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Start a useful conversation when someone messages your business. Answer questions and collect the service details with a Messenger connection at $49/month.
Facebook auto responder
Facebook Auto Responder
A Facebook auto responder answers the people who message your Facebook Page and the people who fill in your Lead Ads forms, even while you are on a job. Auto-Respond replies to Messenger inquiries in under 2 seconds with your services, prices and service area, asks your qualifying questions and offers a time to book.
7 days to try it Cancel anytime
Choose Messenger, Lead Ads, or both. Each channel has its own monthly price.
Inside Auto-Respond Product walkthrough
Inquiry Conversation Next step
<2 secfirst response on supported leads
Your rulesservices, pricing, and instructions
7 daysto try it with your business
One platform. The channels you already use.
What a Facebook auto responder does with Messenger and Lead Ads
Facebook sends a business leads in two different shapes. A Messenger message is a conversation: someone asked a question and is waiting in the app for the answer. A Lead Ads submission is a form: someone tapped through your ad, left their details and went back to scrolling. Each one needs a different first move, so Auto-Respond handles them as two channels.
Facebook Lead Ads
Follow up on supported form submissions with a separate Lead Ads connection at $19/month. Optional voice callback needs a callable number and is billed separately.
| Messenger | Lead Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| What arrives | The person's name from their profile and the full thread. Phone and email only if they type them in the chat. | Every field your form asked for, usually name, phone and email, plus custom questions such as the service needed. |
| First response | An AI reply in the thread in under 2 seconds, written from your services, prices and service area. | No chat to reply in. An optional confirmation by phone, email or SMS, and an instant AI callback when the voice agent is on. |
| After that | Qualifying questions, a booking offer when scheduling is on, and follow-ups that stop when the customer replies or books. | The lead goes to your CRM, and your team gets an SMS, Slack, Telegram or email alert. |
| Billing | One source per connected Page | One source per Page running Lead Ads |
Facebook's own automated replies vs an AI auto responder
Before paying for anything, know what Meta already gives you for free. Inbox in Meta Business Suite has automations for your Page, and for some businesses they are enough. As listed in Meta's Business Help Center (checked October 2026):
- Auto reply (instant reply): a greeting sent the first time someone messages you.
- Away message: a reply sent while you are marked unavailable.
- Frequently asked questions: suggested questions with the answers you saved.
- Location, contact information and hours: fixed answers to those three questions.
- Custom keywords (desktop only): a saved reply when a message contains a word you chose, sent after 15 minutes unless you answer first.
Every one of these sends text you wrote in advance. None of them can read "can you fix a sliding door that came off its track, and are you free Saturday?", answer the price question from your range, ask which part of town the job is in and offer a time. That is the gap an AI auto responder fills: it writes each reply from the message in front of it and from the services, prices, service area and instructions you gave it.
When Meta's built-in replies are enough
If your Page gets a few messages a week, most of them ask for your hours or address, and someone checks the inbox several times a day, the free automations cover you. An AI auto responder earns its place when messages arrive while you are on a job or after hours, when each one needs a real answer about the work, or when people stop replying before anyone gets back to them.
What should the first reply to a Facebook message say?
The first reply decides whether there is a second message. People who message a business Page usually want a price, a date, or confirmation that you do that kind of job. A reply that gives them that and asks one easy question keeps the conversation going; "thanks for reaching out, we will get back to you" usually ends it.
- Answer what they asked. If the question is about price, give the range you set for that service instead of "it depends".
- Ask for the one detail you need. Usually the job location or its size, not a five-question form.
- Offer the next step. A time to come out when scheduling is on, or a call when the job needs one.
- Ask for contact details when you need them. Facebook does not pass a customer's phone number or email to Auto-Respond, so the AI asks for them in the chat.
Illustration: the shape of a good first reply (placeholders, not a real customer)
Message: "How much to pressure wash a driveway? We're in [town]."
Reply: "Hi [name], we do driveways in [town]. Most run [your price range] depending on size and stains. About how many cars does yours fit? I can also offer [day] morning to take a look."
You control the facts the AI uses: services, price ranges, service area, hours and the questions you always ask. It does not invent a price you did not give it.
What happens after someone submits your Facebook Lead Ads form?
