senderZ vs Linq

senderZ supports 36 of the 77 features compared here, and Linq supports 63.

Feature comparison

Feature	senderZ	Linq
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedOnly to contacts who texted your line first; everyone else gets SMS or RCS.	Supported
Group chats	Not listed	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	Not listed	SupportedSix classic tapbacks or any emoji, send and receive via reaction webhooks.
Threaded replies	Not listed	Supportedreply_to with optional part_index. iMessage only.
Typing indicators	Not listed	SupportedSend and receive, in direct and group chats. iMessage only.
Read receipts	Not listed	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	Not listed	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	Not supportedText-only messages today; photo and MMS attachments are on the roadmap.	SupportedUp to 10MB by URL, 100MB with pre-upload.
Live Photos	Not supported	Not listed
Rich link previews	Not listed	Supportedlink parts render as rich previews on iMessage and RCS.
Voice messages	Not supportedText-only messages today; photo and MMS attachments are on the roadmap.	SupportedDedicated voice memo endpoint renders the native iMessage voice bubble.
Contact cards	Not supported	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	Not listed	SupportedContact card API sets name and photo, shared per chat via Name and Photo Sharing.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supportedDocs say the API does not place or answer calls.
Delivery status	Supportedqueued, sent, delivered and failed webhooks, with failure reasons.	Supportedsent, delivered, read and failed webhooks. Groups report sent only.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCapabilities API for one number or batches of up to 100.	Supportedcheck_imessage and check_rcs endpoints.
Focus and Notify Anyway	Not listed	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedMessages route through dedicated Apple hardware that senderZ operates.	Supported
Dedicated numbers	Supported1 dedicated number on Growth and 3 on Scale.	SupportedPaid lines are dedicated. Provisioned by Linq, no self-serve number API.
Shared numbers	SupportedStarter uses a shared number from a pooled set of phones.	SupportedFree Hobby tier uses a Shared Line, inbound-first, 20 contacts.
Bring your own number	PartialOnly with Self-Hosted, on your own Apple devices, SIMs and Apple IDs.	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedThe router balances sends across pooled phones and moves to another phone at a daily cap.	SupportedManaged load balancing (Pro): send without from and Linq picks and fails over lines.
SMS fallback	Supported	Supported
RCS fallback	SupportedCascade is iMessage, then RCS where the phone and recipient support it, then SMS.	SupportedOrder is iMessage, then RCS, then SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	PartialNew contacts get SMS, counted against the plan's first-contact limit; iMessage needs them to text first.	SupportedFree Hobby tier is inbound-first. Docs recommend inbound-first flows to avoid flagging.
Calls on the iMessage number	Not listedVoice uses separate voice numbers; calling from the messaging line is not documented.	PartialAPI forwards inbound calls on the line; outbound needs caller-ID masking via another provider.
Other channels
SMS	Supported	Supported
RCS	Supportedchannel rcs or the auto cascade, on sending phones with iOS 18 or later.	Supported
WhatsApp	Not supportedNot offered	BetaSeparate WhatsApp API in beta. Access by request, no SLA.
Telegram	Not supported	Not supportedNot offered
Slack	Not supported	Not supported
Email	Not supportedsenderZ says it has no email channel.	Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to Apple ID email handles.
Phone calls	SupportedAI voice agent for inbound and outbound calls, an add-on from $29/month.	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	SupportedOne send endpoint for iMessage, RCS and SMS; voice uses the same API key.	PartialiMessage, RCS and SMS share one API. WhatsApp is a separate API with its own keys and SDKs.
Developer tools
REST API	Supported	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Supported@senderz/sdk, MIT.	Supported@linqapp/sdk
Python SDK	Not supportedDocs list Python, PHP and Ruby SDKs as planned for Q3 2026; none found published.	Supportedlinq-python
Other SDKs	Not supportedPHP and Ruby SDKs are listed as planned; only TypeScript exists.	SupportedOfficial Go SDK.
CLI	Supported@senderz/cli 0.1.0 on npm (April 2026); not mentioned in the docs.	Supported@linqapp/cli: signup, sending, and a local webhook listener.
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in the X-Senderz-Signature header.	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, Standard Webhooks format, with replay protection.
MCP server	Supported@senderz/mcp, 12 tools per the docs, for Claude Code and other MCP clients.	Supported@linqapp/sdk-mcp with docs search and code execution tools.
Open source	PartialSDK and MCP server are MIT on npm; the linked GitHub repos return 404 and the platform is closed.	PartialSDKs, CLI and adapters are Apache-2.0 or MIT on GitHub. The messaging platform is closed.
Self-hosting	PartialGuided deployment on your Cloudflare account and Apple hardware, from about $2,000/month.	Not supportedLinq describes itself as fully managed, in contrast to self-hosted options.
Local testing	SupportedSandbox keys and magic test numbers give synthetic delivery without a phone.	Not listedThe CLI streams webhooks locally, but tests still use a real phone.
Custom channel providers	Not listed	Not listed
Event replay	SupportedReplay failed events from the webhook logs in the portal.	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	SupportedZapier, Make and HighLevel listed as live; n8n planned for Q4 2026.	SupportedLinq Blue works as a GoHighLevel messaging provider. No n8n, Make or Zapier found for the API.
CRM integrations	SupportedHubSpot and HighLevel listed as live; Salesforce and Close planned for Q1 2027.	SupportedVia Linq Blue: GoHighLevel, HubSpot and Salesforce.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	PartialMCP tools, approval gates and per-agent send caps; no conversation framework of its own.	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	SupportedApproval gates let an agent draft a message for a human to review and send.	Not listed
Audit logs	SupportedAgent-sent messages are tagged with the agent ID and approval chain.	SupportedDashboard Activity page plus account-change webhooks with actor and origin.
Message history API	SupportedList messages by status, channel and date; the MCP server reads history.	Supported
Plans and compliance
Free plan	Partial14-day free trial with no card; no free plan after it.	SupportedHobby: $0, up to 20 contacts, through the CLI.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedPro from $260/mo. Enterprise is custom.
No per-message fees	SupportedPlans charge for first contacts reached, not per message; voice overage is $0.24 a minute.	Supported
Uptime SLA	Not supportedTerms: best-effort reliability with no formal SLA unless agreed in writing.	SupportedContractual SLAs on the Enterprise plan; marketing cites 99.95%
Isolated infrastructure	PartialGrowth and Scale get exclusive phones and Starter shares a pool; Self-Hosted runs on your own account.	SupportedDedicated lines across 4 data centers on paid plans; Hobby uses a shared line
SOC 2 Type II	Not supportedsenderZ says it is not SOC 2 attested; Type I is planned for Q4 2026.	SupportedType I and Type II, reports for 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy page says it is aligned with GDPR, with a DPA on request; EU-only residency is planned for 2027.	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 senderZ if you need bring your own number, self-hosting, local testing and human handoff.

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

Frequently asked questions

• Photon vs senderZ

• Photon vs Linq
• Blooio vs Linq
• Sendblue vs Linq
• Zernio vs Linq
• LoopMessage vs Linq
• Blue Reacher vs Linq
• Chert vs Linq
• Miss Blue vs Linq
• Bland vs Linq
• BlueBubbles vs Linq