Dial vs iBlueText
Compare Dial and iBlueText side by side: iMessage features, channels, developer tools, pricing and compliance, checked on each provider's own site.
Dial
Phone numbers with calls, SMS and iMessage for AI agents
- Starting price
- $3/month per standard number; $250/month per iMessage number
- Free plan
- $5 free credit, no credit card required
iBlueText
Hosted or self-hosted iMessage lines with iPhone lookup
- Starting price
- $29/month (self-hosted, 1 line); $99/month per hosted line
- Free plan
- No-card trial: 100 lookups, 10 verifications and 10 iMessages; self-hosted 3-day trial
Dial supports 44 of the 77 features compared here, and iBlueText supports 43.
Where Dial is ahead
and 4 more in the table below.
Where iBlueText is ahead
- Message effects
- Rich link previews
- FaceTime calls
- Shared numbers
- Bring your own number
- Line pooling
- Self-hosting
- Custom channel providers
and 3 more in the table below.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| iMessage messaging | ||
| iMessage | ||
| Group chats | Not listedNot mentioned in the API docs | |
| Group management | Not listed | |
| Group name and photo | Not listedGroup names are read live from the line; no way to set a name or photo is documented. | Not listed |
| Mentions | Not listed | Not listed |
| Tapbacks | ||
| Threaded replies | ||
| Typing indicators | ||
| Read receipts | ||
| Edit and unsend | Not listed | Not listed |
| Message effects | Not listed | |
| Animated text effects | Not listed | Not listed |
| Stickers | Not listed | Not listed |
| Formatted text | Not listed | Not listed |
| Attachments | ||
| Live Photos | Not listed | Not listed |
| Rich link previews | Not listed | |
| Voice messages | ||
| Contact cards | ||
| Polls | Not listed | |
| Chat backgrounds | Not listed | Not listed |
| Location sharing | Not listed | Not listed |
| iMessage apps | Not listed | Not listed |
| Live app cards | Not listed | Not listed |
| Sender name and photo | ||
| FaceTime calls | Not listed | |
| Delivery status | ||
| iMessage availability check | ||
| Focus and Notify Anyway | Not listed | Not listed |
| Numbers and delivery | ||
| Managed lines | ||
| Dedicated numbers | ||
| Shared numbers | Not listed | |
| Bring your own number | Not listed | |
| Line pooling | Not listedDocs suggest splitting recipients across several iMessage numbers by hand; no automatic pooling found. | |
| SMS fallback | ||
| RCS fallback | ||
| Outbound-first messaging | ||
| Calls on the iMessage number | ||
| Other channels | ||
| SMS | ||
| RCS | ||
| Telegram | Not supportedNot offered | Not supportedNot offered |
| Slack | Not supportedNot offered as a channel. A Zapier app can forward messages to Slack. | Not supported |
Not supportedNot offered | Not supported | |
| Phone calls | Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio only | |
| Apple Messages for Business | Not listedDocs say iMessage numbers send over Apple Messages for Business, but no business chat product is documented. | Not supportedNot offered |
| Unified channel API | ||
| Developer tools | ||
| REST API | ||
| TypeScript SDK | Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed | |
| Python SDK | Not listed | |
| Other SDKs | Not listed | |
| CLI | Not listed | |
| Webhooks | ||
| Signed webhooks | ||
| MCP server | ||
| Open source | ||
| Self-hosting | Not listedSelf-Hosted mode only means calls are driven by your own agent server; the platform itself is hosted. | |
| Local testing | Not listed | Not listed |
| Custom channel providers | Not listed | |
| Event replay | ||
| OpenTelemetry | Not listed | Not listed |
| No-code integrations | ||
| CRM integrations | Not listed | |
| Built for AI agents | ||
| Agent framework | Not listed | |
| Agent framework integrations | Not listed | |
| Streaming replies | Not listed | Not listed |
| Agent group chats | Not listed | Not listed |
| Human handoff | ||
| Audit logs | Not listed | |
| Message history API | ||
| Plans and compliance | ||
| Free plan | ||
| Public pricing | ||
| No per-message fees | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Isolated infrastructure | Not listed | |
| SOC 2 Type II | Not listed | |
| GDPR | Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; no DPA found |
Checked on each provider's own site and docs on 2026-10-25. “Not listed” means the provider does not mention it.
Pricing
Dial
Pay-as-you-go starts with $5 of free credit. A standard number is $3 a month plus metered SMS and calls, an iMessage number is $250 a month with free messages, and Enterprise is custom.
Pricing model: per number plus metered usage; iMessage messages free on an iMessage number
SourceiBlueText
Hosted lines cost $99 a month each plus a one-time setup fee from $249, self-hosted Bridge plans run from $29 a month for 1 line to $999 for 100 lines, and lookups cost $0.005 each.
Pricing model: flat per line, plus prepaid credits for lookups and verifications
SourceWhich should you choose?
Choose Dial if you need group chats, polls, phone calls and TypeScript SDK.
Choose iBlueText if you need message effects, rich link previews, FaceTime calls and shared numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Dial supports 44 of the 77 features compared here, and iBlueText supports 43. Dial adds group chats, polls, phone calls, TypeScript SDK and Python SDK. iBlueText adds message effects, rich link previews, FaceTime calls, shared numbers and bring your own number.
Dial: Pay-as-you-go starts with $5 of free credit. A standard number is $3 a month plus metered SMS and calls, an iMessage number is $250 a month with free messages, and Enterprise is custom. iBlueText: Hosted lines cost $99 a month each plus a one-time setup fee from $249, self-hosted Bridge plans run from $29 a month for 1 line to $999 for 100 lines, and lookups cost $0.005 each.
iBlueText does not list group chats on its site or in its docs.
iBlueText does not list polls on its site or in its docs.
iBlueText does not support phone calls.