A Lead Ads form is not a chat, so there is no Messenger thread to answer in. The useful response is to reach the person on the details they just gave you, while they still remember your ad. Connect Lead Ads to Auto-Respond and every submission becomes a lead the moment it lands:
- Captured with every field your form asked for. A field that is not on the form does not arrive, so add "service needed" and "when" in Ads Manager if you want them.
- Sent to your CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, GoHighLevel, Workiz, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, AccuLynx, SmartMoving, Monday.com or Zapier), with an SMS, Slack, Telegram or email alert to your team.
- Confirmed, if you choose, by phone, email or SMS from the source's Contact Info settings.
- Called back instantly when you run the AI voice agent and the form collected a phone number. The agent introduces itself as an AI assistant from your business, asks your questions and can book the job.
Already sending Lead Ads to Slack or a spreadsheet? That moves the data, it does not answer the person. Our guide to connecting Facebook Lead Ads to Slack covers the routing side, and Facebook Lead Ads auto reply for contractors covers what to say to the lead.
How Meta's 24-hour messaging window affects your replies
Meta gives a business a standard messaging window after each message a person sends. For most messages it lasts 24 hours; when someone writes to you for the first time after clicking a Click-to-Messenger ad, it can last up to 7 days (Meta for Developers, Messenger Platform policy overview, checked October 2026). Outside the window, Meta limits what a business can send.
That has two practical effects. Speed matters for permission, not only for winning the job: an instant reply sits well inside the window, while a reply the next afternoon may arrive after it has closed. And follow-ups belong close to the conversation, which is why Auto-Respond stops its follow-up sequence the moment the customer replies or books, so an active thread never gets a chaser.
Instagram DMs follow the same rules. If you also take inquiries there, the Instagram auto responder runs on the same Meta connection as a separate source.
See the actual product
From setup to first response.
Watch the product walkthrough, then try it with your own business.
Recorded with a demo business. A walkthrough of the product, not a customer result.
Simple to start. Yours to control.
How do you set up a Facebook auto responder?
You need admin access to the Facebook Page, nothing else. Each Page you activate becomes its own source with its own settings; the Facebook Messenger setup guide walks through every screen.
Set up my business- 01
Create your account
Sign up at https://app.auto-respond.com. The 7-day free trial covers Facebook Messenger, Facebook Lead Ads, Instagram, and the voice agent.
- 02
Connect your Facebook Page and ad account
Authorize Auto-Respond through Meta's official login. It connects the Messenger Platform for Page DMs and the Lead Ads webhook for form submissions in one flow.
- 03
Load your knowledge base
Paste in services, pricing ranges, service area, hours, and the questions you ask on every job. Every reply is grounded in this, so the AI never makes up a price.
- 04
Set your qualifying script
Define what a good lead looks like and what to ask - scope, urgency, timeline, budget. The AI runs this conversation in Messenger and against the Lead Ad form answers.
- 05
Build your follow-up cadence
Set the sequence for leads who go quiet: a day-1 nudge, a day-3 check-in, a day-7 last call. The AI runs it automatically and stops the moment the lead replies or books.
- 06
Go live
The next Messenger message or Lead Ad submission triggers the auto-responder instantly. Watch the first conversations land in the dashboard, then leave it running.
Clarity for your team
Every Messenger thread and form submission in one place.
Open a lead to see the whole conversation, the details the customer shared and the next step, whether it came from Messenger or a Lead Ads form. These are real product screens from our demo business.
Know the price before you start
What does a Facebook auto responder cost?
Messenger is $49 a month for each connected Page and Lead Ads is $19 a month for each Page running Lead Ads, so you pay only for the channel you use. No per-lead fees or contracts. See every channel on the Auto-Respond pricing page.
- Job-specific AI responses
- Business-specific instructions
- Lead conversations in one place
Facebook auto responder
$49/month for Messenger
Facebook Lead Ads is a separate channel at $19/month.
Start with a 7-day free trial.
See how it works for your business.
Start my free trial No setup fee. No long-term contract.A few things you might be wondering
Facebook auto responder questions
Messenger, Lead Ads, Meta's rules and cost, answered plainly.
Explore the help centerHow do I auto respond to Facebook Messenger?
