What is the difference between Inkbox and Tuco AI?

Inkbox supports 45 of the 77 features compared here, and Tuco AI supports 41. Inkbox adds group chats, group management, threaded replies, message effects and contact cards. Tuco AI adds voice messages, FaceTime calls, bring your own number, Telegram and local testing.

Does Tuco AI support group chats?

Tuco AI does not support group chats.

Does Tuco AI support group management?

Tuco AI does not support group management.

Does Tuco AI support threaded replies?

Tuco AI does not list threaded replies on its site or in its docs.

Inkbox vs Tuco AI

Q: How much do Inkbox and Tuco AI cost?

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. Tuco AI: Starter is $149 a month for 1 line and Growth $299 a month for 2 lines, each with a one-time $335 setup fee per line and no per-message fees.

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

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

Tuco AI

iMessage follow-up for opted-in leads from your CRM

Starting price: $149/month (Starter, 1 line) plus $335 setup
Free plan: None; docs say no free trials or refunds

Visit Tuco AI Read more

Inkbox supports 45 of the 77 features compared here, and Tuco AI supports 41.

Where Inkbox is ahead

and 6 more in the table below.

Where Tuco AI is ahead

and 2 more in the table below.

Feature comparison

Feature	Inkbox	Tuco AI
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedShared router service on every plan, or a dedicated line from the Startup plan.	Supported
Group chats	SupportedDedicated lines only, 2 to 8 remote participants. Shared service is 1:1.	Not supportedTuco's llms.txt says it has no group chats.
Group management	PartialCreate a group by sending to 2 to 8 numbers. No add or remove member API in V1.	Not supportedNo group chat support
Group name and photo	Not listed	Not supported
Mentions	Not listed	Not supported
Tapbacks	SupportedSend, replace and remove 7 tapbacks including eyes; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.	SupportedSend six classic tapbacks by API; inbound reactions, including custom emoji, arrive as message.reaction.
Threaded replies	Supportedreply_to_message_id in 1:1 and group chats, with thread reads. Falls back to a plain reply.	Not listed
Typing indicators	PartialSend only, in 1:1 chats. Groups and inbound typing events are not supported.	PartialStart and stop typing by API, best effort. Inbound typing events not documented.
Read receipts	PartialSend read receipts in 1:1 chats. No read status for your own sent messages is documented.	Supportedmessage.opened webhook with readAt when the recipient has read receipts on.
Edit and unsend	Not listed	Not listed
Message effects	Supported4 bubble and 9 full-screen send styles, in 1:1 and dedicated-line groups.	Not listed
Animated text effects	Not listed	Not listed
Stickers	Not listed	Not listed
Formatted text	Not listed	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedOne media item per message, uploads up to 10 MiB. No media before the recipient's first reply.	SupportedUp to 2 files per message, 25 MB each. Not allowed on the first message to a contact.
Live Photos	Not listed	Not listed
Rich link previews	Not listed	Not listed
Voice messages	Not listed	SupportedvoiceNote sends one audio file as a native voice note bubble.
Contact cards	PartialThe router sends the agent's contact card on connect. Sending other vCards is not documented.	Not listed
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	SupportedDedicated lines share the identity's display name and avatar automatically.	PartialLine name and photo are set by Tuco staff, at most 3 changes per line per month.
FaceTime calls	Not listedCalls run over iMessage lines, but the docs do not say whether they are FaceTime.	PartialFaceTime Audio calls as a $100/month per-line add-on. Tuco's llms.txt says it has no FaceTime.
Delivery status	Supportedimessage.sent, imessage.delivered and imessage.delivery_failed webhooks, per recipient in groups.	Supportedqueued, sent, delivered, failed and fallback statuses, with sent, failed and fallback webhooks.
iMessage availability check	SupportedReturns iMessage, SMS or RCS for any E.164 number.	SupportedSingle, round-robin and bulk checks, about 70 per line per day.
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedShared router lines and dedicated lines run by Inkbox. No Mac needed.	SupportedEach line is a real iPhone with an eSIM that Tuco hosts. About 48 hours to activate.
Dedicated numbers	SupportedStartup plan includes one dedicated iMessage number. VoIP numbers for calls and SMS from Developer.	SupportedOne Apple identity per line. Lines can be ordered by API.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and paid plans include shared iMessage. The human must text the router first.	Not listed
Bring your own number	Not listed	PartialDocs say existing numbers cannot be ported in, but a Linq migration page offers to port Linq numbers.
Line pooling	BetaOrganization-owned shared iMessage pools, beta and by request only.	SupportedSends without fromLineId round-robin across active lines.
SMS fallback	SupportedInkbox tries iMessage first and can fall back to SMS; was_downgraded marks it.	PartialThrough your Twilio, GoHighLevel or webhook provider, or P2P SMS from the line once support enables it.
RCS fallback	PartialDocs describe SMS fallback, and the service field can report rcs. The transport cannot be chosen.	Not supportedRCS not offered
