Migrating from Sendblue to Blue Reacher
The short answer
Migrating from Sendblue to Blue Reacher takes seven to ten business days and four hours of attention. Teams move for outbound at volume plus a team to run it: Sendblue's $100 tier is inbound-first; full outbound sits on custom-priced Enterprise. This guide covers what carries over, opt-out handling, and costs.
Key takeaways
- Teams move for one reason above all others: outbound at volume plus somebody to run it.
- Most of your Sendblue setup survives the move intact: contacts and custom fields come across as a straight export and import.
- The migration plan below runs seven to ten business days end to end and asks about four hours of your time.
- Opt-outs carry over in full. Sendblue's API docs show a paginated contacts endpoint plus a separate opt-out endpoint.
- Parallel running is the step teams skip and then regret.
- Cost comparison only works if you have both numbers.
What changes
The channel and the number. Blue bubbles from a dedicated line instead of green ones, with RCS then SMS behind it.
What stays
Your CRM, your funnel stages, your sequences and your contact history. Replies, delivery states and opt-outs post back to the same records.
What we do
The line, the area code, the integration, the workflows and the first scripts. Setup is white-glove; you run a parallel window and cut over when it is beating what you had.
What the bill is made of
Why do teams move from Sendblue to Blue Reacher?
Teams move for one reason above all others: outbound at volume plus somebody to run it. Sendblue's published $100 per line plan is inbound-first, while full outbound sits on custom-priced Enterprise.
- The second reason is the service wrapper. Blue Reacher activation is white-glove, so lines, sequences, CRM wiring, and campaigns get built with you instead of handed over as API docs.
- The third reason is funnel coverage. Outbound is the smaller half of the money in iMessage. The bigger half is traffic you already paid for: reactivation, speed to lead, qualification, reminders, and referrals.
- Bad reason to switch: one campaign underperformed. Fix the list and the copy first.
- Bad reason to switch: price alone. Blue Reacher costs more per line than Sendblue's published tier.
- Bad reason to switch: integration count. Sendblue ships 27. Blue Reacher is native to GoHighLevel and reaches the rest through REST API and webhooks.
What do you keep and what changes?
Most of your Sendblue setup survives the move intact: contacts and custom fields come across as a straight export and import. Your opt-out list needs more care. Conversation history and your dedicated line stay behind.
Contact records and custom fields
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Exported and imported whole
Opt-out list
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Loaded as suppression before the first send, reconciled first
Conversation history
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Stays in Sendblue. Export what you need before you cancel
Your dedicated line
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Stays with Sendblue. You activate a new one, so run both for a few weeks
Templates and sequences
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Rebuilt with you during activation
Custom API integration
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- Rewritten against the Blue Reacher REST API and webhooks. Native in GoHighLevel
A2P 10DLC
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- No A2P registration required. iMessage is not carrier SMS
Per-message billing
- What happens on Blue Reacher
- None on either platform. Unlimited iMessages (50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day) on Blue Reacher
What does the migration look like, day by day?
The migration plan below runs seven to ten business days end to end and asks about four hours of your time. Activation is handled for you, so your hours go into discovery, sequence copy and the seed send.
- Day 0: discovery call, thirty minutes. Bring your Sendblue invoice and any Enterprise quote.
- Days 1 to 2: white-glove activation. Line setup and account configuration are handled for you.
- Day 2: export contacts from Sendblue's paginated contacts endpoint and pull your opt-out list from your Sendblue account.
- Day 3: import and suppression check. Counts get reconciled against the Sendblue side before anything can send.
- Days 3 to 4: CRM wiring. GoHighLevel takes under an hour. Anything else is a developer half-day on REST API and webhooks.
- Days 4 to 5: sequence build. Your outbound campaign and funnel plays get written. Roughly two hours of your review.
- Day 5: seed send to your own team and a few friendly contacts. Check formatting, links, reply routing, and how threads land in your CRM.
- Days 6 to 10: first real campaign at controlled volume while Sendblue keeps handling inbound.
- Weeks 3 to 4: cancel Sendblue once the old line goes quiet.
What happens to your contacts and opt-out list?
Opt-outs carry over in full. Sendblue's API docs show a paginated contacts endpoint plus a separate opt-out endpoint. Contact records carry no opt-out status field, so your suppression set is assembled and reconciled before anything sends.
- Contacts move as export and import, custom fields included. Field names rarely line up, so mapping happens during activation and gets checked before the full load.
- Duplicates and phone formatting get normalized. A2P 10DLC governs US carrier SMS routes, and iMessage is not carrier SMS, so it sits outside that regime. RCS for Business carries its own verification requirements.
