Photon vs Chatbubbles

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Chatbubbles supports 18.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Chatbubbles
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedRuns on your own Mac with Messages signed in, through imsg
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialLists all chats and their history; send takes a single to handle, group sends not documented
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	PartialMessage history includes reactions; no endpoint to send them
Threaded replies	Supported	PartialHistory includes reply_to_guid; no inline reply send
Typing indicators	Supported	Not listed
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not listed
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	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	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedSend with POST /v1/attachments; fetch with GET /v1/attachments/{id}
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	Not listed
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	Not listed
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 your own Mac
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedNot offered; uses your own Apple ID
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supported
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedYour own Apple ID signed in to Messages on the Mac
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 listed
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	Not listed
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	PartialSend accepts service sms; what the Mac needs for SMS is not documented
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listed
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 supported
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supported
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	PartialSMS goes through the same send endpoint via service sms; no other channels
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedHTTPS API on port 8443 with bearer tokens, meant for Tailscale clients
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not listed
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	Partialchatbubbles-cli handles pairing, status and client admin; no messaging commands
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedRegister and delete webhooks by API; HTTPS targets only, no private addresses
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not supportedWebhook POSTs carry only a JSON body; no signature header in the code
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSource is public on GitHub, but the repo has no license file
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedSelf-hosted only, on your Mac
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	PartialWebhooks are sent once with no retry; history takes before and after timestamps
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 listed
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	Not listed
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	SupportedGET /v1/chats and GET /v1/chats/{id}/messages
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree download from GitHub releases and a Homebrew tap
Public pricing	Supported	Not listedNo prices mentioned; the software is a free download
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	SupportedRuns on your own Mac; the site says it never touches the project's servers
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedSite: your Mac, Messages and Tailscale must stay up; plan accordingly
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedRuns entirely on your own Mac and Tailscale network
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedSelf-hosted; compliance is up to whoever runs it
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 Chatbubbles if its pricing fits better: it does not support anything here that Photon lacks.

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