Photon vs MessageBlue

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

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	MessageBlue
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedSend text, attachments and voice notes to groups; receive group messages.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	PartialCreate groups of 2 to 31 by API; no add or remove participant endpoints.
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 or remove emoji or tapbacks; inbound tapbacks arrive by webhook.
Threaded replies	Supported	Not listed
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedSend and stop, up to 20 seconds; no inbound typing webhook documented.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	SupportedSend read receipts; outbound messages report a read status.
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	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	SupportedAttachments by public URL.
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	SupportedTo individuals and groups.
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 listedInbox video call button is marked coming soon; voice calls need the team to enable.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedsent, delivered, read, SMS_FALLBACK and failed via status webhook.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedCheck a number, or a whole group's participants, before sending.
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	SupportedRequest a number and the team provisions it, typically in 3 to 5 business days.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Supported$100/mo per line on Startups & SMB.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not listed
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedPair your own Mac and its Apple ID number with the MessageBlue agent.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedAssigns the least-mapped number per contact and remaps contacts if a number is blocked.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedStatus event reports SMS_FALLBACK; not available for group creation.
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listedMarketing pages say SMS or RCS fallback; docs only describe SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedStart chats with any iMessage-capable number; warns after 5 unanswered messages.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; number used is not stated.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialOnly as fallback; new chats need an iMessage-capable recipient.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listedMentioned only as a fallback on marketing pages.
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 listedInbox voice call button says to contact the team; call type and number not stated.
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 API for iMessage and its SMS fallback only.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOpenAPI 3.1 spec published.
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supportednpm messageblue (0.0.7), generated from the OpenAPI spec.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not supportedDocs say only TypeScript is published today; other languages on request.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not supported
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listedThe API page mentions a CLI, but none is documented.
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedInbound and status URLs with retries and dead-lettering.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedX-MB-Signature: HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp and raw body.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	PartialDocumentation-only MCP server at docs.messageblue.ai/_mcp/server.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not listed
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	SupportedEnterprise plan: your cloud (BYOC), VPC or on-prem
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	PartialBrowser test bench runs the no-code agent without sending an 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	SupportedFailed and dead-lettered deliveries are kept and can 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	SupportedZapier, plus a no-code agent builder.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedAgent connects to Salesforce, HubSpot and others; HubSpot inbox sync is private beta.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	SupportedNo-code agent with model choice, prompt, knowledge, tools, memory and multi-step tasks.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	Not listedSite says it works with LangChain and the Vercel AI SDK via webhooks; no official integration.
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	SupportedTeam inbox for manual replies; pause the agent or block it per contact.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	SupportedOn the Business and Enterprise plans
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedConversation by phone number.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Supported$0 when you bring your own number on your own Mac; every feature included.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedFree and $100/mo listed; Business and Enterprise are contact sales.
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	SupportedFlat $100/mo per line.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Supported99.9% SLA listed from the $100 plan; the API page says enterprise plans
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedEnterprise plan: single-tenant or self-hosted stack
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	PartialEnterprise page claims audited SOC 2 Type II; pricing says SOC 2 ready; no report found.
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, threaded replies and edit and unsend.

Choose MessageBlue if you need CRM integrations.

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