OpenBubbles iMessage API pricing
$16.99/month hosted, or free if you self-host — and neither is business infrastructure.
The tiers
Self-hosted
$0free software
- iMessage and FaceTime on Android
- Your Android number, not a relayed one
Catch Still requires one-time access to a Mac or an always-online iPhone to register.
Hosted
$16.99per month
- The same capability without running the registration yourself
Costs that are not on the pricing page
- One-time access to a Mac or an always-online iPhone, even on the hosted tier.
- Continuity risk that no price covers — Apple has shut down this pattern before.
OpenBubbles is priced like a consumer app because it is one. It is listed here only because it appears constantly in iMessage API searches, and the answer to whether you can build on it is no.
There is no API to buy at any price
No webhooks, no REST endpoint, no delivery reporting, no business number. Whatever the tier, there is nothing here for a program to talk to. If you need to send iMessages from code, start at who sells an iMessage API instead.
The deeper problem is durability. Registration-based access to Apple services is exactly the pattern Apple has terminated before — Beeper Mini lasted days. Paying $16.99 a month does not buy a guarantee that the service exists next quarter.
Where these numbers come from
Taken from OpenBubbles' published pricing in August 2026.
Best value for
An Android owner who wants a blue bubble in their friends' group chats. Not a business.
