What is the difference between MessageBlue and Project Blue?

MessageBlue supports 38 of the 77 features compared here, and Project Blue supports 42. MessageBlue adds read receipts, signed webhooks, self-hosting, local testing and event replay. Project Blue adds group name and photo, message effects, contact cards, sender name and photo and FaceTime calls.

How much do MessageBlue and Project Blue cost?

MessageBlue: Free when you bring your own number on your own Mac; a dedicated line is $100 a month on Startups & SMB, and Business and Enterprise are contact sales. 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.

Does Project Blue support read receipts?

Project Blue does not list read receipts on its site or in its docs.

Does Project Blue support signed webhooks?

Project Blue does not list signed webhooks on its site or in its docs.

Does Project Blue support self-hosting?

Project Blue does not list self-hosting on its site or in its docs.

MessageBlue vs Project Blue

Compare MessageBlue and Project Blue side by side: iMessage features, channels, developer tools, pricing and compliance, checked on each provider's own site.

MessageBlue

iMessage API for agents, with bring-your-own-number

Starting price: $100/month per line
Free plan: $0 with your own number and Mac, all features, limited seats

Visit MessageBlue Read more

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

Visit Project Blue Read more

MessageBlue supports 38 of the 77 features compared here, and Project Blue supports 42.

Where MessageBlue is ahead

and 1 more in the table below.

Where Project Blue is ahead

and 5 more in the table below.

