What is the difference between Chert and Inkbox?

Chert supports 47 of the 77 features compared here, and Inkbox supports 45. Chert adds group name and photo, edit and unsend, Live Photos, rich link previews and voice messages. Inkbox adds threaded replies, iMessage availability check, RCS fallback, RCS and Slack.

Does Inkbox support group name and photo?

Inkbox does not list group name and photo on its site or in its docs.

Does Inkbox support edit and unsend?

Inkbox does not list edit and unsend on its site or in its docs.

Does Inkbox support Live Photos?

Inkbox does not list Live Photos on its site or in its docs.

Chert vs Inkbox

Q: How much do Chert and Inkbox cost?

Chert: A free 24-hour trial includes 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line; Shared is $25 a month and a dedicated line is $250 a month, but paid checkout is paused. Inkbox: Free covers 3 identities with shared iMessage; Developer is $25 a month with a VoIP number; Startup is $167 a month with one dedicated iMessage number; Enterprise is custom. SMS/MMS and call minutes over allowance cost $0.03 each.

Compare Chert and Inkbox side by side: iMessage features, channels, developer tools, pricing and compliance, checked on each provider's own site.

Chert

iMessage and FaceTime numbers for AI agents

Starting price: $25/month (Shared)
Free plan: 24-hour trial: 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line

Visit Chert Read more

Inkbox

Email, phone, iMessage and A2A identity for AI agents

Starting price: $25/month (Developer); $167/month for a dedicated iMessage number (Startup)
Free plan: Free: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time

Visit Inkbox Read more

Chert supports 47 of the 77 features compared here, and Inkbox supports 45.

Where Chert is ahead

and 2 more in the table below.

