Photon vs Contiguity

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Contiguity supports 37.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Contiguity
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedOn leased iMessage-capable numbers; the FAQ says access is approved on request
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listed
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	PartialAdd or remove the six classic tapbacks; no inbound reaction event is documented
Threaded replies	Supported	Not listed
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedStart and stop typing indicators; inbound typing events are not documented
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialMark a chat as read; no read-receipt webhook is documented
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	Supported13 bubble and screen effects, such as slam, invisible ink, confetti and fireworks
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	SupportedBold, italics, strikethrough and underline with markdown-style syntax
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedUp to 10 files (50MB total) by URL; inbound attachments since February 2026
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	SupportedNative previews; until the recipient saves your contact they show after tap-to-load
Voice messages	Supported	Not listed
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Supported.vcf contact cards send as attachments
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	PartialFaceTime Audio only: dial, answer, reject and hang up; $125 a month per number
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	PartialFetch a message with tracking to see each hop; no iMessage delivery webhook
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedCheck whether a number supports iMessage before sending
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	SupportedContiguity runs the leased iMessage numbers; no Mac needed
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedLease a number from $9.99 a month, then add SMS, iMessage or FaceTime Audio
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree and Usage plans send from shared numbers that vary per request, with no inbound
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	PartialOmitting from picks one of your numbers at random; you design the pool yourself
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedFalls back when the recipient has no iMessage or the send fails
RCS fallback	Supported	PartialFallback is described as SMS/RCS; RCS needs a number with both SMS and iMessage
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedAllowed; docs suggest at most 20 new contacts per line per hour and 100 a day
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialFaceTime Audio and call forwarding on leased numbers; phone calling is coming soon
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS and MMS in 100+ countries; the compliance page says no A2P 10DLC registration is needed
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialPricing lists RCS on leased numbers with both SMS and iMessage; no RCS API docs
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedLeased WhatsApp numbers with SMS/RCS fallback, typing and reactions
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	SupportedTransactional email with custom domains; inbound email is in beta
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	PartialCall forwarding only; making and receiving calls is listed as coming soon
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	SupportedSame request shape for SMS, iMessage and WhatsApp, with shared history and cancel endpoints
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	Supportedcontiguity on npm (v3)
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	SupportedOfficial Python SDK; iMessage examples are marked coming soon
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	PartialOfficial CLI repo, last updated February 2024 and not in the current docs
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedInbound SMS, MMS, iMessage and email, delivery, FaceTime and Identity events
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 Contiguity-Signature header with timestamp and rotatable secret
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted MCP server with OAuth: send SMS, iMessage and email, read history, lease numbers
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedClosed platform; SDKs and docs 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	Not listed
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	Not listedChangelog lists fetching webhook events by API as coming
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 listedAn ActivePieces integration exists but is labelled community-developed
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	SupportediMessage and SMS conversation history, plus fetch by message ID
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree: 500 SMS, 100 MMS and 1,000 emails a month on shared numbers, with a signature
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	SupportedLeased numbers and Unlimited are flat monthly; the Usage plan is $0.005 per SMS
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listedDocs say Contiguity aims for over 99.99%; no contractual SLA found
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 listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR in passing; no DPA 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 group chats, group management, group name and photo and mentions.

Choose Contiguity if you need FaceTime calls.

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