iBlueText vs Linq

iBlueText supports 43 of the 77 features compared here, and Linq supports 63.

Feature comparison

Feature	iBlueText	Linq
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedHosted lines on iBlueText's Macs and iPhones, or self-hosted on your own Macs	Supported
Group chats	Not listedNot mentioned in the API docs	SupportedPro plan. Up to 31 recipients. No read or delivery receipts in groups.
Group management	Not listed	SupportedAdd and remove participants and leave a group, iMessage groups only, 3-member minimum.
Group name and photo	Not listed	SupportedSet display_name and group_chat_icon on group chats.
Mentions	Not listed	SupportedGroup chats only. Notifies iMessage recipients even in a muted chat.
Tapbacks	SupportedSend six tapbacks to inbound messages and receive reaction.received. Not on SIP-on rented Macs.	SupportedSix classic tapbacks or any emoji, send and receive via reaction webhooks.
Threaded replies	Supportedreply_to quotes an inbound message; falls back to a normal message if Apple refuses	Supportedreply_to with optional part_index. iMessage only.
Typing indicators	PartialSend only, in existing iMessage threads; no inbound typing events documented	SupportedSend and receive, in direct and group chats. iMessage only.
Read receipts	PartialReceive only: message.read and read_at when the recipient has read receipts on	SupportedMark chats read and receive message.read. One-to-one chats only.
Edit and unsend	Not listed	PartialEdit text up to 5 times within 15 minutes. Delete does not unsend from the recipient's device.
Message effects	Supported8 screen and 4 bubble effects on /send	Supported11 screen and 4 bubble effects.
Animated text effects	Not listed	Supportedtext_decorations animations: big, small, shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom, jitter.
Stickers	Not listed	SupportedPeel emoji or images onto messages, send stickers, or place them inline in text.
Formatted text	Not listed	SupportedBold, italic, underline and strikethrough ranges, plus animated text. iMessage only.
Attachments	SupportedPhotos, video, voice memos, vCards and PDFs, up to 5 files of 5 MB each	SupportedUp to 10MB by URL, 100MB with pre-upload.
Live Photos	Not listed	Not listed
Rich link previews	SupportedGoHighLevel page cites real link previews; no API option documented	Supportedlink parts render as rich previews on iMessage and RCS.
Voice messages	SupportedVoice memos sent and received as attachments	SupportedDedicated voice memo endpoint renders the native iMessage voice bubble.
Contact cards	Supported.vcf files sent as attachments	SupportedSend .vcf files as media parts.
Polls	Not listed	SupportedCreate, add options, vote and read tallies, with poll webhooks. Not as a chat's first message.
Chat backgrounds	Not listed	SupportedColor, animated or photo backgrounds, in direct and group chats.
Location sharing	Not listed	SupportedRequest, read and stop Find My shares. Live location is a $79/mo add-on on Pro.
iMessage apps	Not listed	SupportedPro plan. Cards from your own Messages extension, or Linq-hosted cards (Experiences).
Live app cards	Not listed	SupportedUpdate App Card replaces a delivered iMessage app or Experience card in place.
Sender name and photo	PartialHosted lines can get a business sender name at setup; no API or photo option documented	SupportedContact card API sets name and photo, shared per chat via Name and Photo Sharing.
FaceTime calls	PartialFaceTime audio placed from the self-hosted Bridge app, with call webhooks; no call API	Not supportedDocs say the API does not place or answer calls.
Delivery status	Supportedqueued, sent, delivered, read and failed; plain SMS has no delivery receipt	Supportedsent, delivered, read and failed webhooks. Groups report sent only.
iMessage availability check	SupportedLookup API at $0.005 a number, 400 free per line a day; also detects FaceTime	Supportedcheck_imessage and check_rcs endpoints.
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	Supported
Dedicated numbers	SupportedEach hosted line is its own US number on a dedicated, warmed Apple ID	SupportedPaid lines are dedicated. Provisioned by Linq, no self-serve number API.
Shared numbers	PartialOnly the 10 free trial messages, which are sent from iBlueText's fleet	SupportedFree Hobby tier uses a Shared Line, inbound-first, 20 contacts.
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	SupportedManaged load balancing (Pro): send without from and Linq picks and fails over lines.
SMS fallback	Supported	Supported
RCS fallback	PartialFalls back to green; the carrier decides RCS or SMS and iBlueText reports which	SupportedOrder is iMessage, then RCS, then SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedCapped at 50 new iMessage and 50 new SMS contacts a day per line, 15 in the first 5 days	SupportedFree Hobby tier is inbound-first. Docs recommend inbound-first flows to avoid flagging.
Calls on the iMessage number	PartialFaceTime audio from the line's Apple ID via the self-hosted Bridge app; no phone calls	PartialAPI forwards inbound calls on the line; outbound needs caller-ID masking via another provider.