Where Inkbox is ahead

Feature comparison

Feature	Chert	Inkbox
iMessage messaging
iMessage	Supported	SupportedShared router service on every plan, or a dedicated line from the Startup plan.
Group chats	Supported2 to 31 recipients; first group message must be text only.	SupportedDedicated lines only, 2 to 8 remote participants. Shared service is 1:1.
Group management	SupportedCreate, add or remove participants, and leave a group.	PartialCreate a group by sending to 2 to 8 numbers. No add or remove member API in V1.
Group name and photo	SupportedSet a group's display name and icon.	Not listed
Mentions	Not listed	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix standard tapbacks; inbound tapbacks show in message history.	SupportedSend, replace and remove 7 tapbacks including eyes; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.
Threaded replies	Not listedHomepage mentions reply context; no reply-to field in the API docs.	Supportedreply_to_message_id in 1:1 and group chats, with thread reads. Falls back to a plain reply.
Typing indicators	SupportedBest effort; group typing is not supported on every line.	PartialSend only, in 1:1 chats. Groups and inbound typing events are not supported.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read; messages carry read_at when known.	PartialSend read receipts in 1:1 chats. No read status for your own sent messages is documented.
Edit and unsend	PartialEdit within 15 minutes; no unsend endpoint documented.	Not listed
Message effects	SupportedApple send effects, validated against an allowed list.	Supported4 bubble and 9 full-screen send styles, in 1:1 and dedicated-line groups.
Animated text effects	Not listed	Not listed
Stickers	Not listed	Not listed
Formatted text	Not listed	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedUpload then send; several images can go out as one grouped message.	SupportedOne media item per message, uploads up to 10 MiB. No media before the recipient's first reply.
Live Photos	Supportedlive_photo pairs an uploaded HEIC with its MOV.	Not listed
Rich link previews	Supportedrich_link parts render as preview bubbles; falls back to a plain URL.	Not listed
Voice messages	SupportedNative voice notes on enabled lines; inbound memos arrive as attachments, no transcript.	Not listed
Contact cards	SupportedBuilds a vCard bubble in DMs and groups.	PartialThe router sends the agent's contact card on connect. Sending other vCards is not documented.
Polls	SupportedEnabled lines only; read votes by polling, no vote webhooks yet.	Not listed
Chat backgrounds	Not listed	Not listed
Location sharing	PartialOne-time location pin on enabled lines; not Live Location or Find My.	Not listed
iMessage apps	Not listed	Not listed
Live app cards	Not listed	Not listed
Sender name and photo	SupportedNative name-and-photo sharing on enabled lines (share_native).	SupportedDedicated lines share the identity's display name and avatar automatically.
FaceTime calls	SupportedInbound audio and video, outbound audio only, bridged to your LiveKit agent.	Not listedCalls run over iMessage lines, but the docs do not say whether they are FaceTime.
Delivery status	SupportedPer-message status with delivered_at, and the channel used (iMessage or SMS).	Supportedimessage.sent, imessage.delivered and imessage.delivery_failed webhooks, per recipient in groups.
iMessage availability check	Not listed	SupportedReturns iMessage, SMS or RCS for any E.164 number.
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedChert-managed sender lines assigned to your tenant.	SupportedShared router lines and dedicated lines run by Inkbox. No Mac needed.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250/mo per line, arranged on a call; no self-serve checkout yet.	SupportedStartup plan includes one dedicated iMessage number. VoIP numbers for calls and SMS from Developer.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree 24-hour trial and $25/mo Shared plan on a shared line.	SupportedFree and paid plans include shared iMessage. The human must text the router first.
Bring your own number	Not listed	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedPicks and pins a sender line per recipient from your assigned lines.	BetaOrganization-owned shared iMessage pools, beta and by request only.
SMS fallback	PartialLines enabled for SMS retry only; plain-text 1:1 messages, not groups or media.	SupportedInkbox tries iMessage first and can fall back to SMS; was_downgraded marks it.
RCS fallback	Not listedHomepage says SMS or RCS fallback; API docs only describe SMS retry.	PartialDocs describe SMS fallback, and the service field can report rcs. The transport cannot be chosen.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedFirst send to a new recipient creates a lead and pins a line.	PartialDedicated lines can start chats, up to 40 new recipients a day. Shared service needs the human to text first.
Calls on the iMessage number	PartialHomepage offers one number for iMessage and FaceTime; docs say identities are not unified yet.	SupportedAgents place and receive voice calls over shared and dedicated iMessage lines.
Other channels
SMS	PartialOnly as an automatic retry after a failed iMessage, on enabled lines.	SupportedSMS and MMS on dedicated VoIP numbers, US and Canada included. Group MMS is beta.
RCS	Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on the homepage.	PartialOnly as a transport reported on iMessage lines; not a channel you can pick.
WhatsApp	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Telegram	Not supported	Not supported
Slack	Not listed	BetaSlack is in beta: read, reply, files and retained history search.
Email	Not supportedNot offered	SupportedEach identity gets a mailbox, with custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access.
Phone calls	Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime only.	SupportedInbound and outbound calls with your own WebSocket agent or Inkbox Voice AI (beta).
Apple Messages for Business	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Unified channel API	PartialiMessage and SMS retry share one API; FaceTime uses a separate API.	PartialOne identity and one webhook subscription across channels, but separate APIs per channel.
Developer tools
REST API	Supported	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Beta@trychert/sdk 0.2.0 on npm (MIT); the homepage still says SDK packages are not published.	Supported@inkbox/sdk
Python SDK	BetaSource preview on GitHub; not released on PyPI.	Supportedinkbox on PyPI
Other SDKs	BetaRust, C#/.NET, C++ and Go clients are source previews on GitHub.	SupportedRust SDK (inkbox crate).
CLI	BetaFaceTime CLI on npm's beta tag; the SDK adds a chert-sdk CLI for sends.	Supported@inkbox/cli
Webhooks	SupportedMultiple subscriptions with event filters; message.received for inbound.	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 per-subscription secret over timestamp and raw body.	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.
MCP server	Not listed	SupportedRemote Streamable HTTP endpoint at inkbox.ai/mcp, with a separate ChatGPT endpoint.
Open source	PartialSDKs are MIT and a FaceTime link connector is Apache-2.0; the service is closed.	PartialSDK, CLI, skills and examples are MIT on GitHub. The service is closed.
Self-hosting	Not listedOnly the open-source FaceTime link connector runs on your own machine.	Not listed
Local testing	Not listedSSE stream and dev inbox avoid a public webhook, but a real phone is still needed.	Not listed
Custom channel providers	Not listed	Not listed
Event replay	SupportedDurable event log with replay by event ID, polling and SSE.	SupportedDelivery log with replay. Incoming-call and Slack deliveries cannot be replayed.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	Not listed
No-code integrations	Not listed	Not listed
CRM integrations	SupportedSalesforce managed package and HubSpot app.	Not listed
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	PartialChert-managed FaceTime assistants and a LiveKit voice-agent starter; messaging is send and receive.	PartialIdentity layer with contact memories across email, texts and calls. No conversation framework.
Agent framework integrations	PartialFaceTime calls connect to LiveKit agents; no messaging framework integrations.	SupportedPlugins for Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code and DeepSeek Harness.
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not listed
Agent group chats	Not listed	Not listedAgents can reach each other over A2A tasks, but not in group chats.
Human handoff	SupportedSlack reply triage with approve-to-send drafts, plus a console reply pane.	PartialPeople can reply from the Console, and Voice AI can transfer a call. No handoff controls for agents.
Audit logs	Not listed	Not listed
Message history API	PartialLast 200 messages per chat; no pagination yet.	SupportedList and read conversations and threads, with search on texts and email.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	Partial24-hour trial with 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line.	SupportedFree: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time.
Public pricing	Supported	Supported
No per-message fees	SupportedFlat monthly prices; paid plans have usage limits that are not spelled out.	PartialiMessage is capped per plan with no per-message fee. Extra SMS/MMS and call minutes cost $0.03 each.
Uptime SLA	Not listed	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedDedicated $250/mo line for your project; lower plans use shared lines	PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.
SOC 2 Type II	Not listed	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy sets out GDPR legal bases and rights.	Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.

