Photon vs Blue Reacher

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Blue Reacher supports 50.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Blue Reacher
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedOne-to-one iMessage sends and replies over REST and webhooks.
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialAPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet; the site sells group threads opened from the CRM.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialAdd, remove and leave are documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialRename and group photo are documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	PartialInbound reactions arrive as webhooks; sending the six tapbacks is not available on the API yet.
Threaded replies	Supported	PartialSite lists threaded replies; the API reply option sends a quoted reply, not an inline thread.
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialTyping endpoint is documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Partialmessage.read webhooks fire; sending native read receipts is not available on the API yet.
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	Partial8 screen and 4 bubble effects are documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
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	Not supportedDocs say there is no Markdown rendering on any channel.
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedOne file per message for now. Images and video up to 100 MB, audio and PDF up to 25 MB.
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	SupportedA bare URL renders as a preview card on iMessage, built on the recipient's device.
Voice messages	Supported	PartialNative voice memo endpoint is documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	PartialDocs and site say lines send contact cards; no endpoint appears in the API reference.
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 listedDocs say recipients see only the number until they save your contact card.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	PartialFaceTime audio from the line, started by a person; $99/mo add-on. Calls API not available yet.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedmessage.sent, delivered, read and failed webhooks, plus a status endpoint.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	PartialCapability lookup for up to 100 numbers is documented, but aPI docs (22 Oct 2026) say not available yet.
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	SupportedEach line is an Apple ID on Apple hardware run by Blue Reacher.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedEvery line is a dedicated number with a custom area code.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supportedDocs say each line is yours alone, never shared and never recycled.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedPricing lists port-in support for an existing number.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedOmit the line on a send and load balancing picks one; the site calls it smart routing.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Supported
RCS fallback	Supported	PartialSite says iMessage, then RCS, then SMS; the docs say the platform's own fallback is SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedCold outreach allowed: 30 cold or 50 opted-in new contacts a day per warmed line.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialFaceTime audio from the same line. Phone calls need your own provider using the number as caller ID.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialOnly as automatic fallback from the same line.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialSite lists RCS fallback; the docs say messages deliver over iMessage or SMS.
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Not supportedNot offered
Telegram	Supported	Not supported
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Not supportedNot offered as a channel; a Slack guide forwards replies into Slack.
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered. Docs say there is no email-address sender option.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	PartialDocs cover FaceTime audio only; the pricing page lists 2-way calling with SIP routing.
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered; the site describes it as a separate Apple product.
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	SupportediMessage and SMS fallback share one send endpoint and message model.
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	Supportednpm package bluereacher, v0.1.0 (Sept 2026), MIT.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	SupportedPyPI package bluereacher, v0.1.0 (Sept 2026), MIT.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not supportedDocs suggest generating Go, Java, Ruby or PHP clients from the OpenAPI spec.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Supportedbluereacher-cli on npm: send, status, conversations and capability checks.
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in X-BlueReacher-Signature.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted MCP server at api.bluereacher.com/v1/mcp; works with sandbox keys.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs, CLI, a stdio MCP server and an n8n node are MIT on GitHub. The platform is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not listed
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	SupportedPublic sandbox key runs the API and MCP against a simulator, with simulated inbound replies.
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	PartialRetries for about a day; undelivered events are kept and support replays them on request.
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	SupportedNative GoHighLevel, plus Zapier, Make and n8n guides and an n8n community node.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedNative HubSpot, Salesforce, Close, Pipedrive, Follow Up Boss and Jobber (beta).
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialBuilt-in AI reply assistant on your own model key, with per-contact controls. No agent SDK.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	PartialGuide pages for LangChain and the Vercel AI SDK that wrap the API as a tool.
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	SupportedPause or snooze the AI assistant per contact while a person replies.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialDocs mention an exportable opt-out audit trail; no general activity log is documented.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedConversation history per contact, cursor-paginated.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree public sandbox key; simulator only, no real messages sent.
Public pricing	Supported	Supported
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 listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedDedicated lines per customer, never shared; workspaces logically isolated.
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not supportedTrust page says controls map to SOC 2 but the independent attestation is not complete.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedGDPR page and a published DPA with Standard Contractual Clauses.

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 Blue Reacher if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

Frequently asked questions

• Photon vs Linq
• Photon vs Blooio
• Photon vs Sendblue
• Photon vs Zernio
• Photon vs LoopMessage
• Photon vs Chert
• Photon vs Miss Blue
• Photon vs Bland
• Photon vs BlueBubbles

• Blue Reacher vs Linq
• Blooio vs Blue Reacher
• Blue Reacher vs Sendblue
• Blue Reacher vs Zernio
• Blue Reacher vs LoopMessage
• Blue Reacher vs Chert
• Blue Reacher vs Miss Blue
• Bland vs Blue Reacher
• Blue Reacher vs BlueBubbles