Outbound-first messaging	PartialDedicated lines can start chats, up to 40 new recipients a day. Shared service needs the human to text first.	SupportedOutbound to opted-in contacts. Cold lists are refused, and first messages cannot carry links or files.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedAgents place and receive voice calls over shared and dedicated iMessage lines.	SupportedCalls go out from the same number the line texts from. 500 minutes per line per month included.
Other channels
SMS	SupportedSMS and MMS on dedicated VoIP numbers, US and Canada included. Group MMS is beta.	PartialSMS through your own Twilio, GHL or webhook provider, or P2P SMS from the line in its eSIM country.
RCS	PartialOnly as a transport reported on iMessage lines; not a channel you can pick.	Not supportedNot offered
WhatsApp	Not supportedNot offered	Not supported
Telegram	Not supported	PartialTelegram bot for team notifications and replies. Leads are not messaged on Telegram.
Slack	BetaSlack is in beta: read, reply, files and retained history search.	PartialLead conversations appear as Slack threads the team can reply from. Not a channel to contacts.
Email	SupportedEach identity gets a mailbox, with custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access.	SupportedmessageType email sends email, and an email bridge sends iMessages from your inbox.
Phone calls	SupportedInbound and outbound calls with your own WebSocket agent or Inkbox Voice AI (beta).	SupportedOutbound calls with recording, inbound forwarding and a click-to-call API (beta, +1 numbers only).
Apple Messages for Business	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Unified channel API	PartialOne identity and one webhook subscription across channels, but separate APIs per channel.	SupportedOne send endpoint with messageType imessage, sms or email.
Developer tools
REST API	Supported	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Supported@inkbox/sdk	Not listedThe iMessage API page shows npm install @tuco-ai/sdk, but no such package is on npm.
Python SDK	Supportedinkbox on PyPI	Not listed
Other SDKs	SupportedRust SDK (inkbox crate).	Not listed
CLI	Supported@inkbox/cli	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedSent, failed, fallback, opened, reply, reaction, AI draft, handover, call recording and DNC events.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in the X-Tuco-Signature header.
MCP server	SupportedRemote Streamable HTTP endpoint at inkbox.ai/mcp, with a separate ChatGPT endpoint.	Supportedtuco-mcp on npm, run locally with an API key, with about 90 tools.
Open source	PartialSDK, CLI, skills and examples are MIT on GitHub. The service is closed.	Partialtuco-mcp is MIT licensed on npm. The platform is closed.
Self-hosting	Not listed	Not listedHosted on Tuco hardware. Self-hosting is not mentioned.
Local testing	Not listed	PartialSimulate runs a goal bot against a transcript without sending. Message sends have no sandbox.
Custom channel providers	Not listed	PartialSMS fallback can route through your Twilio, GoHighLevel or a custom webhook.
Event replay	SupportedDelivery log with replay. Incoming-call and Slack deliveries cannot be replayed.	Supported30-day webhook delivery log with replay from the dashboard or API, plus one automatic retry.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	Not listed
No-code integrations	Not listed	SupportedGoHighLevel, n8n, Zapier and Make.com.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedHubSpot, Salesforce, Close and Pipedrive. One CRM per workspace.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	PartialIdentity layer with contact memories across email, texts and calls. No conversation framework.	SupportedHosted goal bots and Knowledge Base replies with tools, in copilot or autopilot mode.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedPlugins for Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code and DeepSeek Harness.	Not listed
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not listed
Agent group chats	Not listedAgents can reach each other over A2A tasks, but not in group chats.	Not supportedNo group chat support
Human handoff	PartialPeople can reply from the Console, and Voice AI can transfer a call. No handoff controls for agents.	SupportedCopilot drafts need approval, and conversation.handover fires when the AI stops for a person.
Audit logs	Not listed	SupportedActivity log of workspace changes, including MCP tool calls.
Message history API	SupportedList and read conversations and threads, with search on texts and email.	SupportedMessage history, conversations and replies endpoints.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedFree: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time.	Not supportedDocs say there are no free trials, paid pilots or refunds.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedStarter $149/month, Growth $299/month, plus $335 setup per line.
No per-message fees	PartialiMessage is capped per plan with no per-message fee. Extra SMS/MMS and call minutes cost $0.03 each.	SupportedNo per-message fees. AI credits and extra call minutes are billed separately.
Uptime SLA	Not listed	Not listedGrowth lists a 4-hour support SLA. No uptime SLA found.
Isolated infrastructure	PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.	SupportedEach line runs on its own iPhone and Apple ID on dedicated Mac hardware, with no VMs.
SOC 2 Type II	Not listed	Not supportedSecurity page says Tuco does not hold SOC 2.
GDPR	Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.	SupportedGDPR page with data rights and Standard Contractual Clauses. DPA availability listed.

