Comparison
Overview
Company snapshot and where each provider is based.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Communications infrastructure platform (formerly MessageBird) providing unified APIs for email, SMS, WhatsApp and voice on a network that carries about 40% of the world's commercial SMS volume. | German CPaaS platform (formerly sms77) providing SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and voice APIs with data processed on German-hosted infrastructure. |
| Founded | 2011 | 2003 |
| Ownership | private | private |
| Employees | 500-1,000 | 2-10 |
| HQ city | Amsterdam | Kiel |
| HQ country | Netherlands (EU) | Germany (EU) |
What's the differenceBird edges ahead on the overall messaging.dev Score (76 vs 42). Bird is private and headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands (EU); seven.io is private and based in Kiel, Germany (EU).
Channels
Which messaging channels each provider can send and receive on.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| SMS | Yes | Yes |
| MMS | No | No |
| RCS | No | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Viber | No | No |
| Facebook Messenger | No | No |
| Telegram | No | No |
| Apple Messages for Business | No | No |
| Voice | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | No |
What's the differenceThey share 3 channels. Bird additionally offers Email, while seven.io additionally offers RCS.
Developer Experience
How quickly a developer can sign up and send a first message.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Free developer credit | Free email tier (1,000/month) | €0.50 free test credit |
| Docs quality | high | high |
| Documentation | Open ↗ | Open ↗ |
| SDKs | TypeScript, Python, Go | PHP, JavaScript, Python, Go, Ruby, .NET, Rust, Kotlin, Elixir, Swift |
| Sandbox / test env | Yes | Yes |
| API types | REST, SMTP | REST, SMPP, SMTP |
What's the differenceOn SDKs, Bird adds TypeScript; seven.io adds PHP, JavaScript, Ruby, .NET, Rust, Kotlin, Elixir, Swift; on API types, seven.io adds SMPP.
Data & Compliance
Data residency options and enterprise compliance certifications.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes |
| US data residency | Yes | No |
| Choose region | Yes | No |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 | Yes | No |
| HIPAA | Yes | No |
What's the differenceBird offers US data residency, while seven.io does not; Bird offers Choose region, while seven.io does not; Bird offers SOC 2, while seven.io does not; Bird offers HIPAA, while seven.io does not.
Data Retention
How long message content and metadata are stored, and whether that is configurable.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| Retention policy | Privacy statement: for telecom products (SMS, email, voice), metadata and traffic data are retained for 6 months after transmission, extended up to two years where local law requires; email message content is held for at most 72 hours. | Log files are stored only for the legally required period and subsequently anonymized, following a stated data-minimization principle; exact message-content retention periods are not publicly documented in detail. Processing runs on German/EU infrastructure ("Pure EU Routing") in ISO 27001-certified data centers, with an online-signable DPA available. |
What's the differenceBird: Privacy statement: for telecom products (SMS, email, voice), metadata and traffic data are retained for 6 months after transmission, extended up to two years where local law requires; email message content is held for at most 72 hours. seven.io: Log files are stored only for the legally required period and subsequently anonymized, following a stated data-minimization principle; exact message-content retention periods are not publicly documented in detail. Processing runs on German/EU infrastructure ("Pure EU Routing") in ISO 27001-certified data centers, with an online-signable DPA available.
Pricing & Credits
Pricing model and the cost of a first message.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Usage-based transactional pricing with no platform or seat fees: volume-tiered email subscriptions (free tier, then e.g. $15/month for 50K emails) and published per-country per-message SMS rates; WhatsApp priced by destination country and message category. | Prepaid pay-as-you-go: top up account balance and pay per message sent, with no monthly fee or subscription required for API access. |
| SMS starting price | $0.0073 per message to US numbers (long code, toll-free and short code; carrier fees extra), per-country pricing grid published | €0.075 per SMS (base rate incl. Germany and most EU countries); non-EU rates vary by country |
| Free developer credit | Free email tier (1,000/month) | €0.50 free test credit |
What's the differenceBird and seven.io are closely matched on pricing & credits — no material differences in the tracked fields.
Reach & Reliability
Global coverage and delivery dependability.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| Countries covered | 150 | 0 |
| Direct operator connections | Yes | No |
| Published uptime SLA | 99.95% (legacy MessageBird SLA; current SLAs are per-service-plan in Order Form terms) | No published SLA |
What's the differenceBird leads on Countries covered (150 vs 0 for seven.io); Bird offers Direct operator connections, while seven.io does not.
Company & Trust
Independent reviews and company profile.
| Field | Bird | seven.io |
|---|---|---|
| G2 rating | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| G2 reviews | 73 | 0 |
| Ownership | private | private |
| Employees | 500-1,000 | 2-10 |
What's the differenceBird leads on G2 rating (3.9 vs 0 for seven.io); Bird leads on G2 reviews (73 vs 0 for seven.io).
Still deciding? Read the quickstart guides:
Already on one of them? Follow a migration guide: