Photon vs iMessage Relay

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and iMessage Relay supports 22.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	iMessage Relay
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedYour own Mac: reads chat.db and sends through Messages via AppleScript
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedSend to an existing group with chat_id; chats report participants and is_group
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	PartialReceives message.reaction events; sending reactions is not in the API
Threaded replies	Supported	PartialEvents and history carry reply_to fields; sending inline replies is not in the API
Typing indicators	Supported	Not listed
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not listed
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	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	PartialInbound attachments flag stickers (is_sticker); sending stickers is not documented
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	Not listed
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedBoth directions, up to 100 MB; HEIC converted to JPEG on download
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 listed
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not listed
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	Not listed
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Partialmessage.sent events for outgoing messages; delivered and read events not documented
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	Not listed
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	SupportedSends from the iCloud account signed in on the Mac
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 listed
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	Not listed
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	PartialSend accepts service sms; what the Mac needs for SMS is not documented
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listed
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	PartialSMS goes through the same send endpoints via service sms; no other channels
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedLocal HTTP API on port 7878 with bearer auth, reachable through the tunnel
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not listedNo SDK in the repo; README examples use plain fetch
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not listedNo SDK in the repo; README examples use plain requests
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	SupportedReceived, sent and reaction events, plus tunnel and relay lifecycle events
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	PartialSends your bearer token in the Authorization header; no HMAC signature
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supported7 tools over stdio, or over HTTP at POST /mcp through the tunnel
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	SupportedMIT
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	SupportedSQLite queue with retries and dead-letter; optional backfill of missed messages
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	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	Supported/chats, /history and full-text /search/messages
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree, MIT software
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree, MIT; 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 supportedMIT 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, mentions and typing indicators.

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

Frequently asked questions

• Photon vs Linq
• Photon vs Blooio
• Photon vs Sendblue
• Photon vs Zernio
• Photon vs LoopMessage
• Photon vs Blue Reacher
• Photon vs Chert
• Photon vs Miss Blue
• Photon vs Bland
• Photon vs BlueBubbles

• iMessage Relay vs Linq