Photon vs beeperbox

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and beeperbox supports 27.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	beeperbox
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	PartialLists iMessage, but Beeper connects iMessage only on a Mac, so the Linux container cannot
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialReads and sends to any connected chat, groups included; iMessage reach needs a Mac
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listed
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listed
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	Partialreact_to_message adds an emoji reaction; reading reactions is not documented
Threaded replies	Supported	Partialsend_message takes reply_to_message_id; per-network rendering is not documented
Typing indicators	Supported	Not listed
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not listedDocs say Beeper exposes no mark-as-read; read state is not in the message schema
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	PartialEdit and delete only through the raw Beeper Desktop API, not the MCP tools
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Not listed
Animated text effects	SupportedPer-range effects such as bloom, shake, explode and jitter	Not listed
Stickers	SupportedPlace image stickers on any bubble with position, scale and rotation; sticker events inbound	Not listed
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	Partialsend_message accepts Markdown; how each network renders it is not documented
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	PartialDownload inbound files over MCP; sending files needs the raw Beeper API upload
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Not listed
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Not listed
Voice messages	Supported	PartialInbound voice notes are flagged and downloadable; sending them is not documented
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not listed
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Not listed
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not listed
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not listed
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	Not listed
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	Not listed
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	Not listed
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not listed
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	PartialSend returns status sent; docs say to read the chat back to confirm delivery
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not listed
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	Not listed
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	Not supportedYou run Beeper Desktop on your own host with your own accounts
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedNot offered; it uses the accounts in your Beeper login
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supportedNot offered
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedUses the networks already connected to your Beeper account
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	Not supportedSingle-tenant by design: one container per Beeper account
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Not listed
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	Partialsend_message needs an existing chat_id; no MCP tool starts a new chat
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not listed
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialOnly through Beeper's Google Messages network; no numbers are provided
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listedGoogle Messages is listed as a network; RCS is not mentioned
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedThrough the WhatsApp network in your Beeper account
Telegram	Supported	SupportedThrough the Telegram network in your Beeper account
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	SupportedThrough the Slack network in your Beeper account
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	Not supported
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supported
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOne normalized Chat and Message schema across every network
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedRaw Beeper Desktop HTTP API on port 23373, plus MCP over HTTP JSON-RPC
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not supportedNo SDK; the npm package is the MCP server itself
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not supportedNo SDK; MCP and raw HTTP only
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not supported
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not supportednpx beeperbox only starts the MCP server
Webhooks	Supported	Not supportedPolling only through poll_messages; docs say the raw API is request and response only
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not supportedNo webhooks
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supported12 tools over HTTP or stdio, in Docker or with npx
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	SupportedApache-2.0
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedDocker image for amd64 and arm64 Linux, or npx against a local Beeper Desktop
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	Not listed
Custom channel providers	SupporteddefinePlatform plugs any interface into the same Spectrum API	Not listed
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	PartialRestart-safe poll cursor; more than 100 messages per chat between polls can be missed
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	Not listed
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	Not listedTool layer only; the author's separate bareagent project provides the agent loop
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	PartialWiring guides for MCP clients and the author's bareagent; no framework adapters
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)	Not listed
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	Not listed
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	Supportedread_chat and search_messages; live sync covers about 20 recent chats
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree Apache-2.0 software; needs a Beeper account
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree software
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	Supported
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedApache-2.0 software provided without warranty; uptime is up to you
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedOne container per Beeper account on your own host
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedSelf-hosted; compliance depends on the operator
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listed

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 group management, group name and photo, mentions and typing indicators.

Choose beeperbox if its pricing fits better: it does not support anything here that Photon lacks.

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