Chert

What it does

Chert provides a REST API and webhooks for sending and receiving real iMessages, similar to how Twilio provides APIs for SMS. It enables businesses to integrate iMessage into their applications, supporting blue-bubble messaging, typing indicators, tapbacks, group chats, attachments, and SMS/RCS fallback. The platform handles deliverability, identity rotation, and compliance, allowing developers to build conversational AI, customer support, and outbound sales workflows on iMessage.

Who it is for

Chert is built for product and GTM teams who want to reach customers via iMessage. Use cases include onboarding, customer support, B2C conversational agents, and cold outbound. The website lists integrations with Salesforce, Attio, GoHighLevel, Slack, Close, Vapi, and HubSpot, suggesting it targets sales and support teams that already use these tools.

Why it matters

iMessage offers higher open and reply rates compared to SMS or email because it lives in the same inbox as personal conversations. Chert claims a 10x reply rate vs cold email. By providing a developer-friendly API, it makes iMessage accessible for automated, personalized communication at scale, while maintaining the trust and UX of the blue bubble.

Launch signal

Chert is a Y Combinator-backed startup (YC P26). The website shows logos of several companies as "trusted by growing teams," including Tour, Symbal, DCNHC, Vela, Whop, Rubbrband, Blue Navy, Chasi, Fintech, and Autosana. However, no specific metrics or case studies are provided on the homepage.

Brand and naming

The name "Chert" is short, memorable, and phonetically similar to "chat" or "chert" (a type of rock), but it doesn't directly convey messaging. The tagline "iMessage infrastructure" clearly positions it as a B2B API service. The brand emphasizes reliability and developer-friendliness, with a clean, modern website.