Photon vs CM.com

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

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	CM.com
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not supported
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	Not supported
Threaded replies	Supported	Not supported
Typing indicators	Supported	Not supported
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not supported
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not supported
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Not supported
Animated text effects	SupportedPer-range effects such as bloom, shake, explode and jitter	Not supported
Stickers	SupportedPlace image stickers on any bubble with position, scale and rotation; sticker events inbound	Not supported
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	Not supported
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	Not supported
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Not supported
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Not supported
Voice messages	Supported	Not supported
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not supported
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Not supported
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not supported
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not supported
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	Not supported
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	Not supported
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	Not supported
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supported
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Not supported
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not supported
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	Not supported
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedRequest phone numbers by API or the Voice Management app; extra numbers via the Channels app
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not listed
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedNumber porting requests by API
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 supportedNo iMessage support; WhatsApp and other OTT channels can fall back to SMS
RCS fallback	Supported	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedBusiness-initiated SMS and template messages through the Business Messaging API
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS worldwide, plus SMPP and XML connections
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedRCS text, media, suggestions, rich cards and carousels
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedWhatsApp Business with templates, interactive, catalogue and payment messages
Telegram	Supported	Supported
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Not supportedNot offered
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	SupportedEmail Gateway API for transactional and marketing email, plus SMTP
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	SupportedVoice API, SIP trunking and a Voice FlowBuilder for IVR and call transfer
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	SupportedList and time pickers, forms, OAuth and Apple Pay payment messages
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOne Business Messaging API for SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Viber, Apple, Messenger, Instagram, LINE, Telegram and push
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedJSON over HTTPS with a product token
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supported@cmdotcom/text-sdk on npm
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedcm-text-sdk-python
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedPHP, Java and .NET text SDKs, a Go email SDK and a .NET voice SDK
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedInbound messages, status reports and channel events by webhook
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	PartialEmail webhooks are HMAC-SHA512 signed; messaging webhooks rely on IP allowlisting
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedClosed platform; SDKs are on GitHub
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not supportedHosted cloud service only
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	SupportedAgent Inbox Channel API adds your own channel; Router Custom service connects your own service
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	PartialInbound and status webhooks are retried with backoff for up to 7 days; no replay API found
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, HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics integrations
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	SupportedHALO: no-code AI agents across voice and messaging, built and tuned by asking HALO
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	SupportedHALO hands conversations to people in Agent Inbox with full context
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedConversational Router Conversation History API returns a session's messages and events
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	PartialBusiness Messaging trial to test the API without onboarding; no permanent free tier
Public pricing	Supported	PartialChannel subscriptions from $58 a month are listed; SMS rates per country are quoted
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedSMS billed per message; OTT channels billed by active users, conversations or messages
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	SupportedPublished SLA: 99.99% for Business Messaging and Voice, 99.90% for HALO and Service Cloud
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	Not listed
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedTrust Center lists ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and others; no SOC 2 report found
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedDPA covers GDPR; CM.com says customer data stays in Europe

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 iMessage, group chats, group management and group name and photo.

Choose CM.com if you need CRM integrations.

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