Feature

Chert

Inkbox

iMessage messaging

iMessage

Shared router service on every plan, or a dedicated line from the Startup plan.

Group chats

2 to 31 recipients; first group message must be text only.

Dedicated lines only, 2 to 8 remote participants. Shared service is 1:1.

Group management

Create, add or remove participants, and leave a group.

PartialCreate a group by sending to 2 to 8 numbers. No add or remove member API in V1.

Group name and photo

Set a group's display name and icon.

Not listed

Mentions

Not listed

Tapbacks

Six standard tapbacks; inbound tapbacks show in message history.

Send, replace and remove 7 tapbacks including eyes; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.

Threaded replies

Not listedHomepage mentions reply context; no reply-to field in the API docs.

reply_to_message_id in 1:1 and group chats, with thread reads. Falls back to a plain reply.

Typing indicators

Best effort; group typing is not supported on every line.

PartialSend only, in 1:1 chats. Groups and inbound typing events are not supported.

Read receipts

Mark chats read; messages carry read_at when known.

PartialSend read receipts in 1:1 chats. No read status for your own sent messages is documented.

Edit and unsend

PartialEdit within 15 minutes; no unsend endpoint documented.

Not listed

Message effects

Apple send effects, validated against an allowed list.

4 bubble and 9 full-screen send styles, in 1:1 and dedicated-line groups.

Animated text effects

Not listed

Stickers

Not listed

Formatted text

Not listed

Attachments

Upload then send; several images can go out as one grouped message.

One media item per message, uploads up to 10 MiB. No media before the recipient's first reply.

Live Photos

live_photo pairs an uploaded HEIC with its MOV.

Not listed

Rich link previews

rich_link parts render as preview bubbles; falls back to a plain URL.

Not listed

Voice messages

Native voice notes on enabled lines; inbound memos arrive as attachments, no transcript.

Not listed

Contact cards

Builds a vCard bubble in DMs and groups.

PartialThe router sends the agent's contact card on connect. Sending other vCards is not documented.

Polls

Enabled lines only; read votes by polling, no vote webhooks yet.

Not listed

Chat backgrounds

Not listed

Location sharing

PartialOne-time location pin on enabled lines; not Live Location or Find My.

Not listed

iMessage apps

Not listed

Live app cards

Not listed

Sender name and photo

Native name-and-photo sharing on enabled lines (share_native).

Dedicated lines share the identity's display name and avatar automatically.

FaceTime calls

Inbound audio and video, outbound audio only, bridged to your LiveKit agent.

Not listedCalls run over iMessage lines, but the docs do not say whether they are FaceTime.

Delivery status

Per-message status with delivered_at, and the channel used (iMessage or SMS).

imessage.sent, imessage.delivered and imessage.delivery_failed webhooks, per recipient in groups.

iMessage availability check

Not listed

Returns iMessage, SMS or RCS for any E.164 number.

Focus and Notify Anyway

Not listed

Numbers and delivery

Managed lines

Chert-managed sender lines assigned to your tenant.

Shared router lines and dedicated lines run by Inkbox. No Mac needed.

Dedicated numbers

$250/mo per line, arranged on a call; no self-serve checkout yet.

Startup plan includes one dedicated iMessage number. VoIP numbers for calls and SMS from Developer.

Shared numbers

Free 24-hour trial and $25/mo Shared plan on a shared line.

Free and paid plans include shared iMessage. The human must text the router first.

Bring your own number

Not listed

Line pooling

Picks and pins a sender line per recipient from your assigned lines.

BetaOrganization-owned shared iMessage pools, beta and by request only.

SMS fallback

PartialLines enabled for SMS retry only; plain-text 1:1 messages, not groups or media.

Inkbox tries iMessage first and can fall back to SMS; was_downgraded marks it.

RCS fallback

Not listedHomepage says SMS or RCS fallback; API docs only describe SMS retry.

PartialDocs describe SMS fallback, and the service field can report rcs. The transport cannot be chosen.

