Photon vs imbridge

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and imbridge supports 38.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	imbridge
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedThrough Messages on your own Apple Silicon Mac, SIP disabled
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedSend to and stream a group by name or GUID; group change events
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supportedREADME: the helper can, but the Python API does not wrap it yet
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supportedNot in the Python API yet; it reads rename and photo change events only
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	SupportedSpan(mention=...) in groups; mentions_me() checks incoming messages
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	SupportedClassic six, any emoji or a sticker; send, remove and receive
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply() to a message, files as replies too; reply_to on incoming
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedShow yours, groups included; seeing others is best effort on macOS 26+
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Supportedmark_read() plus read status and read_at on your messages
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	SupportedEdit up to 5 times in 15 minutes, unsend within 2; macOS 13+
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Supported13 bubble and screen effects
Animated text effects	SupportedPer-range effects such as bloom, shake, explode and jitter	SupportedSpan effects: big, small, shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom, jitter and more
Stickers	SupportedPlace image stickers on any bubble with position, scale and rotation; sticker events inbound	SupportedSend stickers, stick them on messages or use as tapbacks; macOS 14+
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	SupportedBold, italic, underline and strikethrough spans; macOS 15+
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedPhotos, GIFs, videos and documents, up to 20 files in one message
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	Supportedsend_link() sends the preview card Messages builds; public pages only
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedSend audio or text-to-speech as a voice message; read transcripts
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	SupportedSend .vcf files as attachments
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	SupportedCreate, vote and read tallies; macOS 26+
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not listed
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	PartialSends and reads static location pins; no live location or Find My
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	Not listed
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedsending, sent, delivered, read or failed; groups and SMS stop at sent
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not listed
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	Supportedfocus_status() reports whether a Focus silences someone
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	Not supportedYou run your own Mac
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedNot offered; uses your own Apple ID
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supported
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedYour own Apple ID; pick which of its numbers a program uses
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	PartialNew chats go over SMS when the person has no iMessage; needs Text Message Forwarding
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedStart a chat with an allowed NewContact; country code required
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not listed
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialThrough your iPhone with Text Message Forwarding on
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialMessage service can read RCS; sending RCS is not documented
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Not supportedNot offered
Telegram	Supported	Not supported
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 supported
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supported
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	PartialiMessage, SMS and RCS rows share one message model; no other channels
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedPython library, CLI and MCP server; no HTTP API or server process
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not listed
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	SupportedThe core product: pip install imbridge, Python 3.10+
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	Supportedimbridge CLI for sending, history, search, watch and setup checks, with JSON output
Webhooks	Supported	Not supportedNo server or webhooks; new messages arrive through Python streams or imbridge watch
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not supportedNo webhooks
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supportedimbridge mcp over stdio, with send, reply, react, poll and read tools
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	SupportedApache-2.0; helper built from BlueBubbles' Apache-2.0 helper
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedSelf-hosted only, on your own Mac
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	Supportednew_messages(since=rowid) and history paging read whatever arrived while offline
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	Not listed
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialPer-chat handles, send allowlist and rate limits for agents; not a full framework
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	Supportedhistory(), search() and chats() read the Messages database
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree, Apache-2.0 software
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree, Apache-2.0; no paid plans mentioned
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	SupportedFree software; no fees
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedApache-2.0 software provided without warranty; uptime depends on your Mac
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedRuns entirely on your Mac
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedSelf-hosted; compliance is up to whoever runs it
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listed

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 management, group name and photo, Live Photos and chat backgrounds.

Choose imbridge if its pricing fits better: it does not support anything here that Photon lacks.

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