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ManyContacts Zapier integrationAutomate ManyContacts with Zapier.

The ManyContacts Zapier integration gives you 1 trigger, 17 actions and 3 searches. Catch every new contact, then message them on WhatsApp, tag them, assign an agent or a team, move them along your funnel and keep notes, all from your other apps.

See the 21 operations

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Overview

What ManyContacts and Zapier do together

ManyContacts is a WhatsApp CRM built for small teams handling a large number of conversations. Zapier connects it to your other apps. The integration lets a new contact start work elsewhere, and lets other tools message, tag, assign or move a contact in ManyContacts.

A contact that is routed on arrival. Contact Created starts the Zap, then Add Contact Tag and Assign Agent to Contact put the person in the right hands without anyone sorting the inbox.

A WhatsApp message sent from another tool. Send WhatsApp Message, Send Template Message, Send Interactive Message and Send Media Message let a form, a sheet or any app talk to a contact through ManyContacts.

A pipeline that moves by itself. Move Contact to Funnel Stage shifts a contact along your default funnel when something happens elsewhere, and Add Internal Note Contact leaves a trace of why.

What Zapier does not do here: its only trigger is polling, so a new contact reaches Zapier on the next check, not the instant it appears. There is no find-or-create variant, so the three searches only look things up; writing a contact is the job of the Contact Create or Update action. And every person-level step identifies the contact by phone number only, in a strict format. If you also use Make, see our ManyContacts Make integration page; to compare the tools, open our n8n vs Zapier comparison.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words come back all over this page. Here they are, in plain English.

Zap
The automation you build in Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for that event and nothing else.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes, sends or changes something in an app for you.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action your Zap completed successfully, and your plan counts those.
Polling vs instant
Zapier checks a polling trigger on a timer, at an interval set by your plan. An instant trigger is reported by the app itself.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when the data that arrived meets your condition, and stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something that already exists in an app, so the steps after it can use what it found.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap beyond one trigger and one action. A second action, a filter or a search makes one, and it needs a paid plan.
Cost

What a ManyContacts Zap really costs

Zapier bills completed actions, never triggers. Checking ManyContacts for new contacts costs nothing, however often Zapier looks.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps
  • BilledEach action that succeeds
  • Never billedChecks for new contacts, failed actions
  • Premium appNo, works on the free plan

Each action that works counts as one task, and each counts on its own: tagging a new contact and then assigning an agent uses two tasks per contact. A failed action is not billed. ManyContacts is not a premium app, so the free plan accepts it, with 100 tasks a month and unlimited two-step Zaps. A filter, a second action or one of the three searches makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan.

The grid below applies to Contact Created: it is a polling trigger, so how fast a new contact reaches Zapier depends on your plan.

Connect

Connect your ManyContacts account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, go to Apps and click + Add connection. You need a ManyContacts account, plus access to any contact or data you do not own yourself and want the Zap to touch.

  2. 02

    Pick ManyContacts

    Search for ManyContacts in the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the ManyContacts side so you can sign in with the account your Zaps will use.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Sign in to ManyContacts in that tab and grant Zapier access to the account. Every ManyContacts step of every Zap then reuses that connection, so you only do this once.

First Zap

Your first Zap: tag and route every new contact

GoalEach new ManyContacts contact gets a starting tag and an assigned agent, so no conversation sits in the shared inbox waiting for someone to claim it.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap and set the trigger

    Start a new Zap, pick ManyContacts and Contact Created. Test it: Zapier brings back the three most recent contacts of the account, so you map from a real one.

  2. 02

    Add Add Contact Tag

    Add ManyContacts as the action and choose Add Contact Tag. Map the phone number from what the trigger returned at test (check it is there) and type the tag name exactly as it is spelled in ManyContacts.

