What is the difference between iBlueText and Inkbox?

iBlueText supports 43 of the 77 features compared here, and Inkbox supports 45. iBlueText adds rich link previews, voice messages, FaceTime calls, bring your own number and WhatsApp. Inkbox adds group chats, group management, Slack, email and phone calls.

Does Inkbox support rich link previews?

Inkbox does not list rich link previews on its site or in its docs.

Does Inkbox support voice messages?

Inkbox does not list voice messages on its site or in its docs.

Does Inkbox support FaceTime calls?

Inkbox does not list FaceTime calls on its site or in its docs.

iBlueText vs Inkbox

Q: How much do iBlueText and Inkbox cost?

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

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

Visit iBlueText 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

iBlueText supports 43 of the 77 features compared here, and Inkbox supports 45.

Where iBlueText is ahead

and 2 more in the table below.

Where Inkbox is ahead

and 4 more in the table below.

Feature comparison

Feature	iBlueText	Inkbox
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedHosted lines on iBlueText's Macs and iPhones, or self-hosted on your own Macs	SupportedShared router service on every plan, or a dedicated line from the Startup plan.
Group chats	Not listedNot mentioned in the API docs	SupportedDedicated lines only, 2 to 8 remote participants. Shared service is 1:1.
Group management	Not listed	PartialCreate a group by sending to 2 to 8 numbers. No add or remove member API in V1.
Group name and photo	Not listed	Not listed
Mentions	Not listed	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSend six tapbacks to inbound messages and receive reaction.received. Not on SIP-on rented Macs.	SupportedSend, replace and remove 7 tapbacks including eyes; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.
Threaded replies	Supportedreply_to quotes an inbound message; falls back to a normal message if Apple refuses	Supportedreply_to_message_id in 1:1 and group chats, with thread reads. Falls back to a plain reply.
Typing indicators	PartialSend only, in existing iMessage threads; no inbound typing events documented	PartialSend only, in 1:1 chats. Groups and inbound typing events are not supported.
Read receipts	PartialReceive only: message.read and read_at when the recipient has read receipts on	PartialSend read receipts in 1:1 chats. No read status for your own sent messages is documented.
Edit and unsend	Not listed	Not listed
Message effects	Supported8 screen and 4 bubble effects on /send	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	SupportedPhotos, video, voice memos, vCards and PDFs, up to 5 files of 5 MB each	SupportedOne media item per message, uploads up to 10 MiB. No media before the recipient's first reply.
Live Photos	Not listed	Not listed
Rich link previews	SupportedGoHighLevel page cites real link previews; no API option documented	Not listed
Voice messages	SupportedVoice memos sent and received as attachments	Not listed
Contact cards	Supported.vcf files sent as attachments	PartialThe router sends the agent's contact card on connect. Sending other vCards is not documented.
Polls	Not listed	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	PartialHosted lines can get a business sender name at setup; no API or photo option documented	SupportedDedicated lines share the identity's display name and avatar automatically.
FaceTime calls	PartialFaceTime audio placed from the self-hosted Bridge app, with call webhooks; no call API	Not listedCalls run over iMessage lines, but the docs do not say whether they are FaceTime.
Delivery status	Supportedqueued, sent, delivered, read and failed; plain SMS has no delivery receipt	Supportedimessage.sent, imessage.delivered and imessage.delivery_failed webhooks, per recipient in groups.
iMessage availability check	SupportedLookup API at $0.005 a number, 400 free per line a day; also detects FaceTime	SupportedReturns iMessage, SMS or RCS for any E.164 number.
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedHosted plan: iBlueText runs the Mac, iPhone, Apple Account and US number	SupportedShared router lines and dedicated lines run by Inkbox. No Mac needed.
Dedicated numbers	SupportedEach hosted line is its own US number on a dedicated, warmed Apple ID	SupportedStartup plan includes one dedicated iMessage number. VoIP numbers for calls and SMS from Developer.
Shared numbers	PartialOnly the 10 free trial messages, which are sent from iBlueText's fleet	SupportedFree and paid plans include shared iMessage. The human must text the router first.
Bring your own number	SupportedSelf-hosted uses your own iPhones and numbers; hosted lines can use your own Apple Account	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedCampaigns spread new contacts across your lines and keep existing contacts on their line	BetaOrganization-owned shared iMessage pools, beta and by request only.
SMS fallback	Supported	SupportedInkbox tries iMessage first and can fall back to SMS; was_downgraded marks it.
