Comparison
Overview
Company snapshot and where each provider is based.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A conversational commerce and customer engagement platform offering business messaging across SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and other channels, plus voice, email and payments, via API and cloud apps. | Developer platform for phone and email verification (OTP), authentication, number intelligence, and anti-fraud onboarding delivered across SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, voice and other channels. |
| Founded | 1999 | 2022 |
| Ownership | public | private |
| Employees | 500-1,000 | 51-200 |
| HQ city | Breda | Paris |
| HQ country | Netherlands (EU) | France (EU) |
What's the differencePrelude edges ahead on the overall messaging.dev Score (62 vs 58). CM.com is public and headquartered in Breda, Netherlands (EU); Prelude is private and based in Paris, France (EU).
Channels
Which messaging channels each provider can send and receive on.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| SMS | Yes | Yes |
| MMS | No | No |
| RCS | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Viber | Yes | Yes |
| Facebook Messenger | Yes | No |
| Telegram | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Messages for Business | Yes | No |
| Voice | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes |
What's the differenceThey share 7 channels. CM.com additionally offers Facebook Messenger, Apple Messages for Business.
Developer Experience
How quickly a developer can sign up and send a first message.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service onboarding | Yes | Yes |
| Free developer credit | No | No |
| Docs quality | high | high |
| Documentation | Open ↗ | Open ↗ |
| SDKs | PHP, Java, Python, .NET, Node.js | Node.js, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, PHP, C# |
| Sandbox / test env | Yes | No |
| API types | REST, SMPP | REST |
What's the differenceOn SDKs, CM.com adds .NET; Prelude adds Go, Ruby, C#; CM.com offers Sandbox / test env, while Prelude does not; on API types, CM.com adds SMPP.
Data & Compliance
Data residency options and enterprise compliance certifications.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes |
| US data residency | No | No |
| Choose region | No | No |
| GDPR | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 27001 | Yes | Yes |
| SOC 2 | No | Yes |
| HIPAA | No | No |
What's the differencePrelude offers SOC 2, while CM.com does not.
Data Retention
How long message content and metadata are stored, and whether that is configurable.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| Retention policy | Not publicly documented in detail. CM.com states it hosts data in Europe and holds ISO 27001/27017/27018/27701 certifications; message content and metadata retention are governed by its privacy statement and per-customer data processing agreements rather than a single published fixed retention period. | Not publicly documented in detail. Prelude is a European (Paris-based) company that hosts and processes data in EU data centers under GDPR, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001:2022 controls including encryption of data in transit and at rest. It states that only essential data is stored for delivery tracking, but specific message-content and metadata retention periods are not published on the site or trust center. |
What's the differenceCM.com: Not publicly documented in detail. CM.com states it hosts data in Europe and holds ISO 27001/27017/27018/27701 certifications; message content and metadata retention are governed by its privacy statement and per-customer data processing agreements rather than a single published fixed retention period. Prelude: Not publicly documented in detail. Prelude is a European (Paris-based) company that hosts and processes data in EU data centers under GDPR, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001:2022 controls including encryption of data in transit and at rest. It states that only essential data is stored for delivery tracking, but specific message-content and metadata retention periods are not published on the site or trust center.
Pricing & Credits
Pricing model and the cost of a first message.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Pay-per-use (pay-as-you-go) charged per message with one fixed price per destination country, volume discounts above ~50,000 messages/month, and optional subscription tiers. | Pay-as-you-go per-verification pricing plus at-cost (zero-markup) per-message charges, with optional Startup subscription and custom Enterprise tiers. |
| SMS starting price | Not published (per-country pay-per-use pricing requires selecting a region on the pricing page) | €0.0043 per SMS (US, at-cost); verification fee from €0.032 |
| Free developer credit | No | No |
What's the differenceCM.com and Prelude are closely matched on pricing & credits — no material differences in the tracked fields.
Reach & Reliability
Global coverage and delivery dependability.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| Countries covered | 0 | 230 |
| Direct operator connections | Yes | Yes |
| Published uptime SLA | No published SLA | No published SLA |
What's the differencePrelude leads on Countries covered (230 vs 0 for CM.com).
Company & Trust
Independent reviews and company profile.
| Field | CM.com | Prelude |
|---|---|---|
| G2 rating | 4.8 | 4.9 |
| G2 reviews | 12 | 13 |
| Ownership | public | private |
| Employees | 500-1,000 | 51-200 |
What's the differencePrelude leads on G2 rating (4.9 vs 4.8 for CM.com); Prelude leads on G2 reviews (13 vs 12 for CM.com).
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