Photon vs Inkbox

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Inkbox supports 45.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Inkbox
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedShared router service on every plan, or a dedicated line from the Startup plan.
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedDedicated lines only, 2 to 8 remote participants. Shared service is 1:1.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialCreate a group by sending to 2 to 8 numbers. No add or remove member API in V1.
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, replace and remove 7 tapbacks including eyes; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply_to_message_id in 1:1 and group chats, with thread reads. Falls back to a plain reply.
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialSend only, in 1:1 chats. Groups and inbound typing events are not supported.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialSend read receipts in 1:1 chats. No read status for your own sent messages is documented.
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	Supported4 bubble and 9 full-screen send styles, in 1:1 and dedicated-line groups.
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	SupportedOne media item per message, uploads up to 10 MiB. No media before the recipient's first reply.
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	PartialThe router sends the agent's contact card on connect. Sending other vCards is not documented.
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	SupportedDedicated lines share the identity's display name and avatar automatically.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not listedCalls run over iMessage lines, but the docs do not say whether they are FaceTime.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedimessage.sent, imessage.delivered and imessage.delivery_failed webhooks, per recipient in groups.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedReturns iMessage, SMS or RCS for any E.164 number.
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	SupportedShared router lines and dedicated lines run by Inkbox. No Mac needed.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedStartup plan includes one dedicated iMessage number. VoIP numbers for calls and SMS from Developer.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree and paid plans include shared iMessage. The human must text the router first.
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	BetaOrganization-owned shared iMessage pools, beta and by request only.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedInkbox tries iMessage first and can fall back to SMS; was_downgraded marks it.
RCS fallback	Supported	PartialDocs describe SMS fallback, and the service field can report rcs. The transport cannot be chosen.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	PartialDedicated lines can start chats, up to 40 new recipients a day. Shared service needs the human to text first.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	SupportedAgents place and receive voice calls over shared and dedicated iMessage lines.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS and MMS on dedicated VoIP numbers, US and Canada included. Group MMS is beta.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	PartialOnly as a transport reported on iMessage lines; not a channel you can pick.
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	BetaSlack is in beta: read, reply, files and retained history search.
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	SupportedEach identity gets a mailbox, with custom domains and IMAP/SMTP access.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	SupportedInbound and outbound calls with your own WebSocket agent or Inkbox Voice AI (beta).
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	PartialOne identity and one webhook subscription across channels, but separate APIs 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	Supported@inkbox/sdk
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedinkbox on PyPI
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedRust SDK (inkbox crate).
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Supported@inkbox/cli
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 with a per-identity signing key.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedRemote Streamable HTTP endpoint at inkbox.ai/mcp, with a separate ChatGPT endpoint.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDK, CLI, skills and examples are MIT on GitHub. The service is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not listed
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	SupportedDelivery log with replay. Incoming-call and Slack deliveries cannot be replayed.
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	PartialIdentity layer with contact memories across email, texts and calls. No conversation framework.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	SupportedPlugins for Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Codex, Claude Code and DeepSeek Harness.
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 listedAgents can reach each other over A2A tasks, but not in group chats.
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	PartialPeople can reply from the Console, and Voice AI can transfer a call. No handoff controls for agents.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedList and read conversations and threads, with search on texts and email.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree: 3 identities, shared iMessage up to 2,000 messages a month and 3 recipients at a time.
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	PartialiMessage is capped per plan with no per-message fee. Extra SMS/MMS and call minutes cost $0.03 each.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialDedicated iMessage infrastructure is listed for Enterprise only.
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listed
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	Not listedThe DPA names the CCPA only; GDPR is not mentioned.

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 name and photo, mentions, edit and unsend and animated text effects.

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

Frequently asked questions

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