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Chert vs Sinch

Compare Chert and Sinch 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 ChertRead more

Sinch

CPaaS with 13 messaging channels in one API
Starting price
$0.0078 per US 10DLC SMS, plus carrier fees
Free plan
Free developer account with an SMS sandbox and test credit
Visit SinchRead more

Chert supports 47 of the 77 features compared here, and Sinch supports 33.

Where Chert is ahead

and 19 more in the table below.

Where Sinch is ahead

and 5 more in the table below.

Feature comparison

FeatureChertSinch
iMessage messaging
iMessage
Supported
Not supportedNo iMessage support
Group chats
Supported2 to 31 recipients; first group message must be text only.
Not supported
Group management
SupportedCreate, add or remove participants, and leave a group.
Not supported
Group name and photo
SupportedSet a group's display name and icon.
Not supported
Mentions
Not listed
Not supported
Tapbacks
SupportedSix standard tapbacks; inbound tapbacks show in message history.
Not supported
Threaded replies
Not listedHomepage mentions reply context; no reply-to field in the API docs.
Not supported
Typing indicators
SupportedBest effort; group typing is not supported on every line.
Not supported
Read receipts
SupportedMark chats read; messages carry read_at when known.
Not supported
Edit and unsend
PartialEdit within 15 minutes; no unsend endpoint documented.
Not supported
Message effects
SupportedApple send effects, validated against an allowed list.
Not supported
Animated text effects
Not listed
Not supported
Stickers
Not listed
Not supported
Formatted text
Not listed
Not supported
Attachments
SupportedUpload then send; several images can go out as one grouped message.
Not supported
Live Photos
Supportedlive_photo pairs an uploaded HEIC with its MOV.
Not supported
Rich link previews
Supportedrich_link parts render as preview bubbles; falls back to a plain URL.
Not supported
Voice messages
SupportedNative voice notes on enabled lines; inbound memos arrive as attachments, no transcript.
Not supported
Contact cards
SupportedBuilds a vCard bubble in DMs and groups.
Not supported
Polls
SupportedEnabled lines only; read votes by polling, no vote webhooks yet.
Not supported
Chat backgrounds
Not listed
Not supported
Location sharing
PartialOne-time location pin on enabled lines; not Live Location or Find My.
Not supported
iMessage apps
Not listed
Not supported
Live app cards
Not listed
Not supported
Sender name and photo
SupportedNative name-and-photo sharing on enabled lines (share_native).
Not supported
FaceTime calls
SupportedInbound audio and video, outbound audio only, bridged to your LiveKit agent.
Not supported
Delivery status
SupportedPer-message status with delivered_at, and the channel used (iMessage or SMS).
Not supported
iMessage availability check
Not listed
Not supported
Focus and Notify Anyway
Not listed
Not supported
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines
SupportedChert-managed sender lines assigned to your tenant.
Not supportedNo iMessage support
Dedicated numbers
Supported$250/mo per line, arranged on a call; no self-serve checkout yet.
SupportedSearch and rent numbers by API, CLI or dashboard
Shared numbers
SupportedFree 24-hour trial and $25/mo Shared plan on a shared line.
Not listed
Bring your own number
Not listed
PartialImport and text-enable numbers kept at another carrier; US and Canada only
Line pooling
SupportedPicks and pins a sender line per recipient from your assigned lines.
Not listed
SMS fallback
PartialLines enabled for SMS retry only; plain-text 1:1 messages, not groups or media.
Not supportedNo iMessage support; Conversation API can fall back from other channels to SMS
RCS fallback
Not listedHomepage says SMS or RCS fallback; API docs only describe SMS retry.
Not supportedNo iMessage support
Outbound-first messaging
SupportedFirst send to a new recipient creates a lead and pins a line.
SupportedBusiness-initiated sends; WhatsApp needs approved templates
Calls on the iMessage number
PartialHomepage offers one number for iMessage and FaceTime; docs say identities are not unified yet.
Not supportedNo iMessage support
Other channels
SMS
PartialOnly as an automatic retry after a failed iMessage, on enabled lines.
SupportedSMS and MMS channels in Conversation API
RCS
Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on the homepage.
Supported
WhatsApp
Not supportedNot offered
Supported
Telegram
Not supported
SupportedTelegram Bot channel
Slack
Not listed
Not supportedNot offered
Email
