Bland vs Chert

Bland supports 46 of the 77 features compared here, and Chert supports 47.

Feature comparison

Feature	Bland	Chert
iMessage messaging
iMessage	PartialEnterprise plans only; Bland provisions an iMessage-capable number on request	Supported
Group chats	Not listed	Supported2 to 31 recipients; first group message must be text only.
Group management	Not listed	SupportedCreate, add or remove participants, and leave a group.
Group name and photo	Not listed	SupportedSet a group's display name and icon.
Mentions	Not listed	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSend and receive, per the iMessage guide; no API field, the agent decides	SupportedSix standard tapbacks; inbound tapbacks show in message history.
Threaded replies	Not listed	Not listedHomepage mentions reply context; no reply-to field in the API docs.
Typing indicators	SupportedListed in the iMessage guide	SupportedBest effort; group typing is not supported on every line.
Read receipts	Supported	SupportedMark chats read; messages carry read_at when known.
Edit and unsend	Not listedAPI deletes stored messages from a conversation; unsend on the device is not mentioned	PartialEdit within 15 minutes; no unsend endpoint documented.
Message effects	Not listed	SupportedApple send effects, validated against an allowed list.
Animated text effects	SupportedGuide lists text effects; which effects and how they are set is not documented	Not listed
Stickers	SupportedLive Stickers, per the iMessage guide	Not listed
Formatted text	Not listed	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedPhotos, videos, PDFs and spreadsheets both ways; agents can generate files to send	SupportedUpload then send; several images can go out as one grouped message.
Live Photos	Not listed	Supportedlive_photo pairs an uploaded HEIC with its MOV.
Rich link previews	Not listed	Supportedrich_link parts render as preview bubbles; falls back to a plain URL.
Voice messages	SupportedSend and receive voice memos; inbound memos are transcribed	SupportedNative voice notes on enabled lines; inbound memos arrive as attachments, no transcript.
Contact cards	Not listed	SupportedBuilds a vCard bubble in DMs and groups.
Polls	Not listed	SupportedEnabled lines only; read votes by polling, no vote webhooks yet.
Chat backgrounds	Not listed	Not listed
Location sharing	Not listed	PartialOne-time location pin on enabled lines; not Live Location or Find My.
iMessage apps	Not listed	Not listed
Live app cards	Not listed	Not listed
Sender name and photo	SupportedBranded contact with your company name and profile image	SupportedNative name-and-photo sharing on enabled lines (share_native).
FaceTime calls	Not listed	SupportedInbound audio and video, outbound audio only, bridged to your LiveKit agent.
Delivery status	SupportedGuide lists delivery status; messages carry sent, delivered, read or failed	SupportedPer-message status with delivered_at, and the channel used (iMessage or SMS).
iMessage availability check	Not listed	Not listed
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedBland provisions iMessage-capable numbers for Enterprise accounts	SupportedChert-managed sender lines assigned to your tenant.
Dedicated numbers	SupportedAgent Phone Plan includes one dedicated US number; Enterprise numbers by request	Supported$250/mo per line, arranged on a call; no self-serve checkout yet.
Shared numbers	PartialFree credits call from a shared Bland number; texting needs your own number	SupportedFree 24-hour trial and $25/mo Shared plan on a shared line.
Bring your own number	PartialYour own Twilio numbers or SIP trunks for voice and SMS; not documented for iMessage	Not listed
Line pooling	PartialCustom Dialing picks numbers from a pool for outbound calls only	SupportedPicks and pins a sender line per recipient from your assigned lines.
SMS fallback	SupportedUses the richest channel the recipient supports and falls back to SMS	PartialLines enabled for SMS retry only; plain-text 1:1 messages, not groups or media.
RCS fallback	Not listedDocs say Bland picks the richest channel; an iMessage to RCS order is not stated	Not listedHomepage says SMS or RCS fallback; API docs only describe SMS retry.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedSend SMS creates or resumes a conversation on any channel	SupportedFirst send to a new recipient creates a lead and pins a line.
Calls on the iMessage number	Not listed	PartialHomepage offers one number for iMessage and FaceTime; docs say identities are not unified yet.
Other channels
SMS	SupportedEnterprise plans and the Agent Phone Plan; US numbers need A2P registration	PartialOnly as an automatic retry after a failed iMessage, on enabled lines.
RCS	PartialEnterprise only, enabled by your account executive	Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on the homepage.
WhatsApp	PartialEnterprise only; a channel value on the Messaging API, no setup guide in the docs	Not supportedNot offered
Telegram	Not supportedNot offered	Not supported
Slack	Not supportedNot a messaging channel; Slack is listed only as a tool integration	Not listed
