iBlueText vs Sendblue

Compare iBlueText and Sendblue 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

Sendblue

iMessage API and CRM texting for sales and agents
Starting price
$100/month per line
Free plan
Free sandbox: shared number, up to 10 verified contacts, no webhooks

iBlueText supports 43 of the 77 features compared here, and Sendblue supports 58.

Feature comparison

FeatureiBlueTextSendblue
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
BetaGroup API is in beta on select plans. AI Agent plan can only reply in existing groups.
Group management
Not listed
BetaAdd and remove participants in iMessage groups via the beta groups API.
Group name and photo
Not listed
SupportedRename groups and set group photos on supported lines.
Mentions
Not listed
Not listed
Tapbacks
SupportedSend six tapbacks to inbound messages and receive reaction.received. Not on SIP-on rented Macs.
PartialSend classic tapbacks or any emoji. No inbound reaction events documented.
Threaded replies
Supportedreply_to quotes an inbound message; falls back to a normal message if Apple refuses
Supportedreply_to on V2 iMessage lines, in direct and group chats.
Typing indicators
PartialSend only, in existing iMessage threads; no inbound typing events documented
SupportedSend and receive. iMessage 1:1 only, not in groups.
Read receipts
PartialReceive only: message.read and read_at when the recipient has read receipts on
PartialCan mark chats read (1:1). Outbound statuses stop at DELIVERED, with no read status.
Edit and unsend
Not listed
Not supportedDocs say editing is not supported via API and delete does not unsend.
Message effects
Supported8 screen and 4 bubble effects on /send
Supported13 send_style values.
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
SupportedUp to 100MB on iMessage, 5MB on SMS.
Live Photos
Not listed
Not listed
Rich link previews
SupportedGoHighLevel page cites real link previews; no API option documented
PartialDocs say links expand only after the recipient saves your contact.
Voice messages
SupportedVoice memos sent and received as attachments
SupportedSend .caf files to render as inline voice notes.
Contact cards
Supported.vcf files sent as attachments
SupportedSend .vcf files via media_url.
Polls
Not listed
Not listed
Chat backgrounds
Not listed
Not listed
Location sharing
Not listed
SupportedFind My request, read and live watch. Dedicated iMessage lines only.
iMessage apps
Not listed
SupportedApp Cards for your own Messages extension. V2 lines, not on the free plan.
Live app cards
Not listed
PartialUpdates go out as new messages in the same App Card session; Sendblue says the original is not edited.
Sender name and photo
PartialHosted lines can get a business sender name at setup; no API or photo option documented
SupportedName and Photo Sharing profile per line, shared into direct iMessage chats.
FaceTime calls
PartialFaceTime audio placed from the self-hosted Bridge app, with call webhooks; no call API
PartialOutbound FaceTime audio over WebRTC (Agora). Needs a purchased FaceTime line.
Delivery status
Supportedqueued, sent, delivered, read and failed; plain SMS has no delivery receipt
SupportedStatus callbacks from REGISTERED through SENT or DELIVERED.
iMessage availability check
SupportedLookup API at $0.005 a number, 400 free per line a day; also detects FaceTime
SupportedLookup API checks a phone number or email for iMessage.
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
Supported
Shared numbers
PartialOnly the 10 free trial messages, which are sent from iBlueText's fleet
SupportedFree sandbox uses a shared number with verified contacts only.
Bring your own number
SupportedSelf-hosted uses your own iPhones and numbers; hosted lines can use your own Apple Account
PartialOnly by porting the number in, which adds 3 to 5 days.
Line pooling
SupportedCampaigns spread new contacts across your lines and keep existing contacts on their line
SupportedNumber pooling with sticky sending. Automatic line selection needs account enablement.
SMS fallback
Supported
Supported
RCS fallback
PartialFalls back to green; the carrier decides RCS or SMS and iBlueText reports which
SupportediMessage, then RCS, then SMS. RCS on V2 lines.
Outbound-first messaging
SupportedCapped at 50 new iMessage and 50 new SMS contacts a day per line, 15 in the first 5 days