Feature

Inkbox

Tuco AI

iMessage messaging

iMessage

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

Group chats

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

Not supportedTuco's llms.txt says it has no group chats.

Group management

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

Not supportedNo group chat support

Group name and photo

Not listed

Not supported

Mentions

Not listed

Not supported

Tapbacks

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

Send six classic tapbacks by API; inbound reactions, including custom emoji, arrive as message.reaction.

Threaded replies

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

Not listed

Typing indicators

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

PartialStart and stop typing by API, best effort. Inbound typing events not documented.

Read receipts

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

message.opened webhook with readAt when the recipient has read receipts on.

Edit and unsend

Not listed

Message effects

4 bubble and 9 full-screen send styles, in 1:1 and dedicated-line groups.

Not listed

Animated text effects

Not listed

Stickers

Not listed

Formatted text

Not listed

Attachments

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

Up to 2 files per message, 25 MB each. Not allowed on the first message to a contact.

Live Photos

Not listed

Rich link previews

Not listed

Voice messages

Not listed

voiceNote sends one audio file as a native voice note bubble.

Contact cards

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

Not listed

Sender name and photo

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

PartialLine name and photo are set by Tuco staff, at most 3 changes per line per month.

FaceTime calls

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

PartialFaceTime Audio calls as a $100/month per-line add-on. Tuco's llms.txt says it has no FaceTime.

Delivery status

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

queued, sent, delivered, failed and fallback statuses, with sent, failed and fallback webhooks.

iMessage availability check

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

Single, round-robin and bulk checks, about 70 per line per day.

Focus and Notify Anyway

Not listed

Numbers and delivery

Managed lines

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

Each line is a real iPhone with an eSIM that Tuco hosts. About 48 hours to activate.

Dedicated numbers

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

One Apple identity per line. Lines can be ordered by API.

Shared numbers

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

Not listed

Bring your own number

Not listed

PartialDocs say existing numbers cannot be ported in, but a Linq migration page offers to port Linq numbers.

Line pooling

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

Sends without fromLineId round-robin across active lines.