  3. 03

    Assign an agent

    Add Assign Agent to Contact, map the same phone number and pick the Agent. Two actions make this a multi-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Check the phone format

    Every action wants the number in international format, without the plus sign, spaces or brackets. Compare what the test returned with that format before going further.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Run each step once and read what came back. Check the tag and the agent on the test contact in ManyContacts, then click Publish to switch the Zap on.

Triggers

ManyContacts trigger in Zapier

1 event starts a Zap when something happens in ManyContacts. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

Contact Created

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new contact is created.”

Starts your Zap when a new contact is created in ManyContacts. It is the only trigger the app offers on Zapier, so every workflow that begins in ManyContacts begins here, with a contact who is new to your account.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
giving each new contact a tag, an agent or a funnel stage, so nobody has to sort new arrivals by hand.
Watch out
Zapier remembers the contacts it has already seen, so each one starts the Zap once; but contacts created before you publish are never picked up.
Actions

ManyContacts actions in Zapier

ManyContacts gives you 17 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add Contact Custom Field

Action

In Zapier“Add Custom Field to Contact”

Writes a custom field on a contact, with the key and the value you map.

When to use it
storing on the contact in ManyContacts a detail that only lives in another app.
Watch out
Phone number, Custom Field Key and Custom Field Value are all required.
2

Add Contact Tag

Action

In Zapier“Add new Tag to Contact”

Puts an existing tag on a contact identified by phone number.

When to use it
marking a contact after something happens in another app.
Watch out
the tag must be typed with its exact name, case sensitive, and must already exist in ManyContacts.
3

Assign Agent to Contact

Action

In Zapier“Assigns a ManyContacts agent (user) to a contact, identified by phone number.”

Gives a contact to one ManyContacts agent, meaning one of your users.

When to use it
routing new contacts to the right person as soon as the Zap runs.
Watch out
Phone Number and Agent are required, and the agent has to be a user of your ManyContacts account.
4

Assign Team to Contact

Action

In Zapier“Assigns a contact to a team, identified by phone number.”

Attaches a contact to one of your ManyContacts teams.

When to use it
handing a contact to a team rather than to one person.
Watch out
Phone Number and Team are required, and the team is picked among those of your ManyContacts account.
5

Close Contact Conversation

Action

In Zapier“Closes a contact's conversation, identified by phone number.”

Closes a contact's conversation in ManyContacts.

When to use it
tidying the inbox once a request is marked as done in another app.
Watch out
only the phone number is needed, so a wrong number closes the wrong conversation; test it on your own contact first.
6

Contact Create or Update

Action

In Zapier“Creates or updates a Contact”

Writes a contact into ManyContacts from the phone number and name you map; as its name says, it creates or updates.

When to use it
pushing people collected in another app into ManyContacts.
Watch out
both Contact Phone Number and Contact Name are required. Nothing on record says what it does with a number already on file, so check that at test on a contact of your own.
7

Create Tag

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new tag in your organization.”

Adds a brand-new tag to your organization, ready to be put on contacts later.

When to use it
preparing the tag that a following Add Contact Tag step will need, when it does not exist yet.
Watch out
Name is required, and the same exact spelling must be used later, since tag names are case sensitive.
8

Move Contact to Funnel Stage

Action

In Zapier“Moves a contact to a funnel stage, identified by the stage's order (index).”

Places a contact on a stage of your default funnel.

When to use it
advancing a contact when the step it waited for is recorded in another app.
Watch out
Stage Order is the position of the stage, counted from 0, not its name. Check the order of your funnel before mapping a number.
9

Add Internal Note Contact

Action

In Zapier“Add an internal note (yellow card) in a conversation.”

Leaves an internal note, the yellow card, inside a contact's conversation.

When to use it
telling agents what happened in another tool before they reply.
Watch out
Hidden is required: set it to true if the contact should not jump to the top of the list after the note. Number wants the country code, without the plus sign.
10

Open Contact Conversation

Action

In Zapier“Opens a contact's conversation, identified by phone number.”

