Photon vs Blooio

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Blooio supports 60.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Blooio
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Supported
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialCreate groups by API. Adding or removing members is marked coming soon (returns 501).
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedRename groups and set or remove group icons.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listedA guide index lists mentions, but no mention field is documented.
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	SupportedAdd or remove tapbacks on any message; inbound reactions arrive as message.reaction events.
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply_to on sends.
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedSend, and receive typing.started and typing.stopped events.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	SupportedMark chats read and receive message.read events.
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not listed
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Supportedeffect field on text sends.
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	SupportedMarkdown bold, italic, underline and strikethrough sent as iMessage rich text.
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	Supported
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	Supportedrich_link bubbles with image and title overrides.
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedA single audio file is sent as a native voice memo.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not listedAttachments accept other files, but .vcf is not named. Name and Photo cards are documented.
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	SupportedSend, vote and read results, with poll webhooks.
Chat backgrounds	Supported	SupportedImage backgrounds only.
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	PartialReads Find My locations of contacts already sharing. Location access is provisioned on request.
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	SupportedCustom bubbles for your own iMessage app extension, sent and received.
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	Not supportedDocs say a send cannot continue an app session; each bubble starts a new one.
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	SupportedSet name and avatar per number and share the card into a chat.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	PartialOn request for dedicated lines. Docs say the FaceTime API is disabled for now (returns 501).
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supported
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedLive per-number iMessage, SMS and RCS capability lookup.
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	SupportedRead a contact's Focus status and send Notify Anyway. Direct chats only.
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	SupportedPre-warmed numbers claimed self-serve from the dashboard.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Supported
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedStarter and Commercial Shared use managed shared pools.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	PartialiMessage only by porting on dedicated plans. Your own Twilio number can carry SMS.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedNumber pools and channel priorities; a contact keeps one number in a pool.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Supported
RCS fallback	Supported	Supported
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedShared plans cap new conversations per day. Inbound plan is reply-only.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	SupportedVoice calling and call forwarding on Commercial and Enterprise Dedicated lines.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedFrom the iMessage line, or through your own Twilio account.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedRCS fallback on numbers, plus an RCS for Business channel type.
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedWhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API) on the v4 API.
Telegram	Supported	Not supportedNot offered
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Not supported
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to email handles.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	PartialVoice calling and forwarding on dedicated plans. No calling API documented.
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	SupportedBlooio says it is an official Apple Messages for Business MSP.
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	Supportedv4 API covers iMessage, SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and Apple Messages for Business.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	Supported
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supported@blooio/sdk
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedblooio on PyPI.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedGo and Java SDKs.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 with timestamp, rotatable secrets and delivery replay.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted at mcp.blooio.com/v4.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs are Apache-2.0 on GitHub. The messaging platform is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not supportedBlooio says it is not a self-hosted iMessage relay.
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	PartialYour own Twilio account can be added as an SMS channel under the same API.
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	SupportedWebhook delivery logs with replay, plus an events feed to list past events.
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	SupportedGoHighLevel, n8n, Make, Zapier and IFTTT.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedGoHighLevel and HubSpot.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialNo own framework. Community Chat SDK adapter, plus plugins for Hermes Agent and eve.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	SupportedBlooio publishes Hermes Agent and eve channel plugins. The Chat SDK adapter is a community package.
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	PartialHandoff webhook events, documented for Apple Messages for Business chats.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialLists audit logging among internal security controls. No customer audit log documented.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedRetention runs 90 days to unlimited depending on plan.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	PartialFree trial is 20 messages total on a shared number. Apple Messages for Business has a free sandbox.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedNumber plans from $39/mo. Apple Messages for Business is custom, per monthly active user.
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	SupportedNumber plans are flat. Apple Messages for Business is billed per monthly active user.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	SupportedContractual SLA with a signed Enterprise Order Form; 99.9% uptime target
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialDedicated numbers are isolated to your workspace. No per-customer servers or devices described.
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not supportedTrust Center lists SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 as in progress.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedTrust Center marks GDPR as passing.

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 mentions, edit and unsend, animated text effects and stickers.

Choose Blooio if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

Frequently asked questions

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