Feature comparison

Feature	MessageBlue	Project Blue
iMessage messaging
iMessage	Supported	Supported
Group chats	SupportedSend text, attachments and voice notes to groups; receive group messages.	SupportedSend to groups of 2 to 32 by API. Not on trial accounts, and group sends do not sync to the CRM.
Group management	PartialCreate groups of 2 to 31 by API; no add or remove participant endpoints.	PartialGroups are created by sending to a set of numbers. No add or remove member endpoints documented.
Group name and photo	Not listed	PartialgroupName can be set when a group is created. No group photo documented.
Mentions	Not listed	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSend or remove emoji or tapbacks; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.	PartialSend or remove the six classic tapbacks on inbound iMessages. Receiving reactions is not documented.
Threaded replies	Not listed	Not listed
Typing indicators	SupportedSend and stop, up to 20 seconds; no inbound typing webhook documented.	PartialSend only, iMessage only, into an existing conversation. Inbound typing events not documented.
Read receipts	SupportedSend read receipts; outbound messages report a read status.	Not listed
Edit and unsend	Not listed	Not listed
Message effects	Not listed	Supported4 bubble and 9 screen effects through the effect field. iMessage only.
Animated text effects	Not listed	Not listed
Stickers	Not listed	Not listed
Formatted text	Not listed	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedAttachments by public URL.	SupportedImages, videos and vCards by URL.
Live Photos	Not listed	Not listed
Rich link previews	Not listed	Not listed
Voice messages	SupportedTo individuals and groups.	SupportedAudio files sent as voice memos, plus AI text-to-speech voice memos.
Contact cards	Not listed	SupportedVCF files through mediaAttachmentUrl.
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	Not listed	SupportedSet, read and share a line's Share Name and Photo card by API.
FaceTime calls	Not listedInbox video call button is marked coming soon; voice calls need the team to enable.	PartialFaceTime Audio only, outbound and inbound, on FaceTime-enabled accounts. Not on trials.
Delivery status	Supportedsent, delivered, read, SMS_FALLBACK and failed via status webhook.	PartialMessages carry a status field such as delivered. Webhooks cover only inbound and outbound messages.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck a number, or a whole group's participants, before sending.	Supported
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedRequest a number and the team provisions it, typically in 3 to 5 business days.	SupportedNo iPhone, Mac or SIM needed. Lines are set up remotely, usually within one business day.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$100/mo per line on Startups & SMB.	SupportedA dedicated line per rep, never shared. New lines are requested by API and provisioned by the team.
Shared numbers	Not listed	PartialTrial accounts only: a shared line that can reach verified numbers.
Bring your own number	SupportedPair your own Mac and its Apple ID number with the MessageBlue agent.	SupportedExisting numbers can be ported to Project Blue's carrier partner.
Line pooling	SupportedAssigns the least-mapped number per contact and remaps contacts if a number is blocked.	SupportedSends without lineId are load balanced across your lines.
SMS fallback	SupportedStatus event reports SMS_FALLBACK; not available for group creation.	SupportedFalls back to SMS from the same line when iMessage is unavailable.
RCS fallback	Not listedMarketing pages say SMS or RCS fallback; docs only describe SMS.	Not listedHomepage describes fallback from iMessage to WhatsApp to SMS. RCS fallback is not described.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedStart chats with any iMessage-capable number; warns after 5 unanswered messages.	SupportedLines are sold as outbound-ready. Guidelines rule out mass outbound iMessage.
Calls on the iMessage number	Not listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; number used is not stated.	SupportedDialer and FaceTime Audio calls from the same number as the messaging line.
Other channels
SMS	PartialOnly as fallback; new chats need an iMessage-capable recipient.	Supported
RCS	Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on marketing pages.	PartialRCS for rich media was rolled out in 2026. The API lists RCS as inbound only.
WhatsApp	Not supportedNot offered	PartialHomepage lists WhatsApp as a fallback step. No WhatsApp option in the API, and llms.txt says it is not a WhatsApp API.
Telegram	Not supported	Not supportedNot offered
Slack	Not supported	PartialSlack notifications for inbound replies. Not a messaging channel.
Email	Not supported	Not supportedDeveloper page says it is not a general email API.
Phone calls	Not listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; call type and number not stated.	SupportedCloud dialer with inbound, outbound, routing, recording and voicemail, plus a browser calling SDK.
Apple Messages for Business	Not supportedNot offered	Not supportedNot offered
Unified channel API	PartialOne API for iMessage and its SMS fallback only.	PartialOne send endpoint covers iMessage and SMS. Calls and FaceTime use separate endpoints.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published.	SupportedREST API with Bearer keys and an OpenAPI spec.
TypeScript SDK	Supportednpm messageblue (0.0.7), generated from the OpenAPI spec.	Partial@tryprojectblue/dialer is a browser SDK for phone calls only. No messaging SDK.
Python SDK	Not supportedDocs say only TypeScript is published today; other languages on request.	Not listed
Other SDKs	Not supported	Not listed
CLI	Not listedThe API page mentions a CLI, but none is documented.	Not listed
Webhooks	SupportedInbound and status URLs with retries and dead-lettering.	SupportedInbound and outbound message events and inbound FaceTime call events.
Signed webhooks	SupportedX-MB-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp and raw body.	Not listedWebhook docs do not mention signatures.
MCP server	PartialDocumentation-only MCP server at docs.messageblue.ai/_mcp/server.	SupportedRemote MCP server with OAuth 2.1, plus an optional Claude Code plugin.
Open source	Not listed	PartialThe dialer SDK is MIT licensed on npm. The platform is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedEnterprise plan: your cloud (BYOC), VPC or on-prem	Not listedHosted service on Project Blue lines. Self-hosting is not mentioned.
Local testing	PartialBrowser test bench runs the no-code agent without sending an iMessage.	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	SupportedFailed and dead-lettered deliveries are kept and can be replayed.	Not supportedDocs say webhooks have no retries and failed deliveries are not replayed.
OpenTelemetry	Not listed	Not listed
No-code integrations	SupportedZapier, plus a no-code agent builder.	SupportedGoHighLevel conversation provider with workflow actions and triggers. llms.txt also lists Zapier.
CRM integrations	SupportedAgent connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and others; HubSpot inbox sync is private beta.	SupportedHubSpot and Close CRM. Salesforce is not listed.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedNo-code agent with model choice, prompt, knowledge, tools, memory and multi-step tasks.	Not listed
Agent framework integrations	Not listedSite says it works with LangChain and the Vercel AI SDK via webhooks; no official integration.	Not listed
Streaming replies	Not listed	Not listed
Agent group chats	Not listed	Not listed
Human handoff	SupportedTeam inbox for manual replies; pause the agent or block it per contact.	PartialReps reply in the CRM inbox and can join group threads. No agent handoff controls documented.
Audit logs	SupportedOn the Business and Enterprise plans	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedConversation by phone number.	SupportedList and get messages, inbound and outbound, with filters.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	Supported$0 when you bring your own number on your own Mac; every feature included.	PartialFree trial on a shared line to verified numbers. Some endpoints are off on trial.
Public pricing	SupportedFree and $100/mo listed; Business and Enterprise are contact sales.	Supported$166/month per line billed annually, or $199/month per line on a 12-month plan.
No per-message fees	SupportedFlat $100/mo per line.	SupportedFlat per-line pricing with unlimited texting under fair use.
Uptime SLA	Supported99.9% SLA listed from the $100 plan; the API page says enterprise plans	Not listedSite cites a 99.9% uptime record and a public status page. No contractual SLA found.
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEnterprise plan: single-tenant or self-hosted stack	PartialEach rep gets a dedicated line that is never shared. Other infrastructure is not described.
SOC 2 Type II	PartialEnterprise page claims audited SOC 2 Type II; pricing says SOC 2 ready; no report found.	Not listed
GDPR	Not listed	PartialPrivacy policy lists GDPR and UK GDPR rights. No DPA found.

