Keep the public thread alive and still follow up in private. CommentLink can post a public reply on the comment, send a DM, or do both — on posts and Reels.
Free to use · No credit card · Instagram Business or Creator account
Search for “Instagram auto reply” and you will see two jobs mixed together. One is answering in the comments so everyone scrolling the post sees a response. The other is messaging the person who commented, where you can actually send a link. They solve different problems. CommentLink treats them as two switches on the same automation.
A comment on the post or Reel, visible to anyone. Use it to say “check your DMs”, thank them, or answer something you are happy to say in public. It makes the thread look handled instead of silent.
An Instagram direct message only that person sees. This is where the product URL, booking page, discount, or lead magnet belongs — Instagram still limits how links behave in public comments and captions.
If the whole point is to deliver a link after the comment, the end-to-end path is Instagram comment-to-DM. This page is for people who care about the reply itself — what shows in public versus what arrives in DMs.
A practical split: use public-only when you want the thread to look handled and the answer is safe to show everyone (“yes, we ship to Pune”). Use DM-only when the answer is a URL, a price for that person, or a code you do not want copied under the post. Use both when the caption asked people to comment, so other viewers still see a reply while the commenter gets the private next step.
Keyword-based auto reply is the usual setup: the caption says comment “price” or “link”, and only those comments get the canned response plus DM. That keeps random “nice!” comments from filling someone's inbox.
Catch-all auto reply is for launches, lives, and giveaways where you asked everyone to comment and you still want a thank-you in public and a DM with the next step. Same automation form — you just do not filter on a word.
Public “got it, DMing you” plus the private details that do not belong on the post.
Reel comments use the same public-reply and DM settings. New viewers still get a reply.
Auto-replying “thanks!” and stopping there wastes the comment. The useful follow-up is the DM with the link. You can send it immediately, after a follow gate, or after collecting an email. CommentLink does not invent a way around Instagram's public-comment link rules — it moves the URL into a private message the API allows you to send after that comment.
Story replies are a different trigger (someone replies to the Story, not the comment thread). Those sit under Instagram DM automation.
Auto reply also will not message people who only liked the post, or who viewed a Reel without commenting. Meta's messaging APIs start from an action such as a comment, a Story reply, a mention, or an inbound DM — not from a view. That is a platform rule, not a CommentLink setting.
Use a Creator or Business Instagram account linked to a Facebook Page. Connect through Meta — no password to CommentLink.
Write the on-comment reply people will see in the thread. Write the DM they get in inbox. You can enable either or both.
Keywords such as “link”, or every comment on that post or Reel. Switch the automation on.
Write the public line and the private DM once. CommentLink handles the rest on posts and Reels.
