Photon vs Comms by Osis

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Comms by Osis supports 43.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Comms by Osis
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedGroups of 2 to 31 people from a dedicated line with group support. Not on the shared line.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialCreate a group with its first message; adding or removing members is not documented.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialName a group when you create it; group photos and renames are not documented.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	SupportedClassic tapbacks or custom emoji, add, replace or remove; reaction webhooks for inbound.
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply_to_message_id replies inside an iMessage thread; text only.
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedShow or hide typing dots on iMessage, RCS and WhatsApp.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	SupportedMark a conversation read to send a receipt; comms.message.read for one-to-one chats.
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	PartialUnsend within Apple's 2-minute window on supported lines. No edit endpoint; inbound edits fire events.
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	SupportedUp to 32 files and 9 MiB per message, sent as base64.
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 listedVoice notes are documented for WhatsApp only.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	SupportedSend a vCard over iMessage, SMS or WhatsApp.
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Supported2 to 12 options; votes arrive as comms.poll.voted. Tap to vote on iOS 26 and later.
Chat backgrounds	Supported	BetaExperimental: photo or gradient backgrounds on lines that support them.
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	PartialRead locations that contacts choose to share, with update webhooks; the API cannot request a share.
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	SupportedContact card API sets name and photo, with native name and photo sharing on supported lines.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	PartialAnswer inbound FaceTime audio and video calls by API and stream audio; outbound calls not documented.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedsent, delivered and read events, plus a list of delivery attempts.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedChecks iMessage, RCS and WhatsApp for a phone number, or iMessage for an email.
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	SupportedHosted lines; no Mac to run.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedDedicated plan: $200 a month per number.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree and Plus plans run on a shared platform line.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedPort an existing number to a dedicated line; needs approval and a supported number.
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	SupportedAuto routing falls back to SMS only after a clear rejection.
RCS fallback	Supported	PartialAuto routing tries RCS for plain text on supported dedicated lines with carrier enablement.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedDedicated lines can start conversations.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialInbound phone and FaceTime calls to the line can be answered by API; outbound is not documented.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedChoose sms explicitly or let auto routing fall back to it.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialOne plain-text message to one number, on supported dedicated lines with carrier enablement.
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedSends from the number's WhatsApp Business account when WhatsApp is turned on for it.
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 as a channel; the capability check accepts Apple ID emails for iMessage.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	PartialInbound cellular calls can be answered by API, but audio relay works only for FaceTime for now.
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered; the site says Comms is distinct from Apple Messages for Business.
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOne send endpoint and message model for iMessage, RCS, WhatsApp and SMS.
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	Not listedOnly a runnable Node.js example is published.
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	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in X-Osis-Signature.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted MCP server with OAuth or a scoped API key.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not listed
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	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	PartialUp to six delivery retries and a delivery attempts list; no replay endpoint is documented.
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	BetaHighLevel connector is a development preview; Marketplace approval is pending.
CRM integrations	Not listed	Not listed
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	SupportedHosted agents with instructions, knowledge, handoff and MCP tool connections.
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	SupportedHandoff controls pause the hosted agent while a person replies in the team inbox.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedList messages and conversations on your lines.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree: shared platform line, 100 messages a day, no card.
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 plans; AI usage and answered call minutes are billed separately.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	Not listed
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listedThe privacy policy mentions GDPR rights; no DPA was found.

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, message effects, animated text effects and stickers.

Choose Comms by Osis if you need FaceTime calls.

Frequently asked questions

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