RCS fallback	PartialFalls back to green; the carrier decides RCS or SMS and iBlueText reports which	PartialDocs describe SMS fallback, and the service field can report rcs. The transport cannot be chosen.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedCapped at 50 new iMessage and 50 new SMS contacts a day per line, 15 in the first 5 days	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	PartialFaceTime audio from the line's Apple ID via the self-hosted Bridge app; no phone calls	SupportedAgents place and receive voice calls over shared and dedicated iMessage lines.
Other channels
SMS	SupportedSMS and MMS from the line's number; self-hosted can add Android phones or your own Twilio	SupportedSMS and MMS on dedicated VoIP numbers, US and Canada included. Group MMS is beta.
RCS	PartialGreen messages go as RCS or SMS as the carrier decides; RCS cannot be selected	PartialOnly as a transport reported on iMessage lines; not a channel you can pick.
WhatsApp	SupportedYour own number paired by QR code ($19/mo add-on) or a hosted number from $49/mo	Not supportedNot offered
Telegram	Not supportedNot offered	Not supported
Slack	Not supported	BetaSlack is in beta: read, reply, files and retained history search.
Email	Not supported	SupportedEach identity gets a mailbox, with custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access.
Phone calls	Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio 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 share /send; WhatsApp has its own endpoint; inbound shares one webhook	PartialOne identity and one webhook subscription across channels, but separate APIs per channel.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed	Supported@inkbox/sdk
Python SDK	Not listed	Supportedinkbox on PyPI
Other SDKs	Not listed	SupportedRust SDK (inkbox crate).
CLI	Not listed	Supported@inkbox/cli
Webhooks	SupportedReplies, opt-outs and opt-in status events, per account or per line	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedX-IBT-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.
MCP server	Supportedibluetext-mcp on npm, 30 tools	SupportedRemote Streamable HTTP endpoint at inkbox.ai/mcp, with a separate ChatGPT endpoint.
Open source	Not supportedBridge is licensed per line and cannot be resold; only the npm MCP package is MIT	PartialSDK, CLI, skills and examples are MIT on GitHub. The service is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportediBlueText Bridge runs on your own Macs from $29/mo; messages stay on your hardware	Not listed
Local testing	Not listed	Not listed
Custom channel providers	PartialSelf-hosted Bridge can route SMS through your own Twilio account	Not listed
Event replay	PartialWebhooks retried 3 times over about 12 minutes; conversations API has a since filter	SupportedDelivery log with replay. Incoming-call and Slack deliveries cannot be replayed.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	Not listed
No-code integrations	SupportedNative GoHighLevel and Wix apps; Zapier, Make and n8n through webhooks	Not listed
CRM integrations	SupportedNative GoHighLevel only; HubSpot and Salesforce through the API and webhooks	Not listed
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	Not listed	PartialIdentity layer with contact memories across email, texts and calls. No conversation framework.
Agent framework integrations	Not listed	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	SupportedPause or resume the built-in AI per conversation; it steps back 24 hours after a manual reply	PartialPeople can reply from the Console, and Voice AI can transfer a call. No handoff controls for agents.
Audit logs	PartialPortal API log lists every API call for 30 days	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedConversations API returns two-way transcripts	SupportedList and read conversations and threads, with search on texts and email.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	PartialOne-time allowance: 100 lookups, 10 verifications and 10 iMessages, no card	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 per line; lookups and verifications cost $0.005 each	PartialiMessage is capped per plan with no per-message fee. Extra SMS/MMS and call minutes cost $0.03 each.
Uptime SLA	Not supportedTerms provide the service as is, with no guarantee of availability	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	PartialSelf-hosted runs on your own Macs; hosted runs many lines per Mac	PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.
SOC 2 Type II	Not listed	Not listed
GDPR	Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; no DPA found	Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.

Feature

iBlueText

Inkbox

iMessage messaging

iMessage

Hosted lines on iBlueText's Macs and iPhones, or self-hosted on your own Macs

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

Group chats

Not listedNot mentioned in the API docs

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

Group management

Not listed

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

Group name and photo

Not listed

Mentions

Not listed

Tapbacks

Send six tapbacks to inbound messages and receive reaction.received. Not on SIP-on rented Macs.

