Linq vs Tuco AI: which iMessage API
These two sit at opposite ends of the same axis: how much the provider will tell you. Tuco itemises the Mac mini in its setup fee; Linq will not name a price.
Linq is for
Teams who need the deepest iMessage feature surface and treat procurement as normal.
Tuco AI is for
Teams who want to know exactly what is running their line and exactly what it costs.
Side by side
| Linq | Tuco AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Advertised from | Not published | $149/mo |
| The tier most people need | Not published | $149/mo |
| Setup fee | Not published | $335 |
| Per-message fees | None | Optional |
| Delivery | ||
| Number | Not published | Dedicated |
| Can message first | Not published | Included |
| SMS or RCS fallback | Included | Included |
| Policy | ||
| Compliance claimed | SOC 2 Type I and Type II, reports for 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026, 99.95% uptime SLA, 70 controls monitored on a public trust centre, 5 subprocessors named, Annual penetration testing, Published vulnerability disclosure process | GDPR, with a DPA available, States plainly that it is not SOC 2 certified and offers no HIPAA BAA |
| When it breaks | Status page, 99.95% SLA | 99.9% SLA, no status page |
Rows where the two agree are dimmed. Checked 2026-09-11.
What actually differs
They differ on price, delivery, and policy.
Tuco is the most transparent provider in this market and Linq is the least, on price at least. Tuco publishes $149 a month, a $335 setup fee itemised as a dedicated Mac mini, a warmed Apple ID and carrier KYC in your business name, a cap of 50 new conversations and 150 messages per line per day, and a 24 to 48 hour commitment on Apple ID recovery. Linq publishes a sandbox, an Enterprise tier and a form.
What Linq publishes instead is capability, and it is the longest list here: tapbacks, read receipts, typing indicators, programmatic group threads, FaceTime, live location through Find My, RCS with automatic SMS fallback, a stated 99.95% uptime SLA, and a SOC 2 Type II claim Tuco does not make. If the agent needs to feel native, that list is the reason to have the sales conversation. If the agent needs to be budgeted, Tuco is the only one of the two you can budget.
The same products, against others
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