Other channels
SMS	SupportedSMS and MMS from the line's number; self-hosted can add Android phones or your own Twilio	Supported
RCS	PartialGreen messages go as RCS or SMS as the carrier decides; RCS cannot be selected	Supported
WhatsApp	SupportedYour own number paired by QR code ($19/mo add-on) or a hosted number from $49/mo	BetaSeparate WhatsApp API in beta. Access by request, no SLA.
Telegram	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Slack	Not supported	Not supported
Email	Not supported	Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to Apple ID email handles.
Phone calls	Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio only	PartialAPI does not place or answer calls; it forwards inbound calls. Calling lives in the Linq Blue app.
Apple Messages for Business	Not supportedNot offered	Not listedAI context page mentions it, but no product page or docs were found.
Unified channel API	PartialiMessage and SMS share /send; WhatsApp has its own endpoint; inbound shares one webhook	PartialiMessage, RCS and SMS share one API. WhatsApp is a separate API with its own keys and SDKs.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed	Supported@linqapp/sdk
Python SDK	Not listed	Supportedlinq-python
Other SDKs	Not listed	SupportedOfficial Go SDK.
CLI	Not listed	Supported@linqapp/cli: signup, sending, and a local webhook listener.
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, Standard Webhooks format, with replay protection.
MCP server	Supportedibluetext-mcp on npm, 30 tools	Supported@linqapp/sdk-mcp with docs search and code execution tools.
Open source	Not supportedBridge is licensed per line and cannot be resold; only the npm MCP package is MIT	PartialSDKs, CLI and adapters are Apache-2.0 or MIT on GitHub. The messaging platform is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportediBlueText Bridge runs on your own Macs from $29/mo; messages stay on your hardware	Not supportedLinq describes itself as fully managed, in contrast to self-hosted options.
Local testing	Not listed	Not listedThe CLI streams webhooks locally, but tests still use a real phone.
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	PartialRetries for 30 minutes; after that, re-fetch chats or ask Linq for a manual replay.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	PartialW3C trace IDs on every response and webhook for OTel backends. No export of Linq spans by default.
No-code integrations	SupportedNative GoHighLevel and Wix apps; Zapier, Make and n8n through webhooks	SupportedLinq Blue works as a GoHighLevel messaging provider. No n8n, Make or Zapier found for the API.
CRM integrations	SupportedNative GoHighLevel only; HubSpot and Salesforce through the API and webhooks	SupportedVia Linq Blue: GoHighLevel, HubSpot and Salesforce.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	Not listed	PartialNo own framework. Maintains a Vercel Chat SDK adapter and OpenClaw and Hermes plugins.
Agent framework integrations	Not listed	SupportedLinq-maintained Vercel Chat SDK adapter, plus OpenClaw and Hermes Agent plugins.
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not supportedDocs say the Chat SDK adapter buffers streams into one final message.
Agent group chats	Not listed	Not listed
Human handoff	SupportedPause or resume the built-in AI per conversation; it steps back 24 hours after a manual reply	Not listed
Audit logs	PartialPortal API log lists every API call for 30 days	SupportedDashboard Activity page plus account-change webhooks with actor and origin.
Message history API	SupportedConversations API returns two-way transcripts	Supported
Plans and compliance
Free plan	PartialOne-time allowance: 100 lookups, 10 verifications and 10 iMessages, no card	SupportedHobby: $0, up to 20 contacts, through the CLI.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedPro from $260/mo. Enterprise is custom.
No per-message fees	SupportedFlat per line; lookups and verifications cost $0.005 each	Supported
Uptime SLA	Not supportedTerms provide the service as is, with no guarantee of availability	SupportedContractual SLAs on the Enterprise plan; marketing cites 99.95%
Isolated infrastructure	PartialSelf-hosted runs on your own Macs; hosted runs many lines per Mac	SupportedDedicated lines across 4 data centers on paid plans; Hobby uses a shared line
SOC 2 Type II	Not listed	SupportedType I and Type II, reports for 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
GDPR	Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; no DPA found	SupportedDPA covers GDPR and UK GDPR, with Standard Contractual Clauses.

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

Pricing

Which should you choose?

Choose iBlueText if you need FaceTime calls, bring your own number, self-hosting and custom channel providers.

Choose Linq if you need group chats, group management, group name and photo and mentions.

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