Photon vs imessage-sdk

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and imessage-sdk supports 23.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	imessage-sdk
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	PartialThrough an account with Blooio, Comms by Osis, Photon or Sendblue; the SDK sends nothing itself
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	BetaExperimental provider-level APIs only; disabled in the normalized v0.1 client
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 supportedGroup conversations and mentions are postponed in v0.1
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	PartialAdd and remove on Blooio and Photon; add-only on Sendblue through its provider API
Threaded replies	Supported	PartialBlooio and Photon only
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialStart and stop on Blooio, Photon and Sendblue
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialBlooio and Photon; Sendblue mark-read is account-dependent
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not supportedNot available for any built-in provider in v0.1
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Not supportedExcluded from the v0.1 scope
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 supportedChat SDK Markdown is sent as plain text
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	PartialURL, Blob or bytes depending on the provider; Comms is text only
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 supportedContacts are excluded from the v0.1 scope
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Not supportedExcluded from the v0.1 scope
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not listed
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not supportedExcluded from the v0.1 scope
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 supportedExcluded from the v0.1 scope
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	PartialMessage statuses are in the model; coverage depends on the provider
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	PartialUses lines from the hosted provider you connect; the SDK provides none
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedNot offered; numbers come from the provider you connect
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	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	Not supportedOne provider and connection per client; routing across lines is left to the app
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	SupportedOpen a direct conversation on all four providers
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	Not listed
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	Not supportediMessage only; the SDK unifies providers, not channels
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedTypeScript library and CLI; no HTTP API of its own
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supportedimessage-sdk core plus @imessage-sdk provider packages on npm
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	Supportedimessage-cli with JSON input and output, keychain-saved connections and dry runs
Webhooks	Supported	PartialNormalized webhooks for Blooio, Photon and Sendblue; not Comms
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedVerifies Blooio and Photon signatures and Sendblue's shared-secret header
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
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	Not listedBuilt-in providers are hosted services; custom providers could wrap other transports
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	SupporteddefineProvider() contract for your own provider adapters
Event replay	SupportedCatch up on events after a disconnect from a durable sequence	BetaPhoton provider-level event stream with durable cursors, marked experimental
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	PartialNo own framework; ships a Chat SDK adapter and an agent-friendly CLI
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	Supported@imessage-sdk/chat-adapter for Vercel's Chat SDK (chat-sdk.dev)
Streaming replies	SupportedAI output streams into one iMessage bubble, edited in place	Not supportedNative Chat SDK response streaming is postponed in v0.1
Agent group chats	BetaAgents find other agents and add them to a group chat (2.0 beta)	Not supportedGroup conversations are postponed in v0.1
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	PartialGet a message or conversation; no provider-neutral history pagination yet
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree, MIT; the provider account is billed separately
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree, MIT; provider pricing applies
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	PartialThe SDK is free; per-message costs depend on the provider
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedMIT software provided without warranty; uptime depends on the provider
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	Not listedDepends on the connected provider
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listed
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 edit and unsend.

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

Frequently asked questions

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