Dial vs Project Blue
Compare Dial and Project Blue 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
Project Blue
iMessage, SMS and FaceTime Audio lines inside your CRM
- Starting price
- $166/month per line, billed annually
- Free plan
- Free trial on a shared line, verified numbers only
Dial supports 44 of the 77 features compared here, and Project Blue supports 42.
Where Dial is ahead
and 4 more in the table below.
Where Project Blue is ahead
- Group management
- Group name and photo
- Message effects
- FaceTime calls
- Shared numbers
- Bring your own number
- Line pooling
- Slack
and 2 more in the table below.
Feature comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| iMessage messaging | ||
| iMessage | ||
| Group chats | ||
| Group management | ||
| Group name and photo | Not listedGroup names are read live from the line; no way to set a name or photo is documented. | |
| Mentions | Not listed | Not listed |
| Tapbacks | ||
| Threaded replies | Not listed | |
| Typing indicators | ||
| Read receipts | Not listed | |
| 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 | 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 | Not listedHomepage describes fallback from iMessage to WhatsApp to SMS. RCS fallback is not described. | |
| 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 supportedNot offered | ||
| Phone calls | ||
| 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 | ||
| Python SDK | Not listed | |
| Other SDKs | Not listed | |
| CLI | Not listed | |
| Webhooks | ||
| Signed webhooks | Not listedWebhook docs do not mention signatures. | |
| 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. | Not listedHosted service on Project Blue lines. Self-hosting is not mentioned. |
| Local testing | Not listed | Not listedTrial accounts send real messages to verified numbers; docs say they are not a simulator. |
| Custom channel providers | Not listed | 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 | Not listed |
| Message history API | ||
| Plans and compliance | ||
| Free plan | ||
| Public pricing | ||
| No per-message fees | ||
| Uptime SLA | Not listedSite cites a 99.9% uptime record and a public status page. No contractual SLA found. | |
| Isolated infrastructure | Not listed | |
| SOC 2 Type II | Not listed | |
| GDPR |
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
SourceProject Blue
Flat per-line pricing: $166 a month per line billed annually or $199 a month per line on a 12-month plan, with a free trial on a shared line.
Pricing model: flat per line
SourceWhich should you choose?
Choose Dial if you need threaded replies, read receipts, polls and RCS fallback.
Choose Project Blue if you need group management, group name and photo, message effects and FaceTime calls.
Frequently asked questions
Dial supports 44 of the 77 features compared here, and Project Blue supports 42. Dial adds threaded replies, read receipts, polls, RCS fallback and Python SDK. Project Blue adds group management, group name and photo, message effects, FaceTime calls and shared numbers.
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. Project Blue: Flat per-line pricing: $166 a month per line billed annually or $199 a month per line on a 12-month plan, with a free trial on a shared line.
Project Blue does not list threaded replies on its site or in its docs.
Project Blue does not list read receipts on its site or in its docs.
Project Blue does not list polls on its site or in its docs.