Photon vs iBlueText

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and iBlueText supports 43.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	iBlueText
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedHosted lines on iBlueText's Macs and iPhones, or self-hosted on your own Macs
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listedNot mentioned in the API docs
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	SupportedSend six tapbacks to inbound messages and receive reaction.received. Not on SIP-on rented Macs.
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply_to quotes an inbound message; falls back to a normal message if Apple refuses
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialSend only, in existing iMessage threads; no inbound typing events documented
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialReceive only: message.read and read_at when the recipient has read receipts on
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	Supported8 screen and 4 bubble effects on /send
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	SupportedPhotos, video, voice memos, vCards and PDFs, up to 5 files of 5 MB each
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	SupportedGoHighLevel page cites real link previews; no API option documented
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedVoice memos sent and received as attachments
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Supported.vcf files sent 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	PartialHosted lines can get a business sender name at setup; no API or photo option documented
FaceTime calls	Not listed	PartialFaceTime audio placed from the self-hosted Bridge app, with call webhooks; no call API
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedqueued, sent, delivered, read and failed; plain SMS has no delivery receipt
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedLookup API at $0.005 a number, 400 free per line a day; also detects FaceTime
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 plan: iBlueText runs the Mac, iPhone, Apple Account and US number
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedEach hosted line is its own US number on a dedicated, warmed Apple ID
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	PartialOnly the 10 free trial messages, which are sent from iBlueText's fleet
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedSelf-hosted uses your own iPhones and numbers; hosted lines can use your own Apple Account
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedCampaigns spread new contacts across your lines and keep existing contacts on their line
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Supported
RCS fallback	Supported	PartialFalls back to green; the carrier decides RCS or SMS and iBlueText reports which
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedCapped at 50 new iMessage and 50 new SMS contacts a day per line, 15 in the first 5 days
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialFaceTime audio from the line's Apple ID via the self-hosted Bridge app; no phone calls
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS and MMS from the line's number; self-hosted can add Android phones or your own Twilio
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialGreen messages go as RCS or SMS as the carrier decides; RCS cannot be selected
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedYour own number paired by QR code ($19/mo add-on) or a hosted number from $49/mo
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 supported
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	Not supportedNot offered; calls are FaceTime audio 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 share /send; WhatsApp has its own endpoint; inbound shares one webhook
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not listedNone found; docs say no SDK is needed
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	SupportedReplies, opt-outs and opt-in status events, per account or per line
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedX-IBT-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supportedibluetext-mcp on npm, 30 tools
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedBridge is licensed per line and cannot be resold; only the npm MCP package is MIT
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportediBlueText Bridge runs on your own Macs from $29/mo; messages stay on your hardware
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	PartialSelf-hosted Bridge can route SMS through your own Twilio account
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	PartialWebhooks retried 3 times over about 12 minutes; conversations API has a since filter
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	SupportedNative GoHighLevel and Wix apps; Zapier, Make and n8n through webhooks
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedNative GoHighLevel only; HubSpot and Salesforce through the API and webhooks
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	SupportedPause or resume the built-in AI per conversation; it steps back 24 hours after a manual reply
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialPortal API log lists every API call for 30 days
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedConversations API returns two-way transcripts
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	PartialOne-time allowance: 100 lookups, 10 verifications and 10 iMessages, 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 per line; lookups and verifications cost $0.005 each
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedTerms provide the service as is, with no guarantee of availability
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialSelf-hosted runs on your own Macs; hosted runs many lines per Mac
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listedPrivacy policy mentions GDPR rights where applicable; 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 iBlueText if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

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