SupportedFull outbound on Enterprise or Blue Ocean; Free and AI Agent plans are inbound-first
Calls on the iMessage number
PartialFaceTime audio from the line's Apple ID via the self-hosted Bridge app; no phone calls
SupportedDashboard calls and FaceTime from the texting number; API calls via your Twilio caller ID.
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
SupportedV2 lines.
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
Not listed
Email
Not supported
Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to Apple ID email addresses.
Phone calls
Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio only
PartialNo native calling API. Dashboard calls, outbound via your Twilio caller ID, inbound forwarding.
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
SupportedOne API for iMessage, RCS and SMS, the only channels offered.
Developer tools
REST API
SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published
Supported
TypeScript SDK
Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed
Supportedsendblue on npm.
Python SDK
Not listed
Supportedsendblue on PyPI.
Other SDKs
Not listed
PartialGo, Rust and Ruby packages, listed as community packages.
CLI
Not listed
Supported@sendblue/cli: signup, messaging, contacts and webhooks.
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
PartialSends your shared secret in an sb-signing-secret header. No HMAC signature.
MCP server
Supportedibluetext-mcp on npm, 30 tools
Supportedsendblue-api-mcp via npx.
Open source
Not supportedBridge is licensed per line and cannot be resold; only the npm MCP package is MIT
PartialSDKs and CLI are MIT or Apache-2.0 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 listedSold as a hosted service on Sendblue's Apple devices; self-hosting is not mentioned.
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
PartialNo replay. Docs say to repair gaps by listing messages updated since a timestamp.
OpenTelemetry
Not listed
Not listed
No-code integrations
SupportedNative GoHighLevel and Wix apps; Zapier, Make and n8n through webhooks
SupportedZapier, Make and GoHighLevel. Docs FAQ says n8n resources are coming soon.
CRM integrations
SupportedNative GoHighLevel only; HubSpot and Salesforce through the API and webhooks
SupportedGoHighLevel, HubSpot, Salesforce, Close and Monday.com.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework
Not listed
PartialNo own framework. Maintains a Vercel Chat SDK adapter.
Agent framework integrations
Not listed
SupportedSendblue-maintained Vercel Chat SDK adapter.
Streaming replies
Not listed
Not supportedDocs say message editing is not supported via the API.
Agent group chats
Not listed
BetaA line can add another of your own dedicated lines to a group, via the beta groups API.
Human handoff
SupportedPause or resume the built-in AI per conversation; it steps back 24 hours after a manual reply
SupportedShared team inboxes with assignment, and agents that escalate to a rep.
Audit logs
PartialPortal API log lists every API call for 30 days
PartialSecurity page says all API requests are logged. No customer-facing audit log documented.
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
SupportedFree sandbox: shared number, up to 10 verified contacts, no webhooks.
Public pricing
Supported
SupportedAI Agent plan at $100/mo per line. 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
Supported99.99% uptime SLA on the Enterprise plan
Isolated infrastructure
PartialSelf-hosted runs on your own Macs; hosted runs many lines per Mac
SupportedA dedicated HIPAA instance for HIPAA customers
SOC 2 Type II
Not listed
SupportedSOC 2 Type II, report on request.
GDPR
Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; no DPA found
SupportedPrivacy policy says Sendblue adheres to GDPR. DPAs on request.

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

Sendblue

A free sandbox for testing, the AI Agent plan at $100 per line per month for inbound-first use, and custom Enterprise pricing for outbound and volume.

Pricing model: flat per line, no per-message fees

Source

Which should you choose?

Choose iBlueText if you need WhatsApp, self-hosting and custom channel providers.

Choose Sendblue if you need group chats, group management, group name and photo and location sharing.

Frequently asked questions