Email	Not supportedNot offered as a messaging channel	Not supportedNot offered
Phone calls	SupportedCore product: inbound and outbound AI phone calls, plus SIP	Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime only.
Apple Messages for Business	Not listedProduct page says Bland handles Apple Business Messaging registration; docs describe numbers	Not supportedNot offered
Unified channel API	PartialSMS, RCS, WhatsApp and iMessage share the /v1/sms endpoints; calls use a separate API	PartialiMessage and SMS retry share one API; FaceTime uses a separate API.
Developer tools
REST API	Supported	Supported
TypeScript SDK	PartialDocs list a Web Agent SDK for browser voice and a TTS library; no messaging SDK	Beta@trychert/sdk 0.2.0 on npm (MIT); the homepage still says SDK packages are not published.
Python SDK	Not listed	BetaSource preview on GitHub; not released on PyPI.
Other SDKs	Not listed	BetaRust, C#/.NET, C++ and Go clients are source previews on GitHub.
CLI	Supportedbland-cli on npm	BetaFaceTime CLI on npm's beta tag; the SDK adds a chert-sdk CLI for sends.
Webhooks	SupportedMessage and status webhooks per number or per request, with a channel field	SupportedMultiple subscriptions with event filters; message.received for inbound.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in X-Webhook-Signature; asymmetric JWT signing on Enterprise	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 per-subscription secret over timestamp and raw body.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server; personal agents connected to it can place calls and send texts	Not listed
Open source	Not supportedClosed platform	PartialSDKs are MIT and a FaceTime link connector is Apache-2.0; the service is closed.
Self-hosting	PartialEnterprise: your own VPC, on-premises or air-gapped deployments	Not listedOnly the open-source FaceTime link connector runs on your own machine.
Local testing	SupportedPathway Chat API and Testbed run agent conversations without a phone	Not listedSSE stream and dev inbox avoid a public webhook, but a real phone is still needed.
Custom channel providers	PartialBring your own Twilio account or SIP carrier for telephony	Not listed
Event replay	PartialAutomatic webhook retries; resend endpoint for call webhooks; SMS delivery log readable	SupportedDurable event log with replay by event ID, polling and SSE.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	Not listed
No-code integrations	SupportedZapier, Make and Pipedream on the integrations page	Not listed
CRM integrations	SupportedHubSpot and Salesforce	SupportedSalesforce managed package and HubSpot app.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedPathways, personas and versioned agents drive voice and every messaging channel	PartialChert-managed FaceTime assistants and a LiveKit voice-agent starter; messaging is send and receive.
Agent framework integrations	PartialMCP guides for OpenClaw, Poke, Meta Muse and coding agents; no LangChain or Vercel AI SDK	PartialFaceTime calls connect to LiveKit agents; no messaging framework integrations.
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not listed
Agent group chats	Not listed	Not listed
Human handoff	SupportedHand a thread to a human and resume the agent, by API or a pathway node	SupportedSlack reply triage with approve-to-send drafts, plus a console reply pane.
Audit logs	PartialEnterprise feature, not yet available for all accounts	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and read conversations with messages and delivery status	PartialLast 200 messages per chat; no pagination yet.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	PartialFree Start plan with credits is for voice; messaging needs Agent Phone Plan or Enterprise	Partial24-hour trial with 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line.
Public pricing	PartialVoice plans and SMS rates are public; iMessage, RCS and WhatsApp prices are not	Supported
No per-message fees	PartialSMS costs $0.02 per message; the Agent Phone Plan is flat with a 100 texts a day cap	SupportedFlat monthly prices; paid plans have usage limits that are not spelled out.
Uptime SLA	SupportedPricing page lists a 99.9% uptime SLA on every plan	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	PartialEnterprise customers run on their own isolated infrastructure	SupportedDedicated $250/mo line for your project; lower plans use shared lines
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedSOC 2 Type II, independently audited	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedGDPR compliant, with a DPA in enterprise contracts	SupportedPrivacy policy sets out GDPR legal bases and rights.

Checked on each provider's own site and docs on 2026-10-25. “Not listed” means the provider does not mention it.

Pricing

Which should you choose?

Choose Bland if you need animated text effects, stickers, bring your own number and RCS.

Choose Chert if you need group chats, group management, group name and photo and edit and unsend.

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