Not supportedNot offered
SupportedThrough Sinch Mailgun and Mailjet, a separate API from Conversation API
Phone calls
Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime only.
SupportedVoice API for PSTN, SIP and in-app calls, plus Elastic SIP Trunking
Apple Messages for Business
Not supportedNot offered
Not listed
Unified channel API
PartialiMessage and SMS retry share one API; FaceTime uses a separate API.
PartialConversation API covers 13 messaging channels; email and voice use separate APIs
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.
SupportedNode.js SDK
Python SDK
BetaSource preview on GitHub; not released on PyPI.
Supported
Other SDKs
BetaRust, C#/.NET, C++ and Go clients are source previews on GitHub.
SupportedJava and .NET
CLI
BetaFaceTime CLI on npm's beta tag; the SDK adds a chert-sdk CLI for sends.
Supported@sinch/cli for numbers, messaging, voice, fax, SIP and Functions
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 over body, nonce and timestamp; OAuth 2.0 option
MCP server
Not listed
BetaDeveloper Preview MCP server for messaging, email, numbers, verification, voice; plus a Docs MCP
Open source
PartialSDKs are MIT and a FaceTime link connector is Apache-2.0; the service is closed.
Not supportedClosed platform; SDKs and MCP server are Apache-2.0
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.
PartialFree SMS sandbox simulates sends and delivery statuses; no phone emulator
Custom channel providers
Not listed
PartialChatlayer Webhook channel plugs a custom channel into a bot; Conversation API channels are fixed
Event replay
SupportedDurable event log with replay by event ID, polling and SSE.
PartialCallbacks retried with exponential backoff (window unstated); List Messages can fetch missed inbound
OpenTelemetry
Not listed
Not listed
No-code integrations
Not listed
SupportedZapier for Conversation API; official n8n node on GitHub; Make and Zapier for Sinch Engage
CRM integrations
SupportedSalesforce managed package and HubSpot app.
SupportedSalesforce Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud; HubSpot through Sinch Engage
Built for AI agents
Agent framework
PartialChert-managed FaceTime assistants and a LiveKit voice-agent starter; messaging is send and receive.
SupportedChatlayer, a no-code chat and voice bot builder with NLP and generative AI
Agent framework integrations
PartialFaceTime calls connect to LiveKit agents; no messaging framework integrations.
PartialVoice Relay tutorial uses LangChain; OpenAI Agents SDK support is via the MCP server only
Streaming replies
Not listed
PartialVoice only: Voice Relay speaks TTS text chunks as they arrive; message PATCH edits metadata only
Agent group chats
Not listed
Not supportedA Conversation API conversation has two participants, one app and one contact
Human handoff
SupportedSlack reply triage with approve-to-send drafts, plus a console reply pane.
SupportedChatlayer hands off to Contact Pro, Salesforce Service Cloud, Genesys and others
Audit logs
Not listed
Not listed
Message history API
PartialLast 200 messages per chat; no pagination yet.
SupportedList messages and conversations; retention depends on processing mode
Plans and compliance
Free plan
Partial24-hour trial with 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line.
SupportedFree developer account with an SMS sandbox (simulated sends to verified numbers) and test credit
Public pricing
Supported
Supported
No per-message fees
SupportedFlat monthly prices; paid plans have usage limits that are not spelled out.
Not supportedBilled per message, plus carrier fees
Uptime SLA
Not listed
SupportedMessaging SLA targets 99.95% monthly availability under an Order Form
Isolated infrastructure
SupportedDedicated $250/mo line for your project; lower plans use shared lines
Not listed
SOC 2 Type II
Not listed
SupportedType II for SMS API, Mailgun, Fax API and others; Voice and Chatlayer have Type I
GDPR
SupportedPrivacy policy sets out GDPR legal bases and rights.
SupportedPrivacy program led by a DPO; DPA available

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

Sinch

Pay as you go per message for SMS, MMS, RCS and voice, with carrier fees on top and custom plans through sales.

Pricing model: per message

Source

Which should you choose?

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

Choose Sinch if you need bring your own number, RCS, WhatsApp and Telegram.

Frequently asked questions

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More Sinch comparisons

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