Photon vs Chert

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Chert supports 47.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Chert
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Supported2 to 31 recipients; first group message must be text only.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedCreate, add or remove participants, and leave a group.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedSet a group's display name and icon.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	SupportedSix standard tapbacks; inbound tapbacks show in message history.
Threaded replies	Supported	Not listedHomepage mentions reply context; no reply-to field in the API docs.
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedBest effort; group typing is not supported on every line.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	SupportedMark chats read; messages carry read_at when known.
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	PartialEdit within 15 minutes; no unsend endpoint documented.
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	SupportedApple send effects, validated against an allowed list.
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	SupportedUpload then send; several images can go out as one grouped message.
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Supportedlive_photo pairs an uploaded HEIC with its MOV.
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Supportedrich_link parts render as preview bubbles; falls back to a plain URL.
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedNative voice notes on enabled lines; inbound memos arrive as attachments, no transcript.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	SupportedBuilds a vCard bubble in DMs and groups.
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	SupportedEnabled lines only; read votes by polling, no vote webhooks yet.
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not listed
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	PartialOne-time location pin on enabled lines; not Live Location or Find My.
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	SupportedNative name-and-photo sharing on enabled lines (share_native).
FaceTime calls	Not listed	SupportedInbound audio and video, outbound audio only, bridged to your LiveKit agent.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	SupportedPer-message status with delivered_at, and the channel used (iMessage or SMS).
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	SupportedChert-managed sender lines assigned to your tenant.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Supported$250/mo per line, arranged on a call; no self-serve checkout yet.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree 24-hour trial and $25/mo Shared plan on a shared line.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedPicks and pins a sender line per recipient from your assigned lines.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	PartialLines enabled for SMS retry only; plain-text 1:1 messages, not groups or media.
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listedHomepage says SMS or RCS fallback; API docs only describe SMS retry.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedFirst send to a new recipient creates a lead and pins a line.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialHomepage offers one number for iMessage and FaceTime; docs say identities are not unified yet.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialOnly as an automatic retry after a failed iMessage, on enabled lines.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on the homepage.
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 listed
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 supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime only.
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	PartialiMessage and SMS retry share one API; FaceTime uses a separate API.
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	Beta@trychert/sdk 0.2.0 on npm (MIT); the homepage still says SDK packages are not published.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	BetaSource preview on GitHub; not released on PyPI.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	BetaRust, C#/.NET, C++ and Go clients are source previews on GitHub.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	BetaFaceTime CLI on npm's beta tag; the SDK adds a chert-sdk CLI for sends.
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedMultiple subscriptions with event filters; message.received for inbound.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 per-subscription secret over timestamp and raw body.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs are MIT and a FaceTime link connector is Apache-2.0; the service is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not listedOnly the open-source FaceTime link connector runs on your own machine.
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	Not listedSSE stream and dev inbox avoid a public webhook, but a real phone is still needed.
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	SupportedDurable event log with replay by event ID, polling and SSE.
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	SupportedSalesforce managed package and HubSpot app.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialChert-managed FaceTime assistants and a LiveKit voice-agent starter; messaging is send and receive.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	PartialFaceTime calls connect to LiveKit agents; no messaging framework 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)	Not listed
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	SupportedSlack reply triage with approve-to-send drafts, plus a console reply pane.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	PartialLast 200 messages per chat; no pagination yet.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Partial24-hour trial with 10 messages and 10 FaceTime minutes on a shared line.
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	SupportedFlat monthly prices; paid plans have usage limits that are not spelled out.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedDedicated $250/mo line for your project; lower plans use shared lines
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedPrivacy policy sets out GDPR legal bases and rights.

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, threaded replies, animated text effects and stickers.

Choose Chert if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

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