Instagram ROI calculator for comment-to-DM automation
Enter how many people comment your keyword, how many tap your link and buy, and what an order is worth. You get monthly orders, sales, profit after the plan's cost and hours saved, with the working shown and nothing sent anywhere.
Method by TamilDM Team · Last reviewed
Your audience
Your business
1,521 DMs a month lead to about 14 orders and ₹13,986 in sales, ₹3,725 profit after the Basic+ plan.
14 orders × ₹999 average order
- 1,521DMs sent
- 456link taps
- 14orders
1,521 new people a month is past Basic's 500-contact storage, so Basic+ — no reply or contact cap — is the cheapest plan that keeps running. Price includes 18% GST.
The profit on 2 orders a month covers the plan. Compare plans
Show the maths
- 50 keyword comments a day × 30.42 days = 1,521 DMs — one per comment, the most Meta allows
- 1,521 × 30% tap the link = 456 taps
- 456 × 3% buy = 14 orders
- 14 × ₹999 = ₹13,986 in sales
- ₹13,986 × 30% margin = ₹4,196 gross profit
- ₹4,196 − ₹470.82 (Basic+, incl. GST) ≈ ₹3,725 profit
- ₹3,725 ÷ ₹470.82 = 791% return on the plan
- 1,521 replies × 45 sec ÷ 3,600 = 19 hours of replying by hand
Your numbers stay with you. The maths runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to TamilDM or saved. The defaults are placeholders, not benchmarks, and the result is an estimate, not a promise.
How the calculator works
It follows a keyword comment through to a sale. Every comment that contains your trigger word gets one automated DM. Some of those people tap the link, some of them buy, and each order is worth your average order value. Profit is what your margin leaves once the plan has been paid for.
Link taps = DMs × tap rate
Orders = link taps × purchase rate
Sales = orders × average order value
Profit = sales × margin − plan cost (incl. 18% GST)
ROI = profit ÷ plan cost
Hours saved = DMs × seconds per reply ÷ 3,600
Worked example
With the default numbers: 50 keyword comments a day × 30.42 = 1,521 DMs a month. 30% tap the link: 456 taps. 3% of them buy: 14 orders. 14 × ₹999 = ₹13,986 in sales. At a 30% margin that is ₹4,196, and after the Basic+ plan at ₹470.82 a month (₹399 + 18% GST), about ₹3,725 profit, a 791% return on the plan. The same 1,521 replies typed by hand at 45 seconds each would take 19 hours.
Rounding you can check
Each step is rounded to a whole number before the next step uses it, because nobody sends 0.3 of a DM or takes 0.68 of an order. The working the calculator shows is therefore exactly the working it did, and any line can be re-checked on a phone calculator. An exact half rounds up. A month is 30.42 days, which is 365 ÷ 12.
Real limits, not ideal ones
- One DM per comment. Meta lets a business send a single private reply to each comment, so DMs can never outnumber keyword comments. What Meta allows
- Published plan ceilings. The plan is the cheapest one whose monthly reply limit, daily DM ceiling and contact storage all cover your volume.
- Every DM counts as a new contact. That is the cautious reading: repeat commenters would use less storage.
- Monthly list prices plus 18% GST. Yearly billing is about 20% cheaper, and festival offers are not applied.
Three example scenarios
Same assumptions in every row: 30% tap the link, 3% buy, 30% margin. Only the comment volume and the order value change.
| Scenario | Comments / day | DMs / month | Orders | Sales | Plan | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small creatorA few keyword comments on most Reels, ₹499 product | 10 | 304 | 3 | ₹1,497 | Basic₹352.82 | ₹96 |
| Growing shopSteady comments every day, ₹999 average order | 50 | 1,521 | 14 | ₹13,986 | Basic+₹470.82 | ₹3,725 |
| Viral monthA Reel that takes off, ₹799 average order | 400 | 12,168 | 110 | ₹87,890 | Basic+₹470.82 | ₹25,896 |
The first row is the honest one. At ₹499 and 3 orders a month, the plan only just pays for itself. Automation earns its keep as comment volume or order value rises, or when the 3.8 hours of replying by hand matter more to you than the profit.
