Photon vs AgenticMail

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and AgenticMail supports 29.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	AgenticMail
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not supported
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	Not supported
Threaded replies	Supported	Not supported
Typing indicators	Supported	Not supported
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not supported
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not supported
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Not supported
Animated text effects	SupportedPer-range effects such as bloom, shake, explode and jitter	Not supported
Stickers	SupportedPlace image stickers on any bubble with position, scale and rotation; sticker events inbound	Not supported
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	Not supported
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	Not supported
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Not supported
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Not supported
Voice messages	Supported	Not supported
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not supported
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Not supported
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not supported
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not supported
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	Not supported
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	Not supported
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	Not supported
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supported
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Not supported
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not supported
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	Not supported
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	PartialEach agent can use its own number from your 46elks, Twilio or Google Voice account; none sold directly.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not listed
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedSMS through your Google Voice or 46elks number; calls through 46elks or Twilio.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	Not listed
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Not supportedNo iMessage support
RCS fallback	Supported	Not supported
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedOutbound SMS through the 46elks API; Google Voice setups get web automation steps instead.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialThrough your own 46elks account or Google Voice (browser reading or email forwarding). No MMS documented.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not supportedNot offered
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	PartialEnterprise package only, as a WhatsApp webhook channel.
Telegram	Supported	SupportedRegister a Telegram bot to message agents and receive operator questions.
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Not listedEnterprise lists a Slack tool adapter; Slack is not listed as a messaging channel.
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	SupportedCore product: per-agent addresses on a local Stalwart server, a Gmail or Outlook relay, or your domain.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	SupportedOutbound calls through 46elks or Twilio, with a realtime voice bridge to OpenAI Realtime.
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	PartialOne REST API and key per agent, with separate endpoints for mail, SMS, phone and Telegram.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	Supported75+ endpoints under /api/agenticmail.
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supported@agenticmail/core Node SDK.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not listed
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not listed
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Supported@agenticmail/cli with a setup wizard and interactive shell.
Webhooks	Supported	PartialEvents arrive over a server-sent events stream; no outbound webhooks to your app documented.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not listedVerifies inbound 46elks, Twilio and Telegram webhooks; no outbound webhooks to sign.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supported@agenticmail/mcp, about 100 tools over stdio.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	SupportedMIT license.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedRuns on your machine with Node 22+ and Docker for the Stalwart mail server.
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	PartialAgents can email each other over @localhost with no outside service; SMS needs a carrier.
Custom channel providers	SupporteddefinePlatform plugs any interface into the same Spectrum API	PartialSMS and phone transports sit behind provider interfaces in the open code (46elks, Google Voice, Twilio).
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	Not listed
OpenTelemetry	SupportedOpt-in messaging traces in spectrum-ts, and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
No-code integrations	Supportedn8n community nodes and a Dify plugin	Not listed
CRM integrations	Not listed	PartialEnterprise package lists HubSpot and Salesforce among its tool adapters.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	SupportedDispatcher that wakes agents on new mail, tasks and RPC calls, call_agent orchestration, per-agent memory.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	SupportedOpenClaw plugin, plus Claude Code and Codex integrations.
Streaming replies	SupportedAI output streams into one iMessage bubble, edited in place	Not listed
Agent group chats	BetaAgents find other agents and add them to a group chat (2.0 beta)	PartialAgents email each other and share CC'd threads; no chat-app group chats.
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	SupportedBlocked outbound mail waits for owner approval; ask_operator pauses a live call for a human.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialEnterprise package logs every mutating API call with actor and organization.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedInbox listing and search, plus an SMS message list.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree MIT software; free agenticmail.io subdomain for the hosted Enterprise package.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree; no paid plans listed.
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	PartialNo AgenticMail fees; your carrier (46elks, Twilio or Google Voice) bills SMS and calls.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedMIT software provided as is; uptime depends on your host.
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedSelf-hosted; each agent gets its own mailbox and credentials.
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedThe Enterprise dashboard generates SOC 2-style reports for your deployment; no certification found.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listedSelf-hosted; compliance depends on the operator.

Checked on each provider's own site and docs on 2026-10-25. “Not listed” means the provider does not mention it.

Pricing

Which should you choose?

Choose Photon if you need iMessage, group chats, group management and group name and photo.

Choose AgenticMail if you need CRM integrations.

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