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

Threaded replies

reply_to quotes an inbound message; falls back to a normal message if Apple refuses

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

Typing indicators

PartialSend only, in existing iMessage threads; no inbound typing events documented

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

Read receipts

PartialReceive only: message.read and read_at when the recipient has read receipts on

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

Edit and unsend

Not listed

Message effects

8 screen and 4 bubble effects on /send

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

Photos, video, voice memos, vCards and PDFs, up to 5 files of 5 MB each

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

Live Photos

Not listed

Rich link previews

GoHighLevel page cites real link previews; no API option documented

Not listed

Voice messages

Voice memos sent and received as attachments

Not listed

Contact cards

.vcf files sent as attachments

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

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Sender name and photo

PartialHosted lines can get a business sender name at setup; no API or photo option documented

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

FaceTime calls

PartialFaceTime audio placed from the self-hosted Bridge app, with call webhooks; no call API

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

Delivery status

queued, sent, delivered, read and failed; plain SMS has no delivery receipt

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

iMessage availability check

Lookup API at $0.005 a number, 400 free per line a day; also detects FaceTime

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

Focus and Notify Anyway

Not listed

Numbers and delivery

Managed lines

Hosted plan: iBlueText runs the Mac, iPhone, Apple Account and US number

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

Dedicated numbers

Each hosted line is its own US number on a dedicated, warmed Apple ID

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

Shared numbers

PartialOnly the 10 free trial messages, which are sent from iBlueText's fleet

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

Bring your own number

Self-hosted uses your own iPhones and numbers; hosted lines can use your own Apple Account

Not listed

Line pooling

Campaigns spread new contacts across your lines and keep existing contacts on their line

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

SMS fallback

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

RCS fallback

PartialFalls back to green; the carrier decides RCS or SMS and iBlueText reports which

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

Outbound-first messaging

Capped at 50 new iMessage and 50 new SMS contacts a day per line, 15 in the first 5 days

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

PartialFaceTime audio from the line's Apple ID via the self-hosted Bridge app; no phone calls

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

Other channels

SMS

SMS and MMS from the line's number; self-hosted can add Android phones or your own Twilio

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

RCS

PartialGreen messages go as RCS or SMS as the carrier decides; RCS cannot be selected

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

Your own number paired by QR code ($19/mo add-on) or a hosted number from $49/mo

Not supportedNot offered

Not supported

Slack

Not supported

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

Not supported

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

Phone calls

Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio 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 share /send; WhatsApp has its own endpoint; inbound shares one webhook

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

Developer tools

REST API

OpenAPI 3.1 spec published

TypeScript SDK

Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed

@inkbox/sdk

Python SDK

Not listed

inkbox on PyPI

Other SDKs

Not listed

Rust SDK (inkbox crate).

CLI

Not listed

@inkbox/cli

Webhooks

Replies, opt-outs and opt-in status events, per account or per line

Signed webhooks

X-IBT-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body

HMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.

MCP server

ibluetext-mcp on npm, 30 tools

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

Open source

Not supportedBridge is licensed per line and cannot be resold; only the npm MCP package is MIT

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

Self-hosting

iBlueText Bridge runs on your own Macs from $29/mo; messages stay on your hardware

Not listed

Local testing

Not listed

Custom channel providers

PartialSelf-hosted Bridge can route SMS through your own Twilio account

Not listed

Event replay

PartialWebhooks retried 3 times over about 12 minutes; conversations API has a since filter

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

OpenTelemetry

Not listed

No-code integrations

Native GoHighLevel and Wix apps; Zapier, Make and n8n through webhooks

Not listed

CRM integrations

Native GoHighLevel only; HubSpot and Salesforce through the API and webhooks

Not listed

Built for AI agents

Agent framework

Not listed

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

Agent framework integrations

Not listed

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

Pause or resume the built-in AI per conversation; it steps back 24 hours after a manual reply

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

Audit logs

PartialPortal API log lists every API call for 30 days

Not listed

Message history API

Conversations API returns two-way transcripts

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

Plans and compliance

Free plan

PartialOne-time allowance: 100 lookups, 10 verifications and 10 iMessages, no card

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 per line; lookups and verifications cost $0.005 each

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

Uptime SLA

Not supportedTerms provide the service as is, with no guarantee of availability

Not listed

Isolated infrastructure

PartialSelf-hosted runs on your own Macs; hosted runs many lines per Mac

PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.

SOC 2 Type II

Not listed

GDPR

Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; no DPA found

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

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.

Pricing model: flat per line, plus prepaid credits for lookups and verifications

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