SMS fallback

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

PartialThrough your Twilio, GoHighLevel or webhook provider, or P2P SMS from the line once support enables it.

RCS fallback

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

Not supportedRCS not offered

Outbound-first messaging

PartialDedicated lines can start chats, up to 40 new recipients a day. Shared service needs the human to text first.

Outbound to opted-in contacts. Cold lists are refused, and first messages cannot carry links or files.

Calls on the iMessage number

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

Calls go out from the same number the line texts from. 500 minutes per line per month included.

Other channels

SMS

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

PartialSMS through your own Twilio, GHL or webhook provider, or P2P SMS from the line in its eSIM country.

RCS

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

Not supportedNot offered

Not supported

PartialTelegram bot for team notifications and replies. Leads are not messaged on Telegram.

Slack

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

PartialLead conversations appear as Slack threads the team can reply from. Not a channel to contacts.

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

messageType email sends email, and an email bridge sends iMessages from your inbox.

Phone calls

Inbound and outbound calls with your own WebSocket agent or Inkbox Voice AI (beta).

Outbound calls with recording, inbound forwarding and a click-to-call API (beta, +1 numbers only).

Apple Messages for Business

Not supportedNot offered

Unified channel API

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

One send endpoint with messageType imessage, sms or email.

Developer tools

REST API

TypeScript SDK

@inkbox/sdk

Not listedThe iMessage API page shows npm install @tuco-ai/sdk, but no such package is on npm.

Python SDK

inkbox on PyPI

Not listed

Other SDKs

Rust SDK (inkbox crate).

Not listed

CLI

@inkbox/cli

Not listed

Webhooks

Sent, failed, fallback, opened, reply, reaction, AI draft, handover, call recording and DNC events.

Signed webhooks

HMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.

HMAC-SHA256 in the X-Tuco-Signature header.

MCP server

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

tuco-mcp on npm, run locally with an API key, with about 90 tools.

Open source

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

Partialtuco-mcp is MIT licensed on npm. The platform is closed.

Self-hosting

Not listed

Not listedHosted on Tuco hardware. Self-hosting is not mentioned.

Local testing

Not listed

PartialSimulate runs a goal bot against a transcript without sending. Message sends have no sandbox.

Custom channel providers

Not listed

PartialSMS fallback can route through your Twilio, GoHighLevel or a custom webhook.

Event replay

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

30-day webhook delivery log with replay from the dashboard or API, plus one automatic retry.

OpenTelemetry

Not listed

No-code integrations

Not listed

GoHighLevel, n8n, Zapier and Make.com.

CRM integrations

Not listed

HubSpot, Salesforce, Close and Pipedrive. One CRM per workspace.

Built for AI agents

Agent framework

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

Hosted goal bots and Knowledge Base replies with tools, in copilot or autopilot mode.

Agent framework integrations

Plugins for Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code and DeepSeek Harness.

Not listed

Streaming replies

Not listed

Agent group chats

Not listedAgents can reach each other over A2A tasks, but not in group chats.

Not supportedNo group chat support

Human handoff

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

Copilot drafts need approval, and conversation.handover fires when the AI stops for a person.

Audit logs

Not listed

Activity log of workspace changes, including MCP tool calls.

Message history API

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

Message history, conversations and replies endpoints.

Plans and compliance

Free plan

Free: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time.

Not supportedDocs say there are no free trials, paid pilots or refunds.

Public pricing

Starter $149/month, Growth $299/month, plus $335 setup per line.

No per-message fees

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

No per-message fees. AI credits and extra call minutes are billed separately.

Uptime SLA

Not listed

Not listedGrowth lists a 4-hour support SLA. No uptime SLA found.

Isolated infrastructure

PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.

Each line runs on its own iPhone and Apple ID on dedicated Mac hardware, with no VMs.

SOC 2 Type II

Not listed

Not supportedSecurity page says Tuco does not hold SOC 2.

GDPR

Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.

GDPR page with data rights and Standard Contractual Clauses. DPA availability listed.

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

Pricing

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