Reading how it works is not the same as watching it answer one of your own leads. The Blue Funnel Map does the second one.
See it on your own listWhat should run in parallel during the switch?
What should run in parallel during the switch?
Parallel running is the step teams skip and then regret. Replies land on the line that sent the original message, so the day you cancel Sendblue, every reply to last month's sends goes nowhere.
- Split work by direction: inbound keeps flowing through Sendblue until the old line goes quiet, and all new outbound runs on Blue Reacher.
- Keep the Sendblue line billing at least three weeks past your first Blue Reacher send.
- Route inbound from both lines into the same CRM inbox.
- Send any campaign from one platform only. Never split a list across both.
- Sync opt-outs both ways during the overlap. Someone who opts out of a Sendblue thread must not get a Blue Reacher message the next morning.
- Compare on reply rate and meetings booked, not delivered counts.
- Cancel only after a full week with no meaningful inbound on the old line.
How does the cost actually compare?
How does the cost actually compare?
Cost comparison only works if you have both numbers. Sendblue publishes $100 per line per month. Blue Reacher publishes $249 per line per month or $1,949 per year, with unlimited iMessages (50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day) and no per-message fees.
- Against published tiers Sendblue is cheaper. The comparison that matters is $249 against your Sendblue Enterprise quote. Sendblue does not publish Enterprise pricing, so get the quote and compare.
Published price
- Sendblue
- $100 per dedicated line per month
- Blue Reacher
- $249 per line per month, or $1,949 per year
Per-message fees
- Sendblue
- None
- Blue Reacher
- None
Outbound campaigns at volume
- Sendblue
- Custom-priced Enterprise plan, not published
- Blue Reacher
- Included at the published price
Integrations
- Sendblue
- 28, and Sendblue publicly claims a GoHighLevel partnership
- Blue Reacher
- Six native CRM integrations, plus Zapier, Make, n8n and the REST API and webhooks
Frequently asked questions
Do my opt-outs carry over when I migrate?
Yes. Opt-outs carry over in full, and the migration holds at the suppression step until counts match on both sides. One detail catches teams out: Sendblue's contacts list endpoint does not return a per-contact opt-out status, so the suppression set gets assembled from your Sendblue account. Keep both lists synced.
Do I keep my Sendblue phone number?
No, the Sendblue line stays with Sendblue. Plan for a new dedicated line on Blue Reacher and keep the old one active three to four weeks so replies to earlier messages still reach you. Route both into the same CRM inbox during the overlap, then cancel once the old line goes quiet.
How long does the whole migration take?
Seven to ten business days, and roughly four hours of your attention. Activation, contact import, suppression loading, and CRM wiring are handled for you. Add two or three days if your CRM is not GoHighLevel and no developer is free.
Do I need A2P 10DLC registration after switching?
No A2P registration required. A2P 10DLC governs US carrier SMS routes, and iMessage is not carrier SMS, so it sits outside that regime. RCS for Business carries its own verification requirements separate from A2P 10DLC. Most FCC consent-revocation rules took effect 11 April 2025.
Is Sendblue a bad product?
No. Sendblue has run since 2023 out of New York, rates 4.8 across 65 G2 reviews, ships 27 integrations, and charges no per-message fees. Teams leave over fit rather than quality, specifically outbound at volume with a service team running it.
Can I run Sendblue and Blue Reacher at the same time?
Yes, and you should for two to four weeks. Inbound keeps running on your Sendblue line while all new outbound runs on Blue Reacher. Keep opt-outs synced both ways, never split a campaign across both platforms, and cancel only after a full week with no meaningful inbound on the old line.
Will Blue Reacher cost me more than Sendblue?
Yes, against Sendblue's published $100 line. Blue Reacher is $249 per line per month, or $1,949 per year at about $162.50 a month. The comparison that matters is $249 against your Sendblue Enterprise quote for outbound at volume, and Sendblue does not publish Enterprise pricing.
What if my CRM is not GoHighLevel?
Other CRMs connect through the Blue Reacher REST API and webhooks. Native integrations cover GoHighLevel, HubSpot, Close, Salesforce, Pipedrive and Follow Up Boss today. Connecting another CRM is a developer half-day during activation, handled as part of white-glove setup if you lack a developer.
See what the switch looks like for your setup
Bring your current Sendblue invoice and your outbound volume to a 30 minute demo. You get a straight read on whether moving helps you, including situations where staying makes more sense, plus a migration plan with dates and a suppression-list handover that runs before anything sends. Unlimited iMessages (50 opted-in / 30 cold new contacts a day) at $249 per line per month, no per-message fees, no A2P registration required, and $449 white-glove activation waived on annual billing.