Reopens the conversation of a contact identified by phone number.

When to use it
putting a conversation back in front of agents when the contact does something in another tool.
Watch out
the phone number is the only required field, in international format without symbols.
11

Remove Contact Tag

Action

In Zapier“Removes a tag from a contact, identified by phone number.”

Takes a tag off a contact, found by phone number.

When to use it
clearing a status tag once the matter it flagged is settled in another tool.
Watch out
Phone Number and Tag are both required, so the contact must be identifiable by number at this point of the Zap.
12

Remove Contact From Team

Action

In Zapier“Removes a contact from a team, identified by phone number.”

Detaches a contact from a team it was assigned to.

When to use it
cleaning up after a hand-off, so the contact is no longer attached to the team that handed it over.
Watch out
it needs the Team as well as the Phone Number, so pick the team the contact actually belongs to.
13

Send Interactive Message

Action

In Zapier“Sends an interactive message with quick-reply buttons or a list of options.”

Sends a message with quick-reply buttons or a list of options the contact can tap.

When to use it
asking a contact to choose between a few answers instead of typing one.
Watch out
you give 1 to 10 button titles. With 1 to 3, reply buttons go out, each at most 20 characters; with 4 to 10, a list is built, each at most 24 characters.
14

Send Media Message

Action

In Zapier“Sends a file (image, audio, video or document) as a WhatsApp attachment.”

Sends a file as a WhatsApp attachment: an image, an audio, a video or a document.

When to use it
delivering a file generated in another app straight into the contact's chat.
Watch out
Number and File are both required, with the number in international format and no plus sign.
15

Send WhatsApp Message

Action

In Zapier“Send a WhatsApp message to a number.”

Sends a plain WhatsApp text to a phone number through ManyContacts.

When to use it
a short confirmation when something the contact asked for is done elsewhere.
Watch out
Number and Message are required, and the number takes the country code without the plus sign. To open a conversation from scratch, the template action is the one designed for it.
16

Send Template Message

Action

In Zapier“Sends a Meta-approved WhatsApp template (useful to start conversations outside the 24-hour window).”

Sends a WhatsApp template that Meta has approved, picked from your templates.

When to use it
starting a conversation outside the 24-hour window, where a free-form message does not fit.
Watch out
Number and Template are required, and only Meta-approved templates can go out this way.
17

Unassign Agent From Contact

Action

In Zapier“Removes a contact's agent assignment, identified by phone number.”

Removes the agent currently assigned to a contact.

When to use it
undoing an assignment when the assigned agent is no longer the right person, before a new one is set.
Watch out
only the phone number is required, so double check it points to the right contact.
Searches

ManyContacts searches in Zapier

3 search steps look for data that already exists in ManyContacts, so a later step can use it.

Searches sit at the bottom of the action-event list, under SEARCH. They fetch a contact, a tag or files that already exist. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not exactly one item.

1

Find Contact

Search

In Zapier“Finds a contact by phone number.”

Looks up a contact by phone number and returns what ManyContacts holds on them.

When to use it
checking that a contact exists before tagging or messaging them from a Zap that started elsewhere.
Watch out
Phone Number is required, in international format without symbols; check at test that the number you map matches that format.
2

Find Tag

Search

In Zapier“Finds tags in your organization, optionally filtered by name.”

Lists the tags of your organization, optionally narrowed by name.

When to use it
confirming a tag exists before an Add Contact Tag step relies on its exact spelling.
Watch out
several tags can come back, so set the multiple-results option on purpose.
3

Find Contact Media Files

Search

In Zapier“Lists a contact's media files (excludes audio).”

Lists the media files exchanged with a contact, audio excluded.

When to use it
copying the images or documents a contact sent into a storage app.
Watch out
audio files never appear in the results, and Phone Number is required to point at the contact.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap and skips the steps that relied on it. Switched on, the Zap carries on empty-handed.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    This box turns a search into a find-or-create. ManyContacts exposes no such variant on Zapier: use Contact Create or Update when a missing contact must be created.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out when several items match: keep the first one, which is the default, stop the Zap, or pass all of them on at once.
When it breaks

When a ManyContacts Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to ManyContacts, and no limit specific to the app is on record. What breaks is what breaks on any Zap, plus the strict phone format.

These cases cover the general limits worth knowing. If one of them hits and the cause stays unclear, see our Zapier troubleshooting guide.

  • Old contacts are not picked up

    A Zap only reacts to contacts created after you publish it. Earlier ones never start it; moving that backlog into another tool is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps setting itself off

    A Zap that writes where its own trigger watches can start itself again and burn through your tasks. Test any such Zap on one contact before you publish.

  • A sudden batch is held back

    When a trigger returns a huge batch at once, after a bulk import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold those runs back.

  • The phone number is in the wrong format

    Every person-level step finds the contact by number, in international format without the plus sign or symbols. A number with spaces or brackets may not reach the right contact, so compare it with the format at test.
Need help

Need help automating ManyContacts with Zapier?

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FAQ

ManyContacts Zapier integration: frequently asked questions

01Is the ManyContacts Zapier integration free?
Yes, on Zapier's side. ManyContacts is not a premium app, so the free plan accepts it, with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The limit is their shape: two steps, one trigger and one action. Contact Created followed by Add Contact Tag fits. Add a second action, such as assigning an agent, or a filter, or Find Contact, and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. Plan the shape before you build.
02How many tasks does a ManyContacts Zap use?
One per action that succeeds, per run. Contact Created costs nothing, and neither do Zapier's regular checks for new contacts. A Zap that tags each new contact and then assigns an agent uses two tasks per contact. A failed action is not billed. If only some contacts deserve a message, put a filter right after the trigger, so the others stop before any billed action and your monthly count stays low.
03Does ManyContacts trigger Zaps in real time?
No. Contact Created is a polling trigger: Zapier checks ManyContacts at an interval set by your plan, every 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional and 1 on Team and Enterprise. A contact created just after a check waits for the next one. The type of trigger is decided by the app and cannot be changed in the editor. On paid plans, the interval can be adjusted and a check can be run by hand.
04What do you need to connect ManyContacts to Zapier?
A ManyContacts account, plus access to any contact or data you do not own yourself and want the Zap to touch. In Zapier, open Apps, click + Add connection, search for ManyContacts, click Add connection, then sign in to ManyContacts in the tab that opens and grant access. The connection is reused by every ManyContacts step. Have the tags, teams and Meta-approved templates your actions will use ready in ManyContacts before you test them.
05Which phone number format does ManyContacts expect?
International, with the country code and without any symbol. No plus sign, no spaces, no brackets, no dashes. Every action that targets a contact, and the Find Contact search, identifies the person by that number and nothing else. If another app stores numbers with formatting, the step may not reach the right contact. Look at what the trigger test returns and compare it with this format before mapping anything. Fix it upstream, not in ManyContacts.
06What if the ManyContacts operation you need is missing?
Check the twenty-one visible operations first: one trigger, seventeen actions and three searches. A gap is often a combination: Find Contact then Add Internal Note Contact leaves a note on a known person; Find Contact then Move Contact to Funnel Stage advances them. Each extra step makes the Zap multi-step. If nothing covers the need, Zapier cannot do it for ManyContacts today, and another automation tool is worth checking. Test each pair on one contact first.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for ManyContacts?
Choose by criteria, not by reputation. Start with the trigger: on Zapier, Contact Created is polling, so check whether the delay your plan gives is acceptable for your conversations. Then coverage: list the actions your flow needs and confirm each tool offers them. Then billing: Zapier counts each successful action, so routing, tagging and messaging a contact adds up per person. Compare those three on one real flow. Then decide.
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