Bland vs Linq

Bland supports 46 of the 77 features compared here, and Linq supports 63.

Feature comparison

Feature	Bland	Linq
iMessage messaging
iMessage	PartialEnterprise plans only; Bland provisions an iMessage-capable number on request	Supported
Group chats	Not listed	SupportedPro plan. Up to 31 recipients. No read or delivery receipts in groups.
Group management	Not listed	SupportedAdd and remove participants and leave a group, iMessage groups only, 3-member minimum.
Group name and photo	Not listed	SupportedSet display_name and group_chat_icon on group chats.
Mentions	Not listed	SupportedGroup chats only. Notifies iMessage recipients even in a muted chat.
Tapbacks	SupportedSend and receive, per the iMessage guide; no API field, the agent decides	SupportedSix classic tapbacks or any emoji, send and receive via reaction webhooks.
Threaded replies	Not listed	Supportedreply_to with optional part_index. iMessage only.
Typing indicators	SupportedListed in the iMessage guide	SupportedSend and receive, in direct and group chats. iMessage only.
Read receipts	Supported	SupportedMark chats read and receive message.read. One-to-one chats only.
Edit and unsend	Not listedAPI deletes stored messages from a conversation; unsend on the device is not mentioned	PartialEdit text up to 5 times within 15 minutes. Delete does not unsend from the recipient's device.
Message effects	Not listed	Supported11 screen and 4 bubble effects.
Animated text effects	SupportedGuide lists text effects; which effects and how they are set is not documented	Supportedtext_decorations animations: big, small, shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom, jitter.
Stickers	SupportedLive Stickers, per the iMessage guide	SupportedPeel emoji or images onto messages, send stickers, or place them inline in text.
Formatted text	Not listed	SupportedBold, italic, underline and strikethrough ranges, plus animated text. iMessage only.
Attachments	SupportedPhotos, videos, PDFs and spreadsheets both ways; agents can generate files to send	SupportedUp to 10MB by URL, 100MB with pre-upload.
Live Photos	Not listed	Not listed
Rich link previews	Not listed	Supportedlink parts render as rich previews on iMessage and RCS.
Voice messages	SupportedSend and receive voice memos; inbound memos are transcribed	SupportedDedicated voice memo endpoint renders the native iMessage voice bubble.
Contact cards	Not listed	SupportedSend .vcf files as media parts.
Polls	Not listed	SupportedCreate, add options, vote and read tallies, with poll webhooks. Not as a chat's first message.
Chat backgrounds	Not listed	SupportedColor, animated or photo backgrounds, in direct and group chats.
Location sharing	Not listed	SupportedRequest, read and stop Find My shares. Live location is a $79/mo add-on on Pro.
iMessage apps	Not listed	SupportedPro plan. Cards from your own Messages extension, or Linq-hosted cards (Experiences).
Live app cards	Not listed	SupportedUpdate App Card replaces a delivered iMessage app or Experience card in place.
Sender name and photo	SupportedBranded contact with your company name and profile image	SupportedContact card API sets name and photo, shared per chat via Name and Photo Sharing.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supportedDocs say the API does not place or answer calls.
Delivery status	SupportedGuide lists delivery status; messages carry sent, delivered, read or failed	Supportedsent, delivered, read and failed webhooks. Groups report sent only.
iMessage availability check	Not listed	Supportedcheck_imessage and check_rcs endpoints.
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedBland provisions iMessage-capable numbers for Enterprise accounts	Supported
Dedicated numbers	SupportedAgent Phone Plan includes one dedicated US number; Enterprise numbers by request	SupportedPaid lines are dedicated. Provisioned by Linq, no self-serve number API.
Shared numbers	PartialFree credits call from a shared Bland number; texting needs your own number	SupportedFree Hobby tier uses a Shared Line, inbound-first, 20 contacts.
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	SupportedManaged load balancing (Pro): send without from and Linq picks and fails over lines.
SMS fallback	SupportedUses the richest channel the recipient supports and falls back to SMS	Supported
RCS fallback	Not listedDocs say Bland picks the richest channel; an iMessage to RCS order is not stated	SupportedOrder is iMessage, then RCS, then SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedSend SMS creates or resumes a conversation on any channel	SupportedFree Hobby tier is inbound-first. Docs recommend inbound-first flows to avoid flagging.
Calls on the iMessage number	Not listed	PartialAPI forwards inbound calls on the line; outbound needs caller-ID masking via another provider.
Other channels
SMS	SupportedEnterprise plans and the Agent Phone Plan; US numbers need A2P registration	Supported
RCS	PartialEnterprise only, enabled by your account executive	Supported
WhatsApp	PartialEnterprise only; a channel value on the Messaging API, no setup guide in the docs	BetaSeparate WhatsApp API in beta. Access by request, no SLA.
