Pricing
What an iMessage API actually costs
Nearly everyone bills per line per month rather than per message — which inverts the instinct you have from SMS. And in two cases the published price is not the price you will pay, for reasons worth knowing before you budget.
The mistake that costs the most
Some published entry plans are reply-only — they let you answer people who text you first and cannot initiate a conversation. If you are buying this to send appointment reminders or review requests, confirm outbound is included before you pay.
| Provider | From | Transparency | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photon | Free | Published | A free tier, $25/mo Pro, and $250/line for the outbound-capable plan. |
 BlueBubbles | Free | Free | Free. You supply the Mac and operate it. |
 Blooio | $39/mo | Published | $39/mo shared or $289/mo dedicated, flat, with unlimited messages. |
 LoopMessage | $60/mo | Published | About $60/mo base, but add-ons materially change the real figure. |
 Sendblue | $100/mo | Partly published | $100/line/mo for the reply-only plan; outbound is quote-only and reported near $1,000. |
 Linq | Quote | Contact sales | Not published. Per line with no metering, sold through a sales conversation. |
Compiled August 24, 2026 from vendor pricing pages and public reporting. Several vendors do not publish pricing, and some figures circulating publicly are published by competitors rather than by the vendor — each provider page marks which is which. Verify directly before you budget.
Per provider
The full breakdown, including what is not on the pricing page
Setup fees, add-ons, reply-only limits and the gap between the entry tier and the tier you actually need.
Photon pricing
Published
A free tier, $25/mo Pro, and $250/line for the outbound-capable plan.
Best value for: Developers who want to build and test for free, then pay only when they go to production.
BlueBubbles pricing
Free
Free. You supply the Mac and operate it.
Best value for: Developers and internal tools where the operational burden is genuinely acceptable.
Blooio pricing
Published
$39/mo shared or $289/mo dedicated, flat, with unlimited messages.
Best value for: Small businesses and developers who want a published price, no sales call, and no per-message maths.
LoopMessage pricing
Published
About $60/mo base, but add-ons materially change the real figure.
Best value for: Teams who need only the base capability and genuinely will not add channels.
Sendblue pricing
Partly published
$100/line/mo for the reply-only plan; outbound is quote-only and reported near $1,000.
Best value for: Funded teams building inbound AI agents, or enterprises with budget and a procurement process.
Linq pricing
Contact sales
Not published. Per line with no metering, sold through a sales conversation.
Best value for: Teams with a procurement process, a compliance review, or volume that justifies a negotiation.
Context
Why per line and not per message
A provider's scarce resource is not bandwidth — it is trusted Apple accounts on real hardware. Each line is a real identity that took effort to establish and can be flagged. Messages over it are close to free.