing Multiple Clients (2026)" description: "Several popular social media tools do not actually include Instagram DMs in their inbox. Here is which ones do, what each is best at, and three questions that narrow the list to the right one for an agency answering DMs on several client accounts." author: "Kaitlyn Bricker" author_url: "https://www.inexra.com/about" date: "2026-01-26" updated: "2026-10-14" canonical: "https://www.inexra.com/resources/best-dm-tools-agencies-multiple-accounts-2026" --- # Best Instagram DM Tools for Agencies Managing Multiple Clients (2026) The first thing to check in any DM tool is whether its inbox includes Instagram direct messages at all, because several well-known ones don't. Buffer's inbox handles comments, not DMs. Sendible's Priority Inbox carries Facebook messages but not Instagram DMs. Later's Social Inbox is in beta, desktop only, and limits Instagram DM replies to the last seven days. If Instagram DMs are a big part of what your agency handles, that rules out three familiar names before you look at anything else. What's left splits into three groups: the free option from Meta, the big all-in-one suites, and tools built specifically around the agency inbox. I've included Inexra because it's ours, and I've tried to be straight about where others are the better pick. We check the competitor details monthly against their own sites, but plans change, so confirm anything that decides your choice on the vendor's pricing page. ## Three questions that pick the tool for you **1. Do you need Instagram DMs, or mostly comments?** If your clients' business happens in comments (giveaways, community, product questions in public), Buffer or Later may be enough. If people book, buy and pitch partnerships in DMs, you need one of the tools below that handles Instagram DMs fully. **2. How many clients, and how separate do they need to be?** Under five clients, Meta Business Suite and some discipline can work. Past that, you want each client in its own space with its own permissions, so a freelancer on two accounts doesn't see the other thirteen. **3. Do you need to show what the DMs earned?** Most inbox tools stop at "message answered." If your clients renew based on leads and sales, you need a way to connect conversations to the posts that started them and the deals that came out of them. Very few tools do this. ## The options ### Meta Business Suite **Best for:** one to four clients, or a tight budget. It's free, it's Meta's own, and it shows Instagram and Facebook DMs and comments together for the accounts in one business portfolio. Saved replies, automated FAQs and away messages are built in. The limits show up with more clients. Each client's portfolio is its own space, so checking ten clients means switching ten times, and there's no shared view of what's waiting across all of them. There's no priority sorting beyond basic labels, and nothing connecting a conversation to a sale. For a small roster, though, it's a perfectly good place to start. ### Sprout Social **Best for:** larger agencies and in-house teams with the budget for a premium suite. Sprout's Smart Inbox covers more networks than most and automatically sorts messages by intent and sentiment, flagging the ones that need a reply. Its reporting and listening are among the strongest in the category. The trade-off is price: it's charged per seat, and an agency with several people in the inbox pays for each of them. ### Agorapulse **Best for:** agencies that want a well-proven inbox across many networks. Agorapulse is built around "inbox zero" and is genuinely good at it. It covers more networks than Instagram and Facebook, has sentiment analysis and a rules-based assistant that sorts messages by keyword, with AI reply suggestions on its top plan. Pricing is per user. Clients sit under one organisation with permissions set per profile rather than fully separate workspaces, which suits some agencies and not others. ### Hootsuite **Best for:** agencies already using it for publishing. Hootsuite's inbox unifies DMs across its networks, with automated replies and workflows from its Professional plan. Sentiment analysis and its generative chatbot are on Enterprise. If your team already lives in Hootsuite for scheduling, keeping the inbox there is reasonable; if you're choosing an inbox first, the others above are stronger at it for the money. ### Iconosquare, Cloud Campaign and Planable These three include inboxes as part of a broader tool. Iconosquare's inbox comes from its first paid plan and sits alongside some of the best Instagram analytics available. Cloud Campaign's inbox drafts replies in a brand voice and pairs with strong white-label options. Planable sells its inbox as a per-workspace add-on covering Facebook and Instagram DMs, attached to what's probably the best client review flow in the category. Each is a fine choice if its main strength is what you're really buying. ### ManyChat **Best for:** automated comment-to-DM flows. ManyChat isn't really an inbox tool, but agencies ask about it constantly, so it belongs here. It's the standard way to run "comment GUIDE and we'll DM it to you" campaigns on Instagram, using Meta's official API. It's excellent at that. It isn't built for a team triaging several clients' real conversations, so most agencies that use it pair it with one of the inboxes above. ### Inexra **Best for:** agencies whose clients get leads and deals through Instagram and Facebook DMs, and who need to prove it at renewal. Inexra puts every client's Instagram and Facebook DMs and comments in one inbox, with each client in its own workspace. Every message is tagged by type, sentiment and priority as it arrives, and AI drafts replies in each client's voice for a person to approve. The part other tools don't do: conversations are linked to the post that started them (automatically for story replies and replies to a comment, and by a teammate confirming a suggested post for the rest), and deals on the pipeline are credited back through those conversations into the client report. Where it's weaker: it covers Instagram, Facebook and YouTube only, so if you need LinkedIn, TikTok or X in the same inbox, Sprout, Agorapulse or Hootsuite will serve you better. It also launched in September 2026, so it has far fewer reviews than the established tools. There's a free plan for one brand, and paid plans from $59 a month with unlimited seats. ## Quick comparison | Tool | Instagram DMs in the inbox | Separate client workspaces | Links DMs to posts and deals | Pricing model | | ------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------- | ------------------------- | | Meta Business Suite | Yes | One portfolio at a time | No | Free | | Sprout Social | Yes | Profiles and seats, not separate workspaces | No | Per seat | | Agorapulse | Yes | Permissions per profile | No | Per user | | Hootsuite | Yes | Organizations and teams, not separate workspaces | No | Per user | | Iconosquare | Yes | Groups by client, higher plans | No | Per plan, user limits | | Cloud Campaign | Yes | Yes | No | Per plan | | Planable | Add-on | Yes | No | Per workspace | | Later | Beta, last 7 days for replies | Social sets within one account | No | Per plan | | Sendible | No (Facebook only) | Yes | No | Per plan | | Buffer | No (comments only) | Channel groups within one account | No | Per channel | | Inexra | Yes | Yes | Yes, automatic plus confirmed | Per plan, unlimited seats | For a fuller side-by-side on any of these, see the [Inexra comparison pages](https://www.inexra.com/compare), each of which lists where the other tool wins. ## FAQ ### What's the best tool for managing Instagram DMs across multiple client accounts? It depends on what you need beyond the inbox. Sprout Social and Agorapulse are strong, proven inboxes across many networks. Meta Business Suite is free and fine for a few clients. Inexra is built for agencies that need each client separate and want to link DMs to the posts and deals behind them. ### Does Buffer or Later handle Instagram DMs? Buffer's inbox handles comments, not direct messages. Later's Social Inbox includes Instagram DMs but is in beta, desktop only, available on its higher plans, and limits Instagram DM replies to the last seven days. ### Can I manage Instagram DMs for clients for free? Yes, with Meta Business Suite, which shows Instagram and Facebook DMs for the accounts in a business portfolio. It works for a small number of clients, but you switch between them one at a time and there's no shared view of what's waiting. ### Is ManyChat an Instagram DM inbox? Not really. ManyChat automates DMs, for example sending a link to everyone who comments a keyword. It isn't designed for a team handling several clients' conversations, so agencies usually pair it with an inbox tool.