Feature

MessageBlue

Project Blue

iMessage messaging

iMessage

Group chats

Send text, attachments and voice notes to groups; receive group messages.

Send to groups of 2 to 32 by API. Not on trial accounts, and group sends do not sync to the CRM.

Group management

PartialCreate groups of 2 to 31 by API; no add or remove participant endpoints.

PartialGroups are created by sending to a set of numbers. No add or remove member endpoints documented.

Group name and photo

Not listed

PartialgroupName can be set when a group is created. No group photo documented.

Mentions

Not listed

Tapbacks

Send or remove emoji or tapbacks; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.

PartialSend or remove the six classic tapbacks on inbound iMessages. Receiving reactions is not documented.

Threaded replies

Not listed

Typing indicators

Send and stop, up to 20 seconds; no inbound typing webhook documented.

PartialSend only, iMessage only, into an existing conversation. Inbound typing events not documented.

Read receipts

Send read receipts; outbound messages report a read status.

Not listed

Edit and unsend

Not listed

Message effects

Not listed

4 bubble and 9 screen effects through the effect field. iMessage only.

Animated text effects

Not listed

Stickers

Not listed

Formatted text

Not listed

Attachments

Attachments by public URL.

Images, videos and vCards by URL.

Live Photos

Not listed

Rich link previews

Not listed

Voice messages

To individuals and groups.

Audio files sent as voice memos, plus AI text-to-speech voice memos.

Contact cards

Not listed

VCF files through mediaAttachmentUrl.

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Not listed

Sender name and photo

Not listed

Set, read and share a line's Share Name and Photo card by API.

FaceTime calls

Not listedInbox video call button is marked coming soon; voice calls need the team to enable.

PartialFaceTime Audio only, outbound and inbound, on FaceTime-enabled accounts. Not on trials.

Delivery status

sent, delivered, read, SMS_FALLBACK and failed via status webhook.

PartialMessages carry a status field such as delivered. Webhooks cover only inbound and outbound messages.

iMessage availability check

Check a number, or a whole group's participants, before sending.

Focus and Notify Anyway

Not listed

Numbers and delivery

Managed lines

Request a number and the team provisions it, typically in 3 to 5 business days.

No iPhone, Mac or SIM needed. Lines are set up remotely, usually within one business day.

Dedicated numbers

$100/mo per line on Startups & SMB.

A dedicated line per rep, never shared. New lines are requested by API and provisioned by the team.

Shared numbers

Not listed

PartialTrial accounts only: a shared line that can reach verified numbers.

Bring your own number

Pair your own Mac and its Apple ID number with the MessageBlue agent.

Existing numbers can be ported to Project Blue's carrier partner.

Line pooling

Assigns the least-mapped number per contact and remaps contacts if a number is blocked.

Sends without lineId are load balanced across your lines.

SMS fallback

Status event reports SMS_FALLBACK; not available for group creation.

Falls back to SMS from the same line when iMessage is unavailable.

RCS fallback

Not listedMarketing pages say SMS or RCS fallback; docs only describe SMS.

Not listedHomepage describes fallback from iMessage to WhatsApp to SMS. RCS fallback is not described.

Outbound-first messaging

Start chats with any iMessage-capable number; warns after 5 unanswered messages.

Lines are sold as outbound-ready. Guidelines rule out mass outbound iMessage.

Calls on the iMessage number

Not listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; number used is not stated.

Dialer and FaceTime Audio calls from the same number as the messaging line.

Other channels

SMS

PartialOnly as fallback; new chats need an iMessage-capable recipient.

RCS

Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on marketing pages.

PartialRCS for rich media was rolled out in 2026. The API lists RCS as inbound only.