Telegram	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Slack	Not supportedNot a messaging channel; Slack is listed only as a tool integration	Not supported
Email	Not supportedNot offered as a messaging channel	Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to Apple ID email handles.
Phone calls	SupportedCore product: inbound and outbound AI phone calls, plus SIP	PartialAPI does not place or answer calls; it forwards inbound calls. Calling lives in the Linq Blue app.
Apple Messages for Business	Not listedProduct page says Bland handles Apple Business Messaging registration; docs describe numbers	Not listedAI context page mentions it, but no product page or docs were found.
Unified channel API	PartialSMS, RCS, WhatsApp and iMessage share the /v1/sms endpoints; calls use a separate API	PartialiMessage, RCS and SMS share one API. WhatsApp is a separate API with its own keys and SDKs.
Developer tools
REST API	Supported	Supported
TypeScript SDK	PartialDocs list a Web Agent SDK for browser voice and a TTS library; no messaging SDK	Supported@linqapp/sdk
Python SDK	Not listed	Supportedlinq-python
Other SDKs	Not listed	SupportedOfficial Go SDK.
CLI	Supportedbland-cli on npm	Supported@linqapp/cli: signup, sending, and a local webhook listener.
Webhooks	SupportedMessage and status webhooks per number or per request, with a channel field	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in X-Webhook-Signature; asymmetric JWT signing on Enterprise	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, Standard Webhooks format, with replay protection.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server; personal agents connected to it can place calls and send texts	Supported@linqapp/sdk-mcp with docs search and code execution tools.
Open source	Not supportedClosed platform	PartialSDKs, CLI and adapters are Apache-2.0 or MIT on GitHub. The messaging platform is closed.
Self-hosting	PartialEnterprise: your own VPC, on-premises or air-gapped deployments	Not supportedLinq describes itself as fully managed, in contrast to self-hosted options.
Local testing	SupportedPathway Chat API and Testbed run agent conversations without a phone	Not listedThe CLI streams webhooks locally, but tests still use a real phone.
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	PartialRetries for 30 minutes; after that, re-fetch chats or ask Linq for a manual replay.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	PartialW3C trace IDs on every response and webhook for OTel backends. No export of Linq spans by default.
No-code integrations	SupportedZapier, Make and Pipedream on the integrations page	SupportedLinq Blue works as a GoHighLevel messaging provider. No n8n, Make or Zapier found for the API.
CRM integrations	SupportedHubSpot and Salesforce	SupportedVia Linq Blue: GoHighLevel, HubSpot and Salesforce.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedPathways, personas and versioned agents drive voice and every messaging channel	PartialNo own framework. Maintains a Vercel Chat SDK adapter and OpenClaw and Hermes plugins.
Agent framework integrations	PartialMCP guides for OpenClaw, Poke, Meta Muse and coding agents; no LangChain or Vercel AI SDK	SupportedLinq-maintained Vercel Chat SDK adapter, plus OpenClaw and Hermes Agent plugins.
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not supportedDocs say the Chat SDK adapter buffers streams into one final message.
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	Not listed
Audit logs	PartialEnterprise feature, not yet available for all accounts	SupportedDashboard Activity page plus account-change webhooks with actor and origin.
Message history API	SupportedList and read conversations with messages and delivery status	Supported
Plans and compliance
Free plan	PartialFree Start plan with credits is for voice; messaging needs Agent Phone Plan or Enterprise	SupportedHobby: $0, up to 20 contacts, through the CLI.
Public pricing	PartialVoice plans and SMS rates are public; iMessage, RCS and WhatsApp prices are not	SupportedPro from $260/mo. Enterprise is custom.
No per-message fees	PartialSMS costs $0.02 per message; the Agent Phone Plan is flat with a 100 texts a day cap	Supported
Uptime SLA	SupportedPricing page lists a 99.9% uptime SLA on every plan	SupportedContractual SLAs on the Enterprise plan; marketing cites 99.95%
Isolated infrastructure	PartialEnterprise customers run on their own isolated infrastructure	SupportedDedicated lines across 4 data centers on paid plans; Hobby uses a shared line
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedSOC 2 Type II, independently audited	SupportedType I and Type II, reports for 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
GDPR	SupportedGDPR compliant, with a DPA in enterprise contracts	SupportedDPA covers GDPR and UK GDPR, with Standard Contractual Clauses.

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 bring your own number, self-hosting, local testing and custom channel providers.

Choose Linq if you need group chats, group management, group name and photo and mentions.

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