Where to find your real numbers
The defaults are placeholders. These are the places to get figures that are yours.
- Keyword comments a day. Take a recent Reel that asked people to comment a word, count those comments and divide by the days it has been live.
- Tap rate. Once an automation is running, compare link clicks with DMs sent in TamilDM's analytics.
- Purchase rate. Orders divided by visits in your store or payment dashboard, using visits from Instagram if it separates them.
- Average order value. Last month's sales divided by its number of orders.
- Margin. Price minus product, packing, shipping and payment fees, divided by price. If you sell cash on delivery, allow for returned parcels too.
- Time per reply. Time yourself answering five comments by hand and take the average.
What the estimate leaves out
- Sales you would have made anyway by replying manually. Read the hours-saved figure as the cost of doing that work by hand.
- Repeat purchases and the lifetime value of a customer, which only add to the result.
- Returns, cancelled COD orders and refunds, which take away from it. A lower margin is the simplest way to allow for them.
- Follower growth, reach and ad spend. None of them are modelled.
- A single big day. The plan check uses your daily average, and a Reel that takes off can pass a daily ceiling on its own.
The plan limits behind the numbers
These are the limits the calculator checks your volume against, taken from the pricing page.
| Plan | Price / month | With 18% GST | Auto-replies / month | DMs / day | Contacts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | ₹0 | ₹0 | 3,000 | 250 | 50 |
| Basic | ₹299 | ₹352.82 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 500 |
| Basic+ | ₹399 | ₹470.82 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pro | ₹899 | ₹1,060.82 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Why you can trust these numbers
- The working is open. The formula is on this page and the calculator shows every step with your own numbers.
- No hidden multipliers. No "industry average" uplift and no assumed virality, only the six inputs you can see.
- Real constraints. Meta's one-reply-per-comment rule and the published plan ceilings are applied, and costs include GST.
- Tested. Automated tests pin each step of the maths, including how halves round, and check the plan figures against the pricing page.
- Private. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.
A note on bias: we sell the plans this calculator prices. That is why the defaults are placeholders, the costs include tax, and a small account's thin margin is shown as it is. If a figure looks wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Link to or cite this calculator
Writing about selling on Instagram, creator income or DM automation? You are welcome to link to this calculator or quote its method. No permission needed.
<a href="https://tamildm.com/instagram-roi-calculator">Instagram ROI calculator by TamilDM</a>
TamilDM. (2026). Instagram ROI Calculator for DM Automation. https://tamildm.com/instagram-roi-calculator
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Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions? We've got answers. Explore typical inquiries regarding compliance, setup, and safe automation.
Multiply the keyword comments you get in a month by the share of people who tap the link in your DM, then by the share who buy, to get orders. Orders times your average order value is sales. Sales times your profit margin, minus the tool's monthly cost, is profit, and ROI is that profit divided by the tool's cost. This calculator uses 30.42 days for an average month (365 ÷ 12).
Because that is Meta's rule. Through the official Instagram API a business can send a single private reply to a comment, so one keyword comment can start at most one automated DM. A calculator that assumes more is describing a tool that breaks Meta's terms.
Your own. The defaults (30% tap, 3% purchase) are placeholders, not benchmarks. Your store or payment dashboard shows how many visitors buy, and TamilDM's analytics count link clicks. Until you have data, run the calculator with a low and a high guess and plan around the low one.
Yes. Plan prices have 18% GST added, which is what checkout bills. A GST-registered business can usually claim it back as input tax credit, so its real cost is the list price.
Because of contacts, not replies. The free plan allows 3,000 replies a month but stores 50 contacts, and every new commenter becomes a contact. The calculator picks the cheapest plan whose reply limit, daily DM ceiling and contact storage all cover your volume, counting each DM as a new person.
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Your numbers only leave your device if you copy a share link and send it to someone yourself.
Yes, please do. Link to https://tamildm.com/instagram-roi-calculator. The formula and assumptions are published on the page, so your readers can check every figure. A ready-made citation and HTML link are in the "Link to or cite this calculator" section.
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No credit card required. The free tier includes 3,000 automated comments and DMs per month. Official Meta Graph API integration.