Outbound-first messaging

First send to a new recipient creates a lead and pins a line.

PartialDedicated lines can start chats, up to 40 new recipients a day. Shared service needs the human to text first.

Calls on the iMessage number

PartialHomepage offers one number for iMessage and FaceTime; docs say identities are not unified yet.

Agents place and receive voice calls over shared and dedicated iMessage lines.

Other channels

SMS

PartialOnly as an automatic retry after a failed iMessage, on enabled lines.

SMS and MMS on dedicated VoIP numbers, US and Canada included. Group MMS is beta.

RCS

Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on the homepage.

PartialOnly as a transport reported on iMessage lines; not a channel you can pick.

Not supportedNot offered

Not supported

Slack

Not listed

BetaSlack is in beta: read, reply, files and retained history search.

Not supportedNot offered

Each identity gets a mailbox, with custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access.

Phone calls

Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime only.

Inbound and outbound calls with your own WebSocket agent or Inkbox Voice AI (beta).

Apple Messages for Business

Not supportedNot offered

Unified channel API

PartialiMessage and SMS retry share one API; FaceTime uses a separate API.

PartialOne identity and one webhook subscription across channels, but separate APIs per channel.

Developer tools

REST API

TypeScript SDK

Beta@trychert/sdk 0.2.0 on npm (MIT); the homepage still says SDK packages are not published.

@inkbox/sdk

Python SDK

BetaSource preview on GitHub; not released on PyPI.

inkbox on PyPI

Other SDKs

BetaRust, C#/.NET, C++ and Go clients are source previews on GitHub.

Rust SDK (inkbox crate).

CLI

BetaFaceTime CLI on npm's beta tag; the SDK adds a chert-sdk CLI for sends.

@inkbox/cli

Webhooks

Multiple subscriptions with event filters; message.received for inbound.

Signed webhooks

HMAC-SHA256 per-subscription secret over timestamp and raw body.

HMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.

MCP server

Not listed

Remote Streamable HTTP endpoint at inkbox.ai/mcp, with a separate ChatGPT endpoint.

Open source

PartialSDKs are MIT and a FaceTime link connector is Apache-2.0; the service is closed.

PartialSDK, CLI, skills and examples are MIT on GitHub. The service is closed.

Self-hosting

Not listedOnly the open-source FaceTime link connector runs on your own machine.

Not listed

Local testing

Not listedSSE stream and dev inbox avoid a public webhook, but a real phone is still needed.

Not listed

Custom channel providers

Not listed

Event replay

Durable event log with replay by event ID, polling and SSE.

Delivery log with replay. Incoming-call and Slack deliveries cannot be replayed.

OpenTelemetry

Not listed

No-code integrations

Not listed

CRM integrations

Salesforce managed package and HubSpot app.

Not listed

Built for AI agents

Agent framework

PartialChert-managed FaceTime assistants and a LiveKit voice-agent starter; messaging is send and receive.

PartialIdentity layer with contact memories across email, texts and calls. No conversation framework.

Agent framework integrations

PartialFaceTime calls connect to LiveKit agents; no messaging framework integrations.

Plugins for Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code and DeepSeek Harness.

Streaming replies

Not listed

Agent group chats

Not listed

Not listedAgents can reach each other over A2A tasks, but not in group chats.

Human handoff

Slack reply triage with approve-to-send drafts, plus a console reply pane.

PartialPeople can reply from the Console, and Voice AI can transfer a call. No handoff controls for agents.

Audit logs

Not listed

Message history API

PartialLast 200 messages per chat; no pagination yet.

List and read conversations and threads, with search on texts and email.

Plans and compliance

Free plan

Partial24-hour trial with 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line.

Free: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time.

Public pricing

No per-message fees

Flat monthly prices; paid plans have usage limits that are not spelled out.

PartialiMessage is capped per plan with no per-message fee. Extra SMS/MMS and call minutes cost $0.03 each.

Uptime SLA

Not listed

Isolated infrastructure

Dedicated $250/mo line for your project; lower plans use shared lines

PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.

SOC 2 Type II

Not listed

GDPR

Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.

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

Pricing

Chert

A free 24-hour trial includes 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line; Shared is $25 a month and a dedicated line is $250 a month, but paid checkout is paused.

Pricing model: flat monthly per line, with usage limits

Source

Inkbox

Free covers 3 identities with shared iMessage; Developer is $25 a month with a VoIP number; Startup is $167 a month with one dedicated iMessage number; Enterprise is custom. SMS/MMS and call minutes over allowance cost $0.03 each.

Pricing model: monthly plans with allowances, plus per-unit SMS/MMS and call-minute overage

Source