Photon vs mautrix-imessage

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and mautrix-imessage supports 26.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	mautrix-imessage
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedRuns on your own Mac signed in to iMessage
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedExisting group chats, with group names, avatars and member changes bridged in
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialGroup creation only through the unmaintained Barcelona connector; the Mac connector refuses
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	PartialReceived on all connectors; sending needs Barcelona or the BlueBubbles Private API
Threaded replies	Supported	PartialReceived on all connectors; sending needs Barcelona or BlueBubbles
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialNeeds Barcelona or the BlueBubbles Private API; not possible on a normal Mac
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialReceived on all connectors; sending needs Barcelona or the BlueBubbles Private API
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	PartialBlueBubbles connector only, with its Private API and macOS Ventura or later
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	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	SupportedMedia and files in both directions
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	PartialRich links only with the Barcelona connector
Voice messages	Supported	PartialVoice memos via Barcelona or BlueBubbles; the Mac connector sends a plain file
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 supportedNo call support in the connector API
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	PartialDelivered status only with Barcelona or the BlueBubbles Private API
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 supportedNot offered
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 on your own 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	SupportedThe pm command starts a chat with a phone number or Apple ID email
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedNo call support in the connector API
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialSMS chats on the Mac's account get their own rooms; the Android SMS connector is deprecated
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listedNot documented for the Mac connectors; the Android SMS connector cannot do RCS
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Not supportedNot offered by this bridge
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 supportedNot offered
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	Not supportedNot offered; messages 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 chats share one Matrix room model; other networks need other bridges
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	PartialNo messaging API; you send and receive through Matrix
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not supportedNo bridge SDK; any Matrix client library talks to the bridged rooms
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	PartialNo bridge SDK; mautrix-python is a Matrix bot and bridge framework from the same project
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	PartialNo bridge SDK; mautrix-go is the Go Matrix framework from the same project
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not supportedNo messaging CLI; managed through bridge bot commands in Matrix
Webhooks	Supported	Not supportedNo webhooks; inbound messages arrive as Matrix events
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not supportedNo webhooks
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not supportedNot offered
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	SupportedAGPL-3.0
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedSelf-hosted only; with a Beeper account, bbctl runs it without your own homeserver
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	Not supportedNeeds a Mac signed in to iMessage
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	Not listed
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	SupportedBackfills history from the Mac's Messages database
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree, open-source software
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree; no paid tiers
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 with no usage fees
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedAGPL-3.0 software comes without warranty
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedRuns on your own Mac
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedSelf-hosted; compliance is up to the operator
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 name and photo, mentions, message effects and animated text effects.

Choose mautrix-imessage 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

• mautrix-imessage vs Linq