Photon vs Gupshup

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Gupshup supports 29.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Gupshup
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	Partial10-digit SMS keyword numbers on request; voice numbers through Knowlarity APIs
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	PartialShared WhatsApp sandbox number for testing
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedMove an existing WhatsApp number to the API, or keep the Business App with Coexistence
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
RCS fallback	Supported	Not supported
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedBusiness-initiated SMS, RCS and WhatsApp template sends
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	Supported
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedOnboarding form and gateway credentials from Gupshup required
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Supported
Telegram	Supported	PartialCovered in Bot Platform guides; not listed among current channels
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	PartialBot Platform can publish a bot to Slack
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	SupportedEnterprise Email API and SMTP relay
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	SupportedOutbound dialing, inbound call center, click-to-call and voice AI agents
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	PartialCommunicate is marketed as one API with failover; the documented APIs are separate per channel
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 listedNo official SDK found; docs give sample code
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 listedDocs give PHP, Java, C# and Ruby sample code only
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not listedDocs suggest IP allowlisting; no signature scheme found
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedRemote enterprise MCP server (OAuth) that acts on an account, plus a docs MCP server
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedClosed platform
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	PartialBot Platform can publish a bot through your own Twilio SMS number
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	PartialFailed WhatsApp webhook calls are retried after a short interval
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	SupportedZapier (Gupshup for Business app)
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedHubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM and Microsoft Dynamics apps
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	SupportedAI Agents, Bot Studio and Conversation Builder on its own ACE LLM
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	PartialBot Platform connects Dialogflow agents; no LLM agent framework packages found
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	SupportedAgent transfer node hands chats to the Agent Assist console
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialEnterprise plan only
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	Not listed
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	PartialNo free tier on the self-serve plan; a WhatsApp offer page lists 3 months free, messages charged
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedCC Express at $99 a month plus published per-message rates
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 supportedPlatform fee plus per-message rates
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	PartialEnterprise plan only
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialEnterprise gets dedicated throughput; Communicate cites private virtual data paths
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	SupportedListed under the Enterprise plan with ISO 27001 and GDPR
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Supported

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 Gupshup if you need CRM integrations.

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