Connect your Facebook Page to Auto-Respond through Meta's official Messenger API, paste in your services, pricing, and hours, and turn it on. From that point every message that lands in your Page inbox gets an instant AI reply, day or night. The reply is not a canned "thanks for reaching out" - it reads what the person asked, answers it from your knowledge base, asks the qualifying questions that matter for the job, and offers a time to book. You can read every conversation in the dashboard and adjust the script anytime.
How do I set up an automated reply on my Facebook business Page?
For a fixed greeting, use Meta Business Suite: open Inbox, click Automations, then Create automation, and pick the auto reply or away message template. For replies that answer the customer's actual question, open Sources in Auto-Respond, click Add Facebook Messenger, sign in with the Facebook account that manages the Page, activate the Page, and add your services, prices, and service area. The next message gets an AI reply in under 2 seconds.
Can I automate Facebook Lead Ads follow ups?
Yes, and this is where most of the money is. A Facebook Lead Ad form is a two-tap submit, so the person barely paused their scroll and forgets you quickly. Auto-Respond fires the first reply the instant the form is submitted, then runs an automated follow-up sequence over the next several days for anyone who does not answer - a nudge on day 1, a value-led check-in on day 3, a last call on day 7. The cadence is yours to set. Plenty of leads ignore the first message and answer a later one.
How should I respond to Facebook leads?
Quickly, and with an answer instead of an acknowledgement. Reply to a Messenger inquiry while the person is still in the app: answer the question they asked, ask for the one detail you need to quote, and offer a time. For a Lead Ads submission, reach the person on the phone number or email they just gave you. Contacting a lead within an hour makes it about 7x more likely to qualify than contacting it an hour later (Harvard Business Review, 2011).
Is a Facebook auto responder for business allowed under Meta's rules?
Yes. Auto-Respond runs on Meta's official Messenger Platform and Lead Ads webhook APIs - the same surfaces large customer-service tools are built on. Messaging follows Meta's 24-hour standard messaging window and approved message tags, so replies stay compliant and your Page stays in good standing. Nothing here scrapes or automates against Meta's terms; it uses the integrations Meta publishes for exactly this purpose.
How fast does the auto reply to a Facebook message go out?
Instantly. The Page-message webhook and the Lead Ad webhook both fire in real time, so the AI is reading the inbound the moment it lands and the first reply goes out in under 2 seconds. That window matters: contact rates on paid social leads fall off a cliff after the first few minutes, so the difference between an under-2-second reply and a 20-minute reply is often the difference between a booked job and a dead lead.
Does it handle both Messenger DMs and Lead Ad forms, or just one?
Both, from one inbox. Messenger DMs (including replies to your posts and ads that open a chat) are one channel; Facebook Lead Ad form submissions are another. Auto-Respond auto-responds to each, with messaging-appropriate templates for the chat thread and lead-form-appropriate qualification for the form fields. Instagram DMs and Lead Ads run on the same Meta connection if you sell there too.
What does a Facebook auto responder cost?
Facebook Messenger auto-response is $49/month per Page. Facebook Lead Ads auto-response is $19/month. Add the AI voice agent - so a lead with a phone number gets a call, not just a text - at $10/month per number plus $1/minute. No setup fee, no per-lead fee, 7-day free trial with everything on.
Can the auto responder book the appointment, or just reply?
It books. Once the conversation qualifies the lead, the AI checks your live calendar, offers real open slots, confirms the one the customer picks, and pushes a job summary to your phone. You are not copying details into a calendar after the fact - the appointment is already on it before you have read the thread.
What happens when someone asks something the AI cannot answer?
It escalates with context. You set the triggers - an explicit "can I talk to a person", a high-value job indicator, an unusual question - and the conversation routes to your phone with the full history attached. The customer never has to repeat what they already told the AI, and you pick up mid-thread instead of cold.
I already use the routing tools. Where does this fit?
Routing and responding are two different jobs. If your goal is to push the lead into Slack, your CRM, or a Google Sheet, that is covered in our guide on sending Facebook and Google ad leads to Slack and CRM. This page is about the reply itself - the conversation that qualifies and books the lead. Most service businesses run both: route the data for visibility, and let Auto-Respond actually answer and follow up so the lead does not go cold while it sits in a CRM nobody is watching.
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