Not supportedNot offered

PartialHomepage lists WhatsApp as a fallback step. No WhatsApp option in the API, and llms.txt says it is not a WhatsApp API.

Not supported

Not supportedNot offered

Slack

Not supported

PartialSlack notifications for inbound replies. Not a messaging channel.

Not supported

Not supportedDeveloper page says it is not a general email API.

Phone calls

Not listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; call type and number not stated.

Cloud dialer with inbound, outbound, routing, recording and voicemail, plus a browser calling SDK.

Apple Messages for Business

Not supportedNot offered

Unified channel API

PartialOne API for iMessage and its SMS fallback only.

PartialOne send endpoint covers iMessage and SMS. Calls and FaceTime use separate endpoints.

Developer tools

REST API

OpenAPI 3.1 spec published.

REST API with Bearer keys and an OpenAPI spec.

TypeScript SDK

npm messageblue (0.0.7), generated from the OpenAPI spec.

Partial@tryprojectblue/dialer is a browser SDK for phone calls only. No messaging SDK.

Python SDK

Not supportedDocs say only TypeScript is published today; other languages on request.

Not listed

Other SDKs

Not supported

Not listed

CLI

Not listedThe API page mentions a CLI, but none is documented.

Not listed

Webhooks

Inbound and status URLs with retries and dead-lettering.

Inbound and outbound message events and inbound FaceTime call events.

Signed webhooks

X-MB-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp and raw body.

Not listedWebhook docs do not mention signatures.

MCP server

PartialDocumentation-only MCP server at docs.messageblue.ai/_mcp/server.

Remote MCP server with OAuth 2.1, plus an optional Claude Code plugin.

Open source

Not listed

PartialThe dialer SDK is MIT licensed on npm. The platform is closed.

Self-hosting

Enterprise plan: your cloud (BYOC), VPC or on-prem

Not listedHosted service on Project Blue lines. Self-hosting is not mentioned.

Local testing

PartialBrowser test bench runs the no-code agent without sending an iMessage.

Not listedTrial accounts send real messages to verified numbers; docs say they are not a simulator.

Custom channel providers

Not listed

Event replay

Failed and dead-lettered deliveries are kept and can be replayed.

Not supportedDocs say webhooks have no retries and failed deliveries are not replayed.

OpenTelemetry

Not listed

No-code integrations

Zapier, plus a no-code agent builder.

GoHighLevel conversation provider with workflow actions and triggers. llms.txt also lists Zapier.

CRM integrations

Agent connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and others; HubSpot inbox sync is private beta.

HubSpot and Close CRM. Salesforce is not listed.

Built for AI agents

Agent framework

No-code agent with model choice, prompt, knowledge, tools, memory and multi-step tasks.

Not listed

Agent framework integrations

Not listedSite says it works with LangChain and the Vercel AI SDK via webhooks; no official integration.

Not listed

Streaming replies

Not listed

Agent group chats

Not listed

Human handoff

Team inbox for manual replies; pause the agent or block it per contact.

PartialReps reply in the CRM inbox and can join group threads. No agent handoff controls documented.

Audit logs

On the Business and Enterprise plans

Not listed

Message history API

Conversation by phone number.

List and get messages, inbound and outbound, with filters.

Plans and compliance

Free plan

$0 when you bring your own number on your own Mac; every feature included.

PartialFree trial on a shared line to verified numbers. Some endpoints are off on trial.

Public pricing

Free and $100/mo listed; Business and Enterprise are contact sales.

$166/month per line billed annually, or $199/month per line on a 12-month plan.

No per-message fees

Flat $100/mo per line.

Flat per-line pricing with unlimited texting under fair use.

Uptime SLA

99.9% SLA listed from the $100 plan; the API page says enterprise plans

Not listedSite cites a 99.9% uptime record and a public status page. No contractual SLA found.

Isolated infrastructure

Enterprise plan: single-tenant or self-hosted stack

PartialEach rep gets a dedicated line that is never shared. Other infrastructure is not described.

SOC 2 Type II

PartialEnterprise page claims audited SOC 2 Type II; pricing says SOC 2 ready; no report found.

Not listed

GDPR

Not listed

PartialPrivacy policy lists GDPR and UK GDPR rights. No DPA found.

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

Pricing

MessageBlue

Free when you bring your own number on your own Mac; a dedicated line is $100 a month on Startups & SMB, and Business and Enterprise are contact sales.

Pricing model: flat per line

Source