Photon vs Mobile Text Alerts

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Mobile Text Alerts supports 22.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Mobile Text Alerts
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	BetaClosed beta via account manager; email-style Sender Identity; recipients must message first to opt in
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listed
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	Not listed
Threaded replies	Supported	Not listed
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	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	BetaDocs cite larger photo and video attachments on the iMessage route; limits not documented
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 listedSender Identity sets an email-style name and domain; contact name and photo are not mentioned
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supportedNo calling offered
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Betadelivery-status webhooks also cover the iMessage route
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not listedRouting checks iMessage capability internally; no lookup endpoint is documented
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	BetaMobile Text Alerts provisions Sender Identities on its own verified domain, custom domains on request
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedDedicated toll-free, 10DLC and short codes; a toll-free number is included on the trial
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	Not listed
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedDedicated Number Pools with a sticky sender per subscriber
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	BetaFalls back to SMS when iMessage fails or the subscriber has not opted in
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	PartialSMS yes; iMessage needs an inbound opt-in message to the Sender Identity first
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedNo calling offered
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS and MMS over 10DLC, toll-free and short codes
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedRBM agents with automatic SMS fallback
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 supportedNot a channel; a Slack integration sends notifications
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 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	SupportedOne /send endpoint routes SMS, MMS, RCS and iMessage by subscriber status
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@mobiletextalerts/typescript-sdk
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not supportedNot yet; only a TypeScript SDK is published
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not supportedOnly a TypeScript SDK is published so far
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	Supportedmessage-reply, message-send and delivery-status events
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in X-Signature; no timestamp in the signed value
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedRemote Actions MCP server (OAuth or API key) to send and schedule messages; plus docs MCP
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedClosed platform
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not supportedHosted cloud service only
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	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	SupportedZapier and HighLevel
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedHubSpot and Salesforce
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialHosted AI chatbots per number, set by instructions and files; not an agent SDK
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	SupportedThreads API plus sent-message export
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Partial14-day free trial with 50 messages
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	Not supportedPlans include a message allowance; extra messages cost $0.04 each
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listed
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	Not listed
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 chats, group management, group name and photo and mentions.

Choose Mobile Text Alerts if you need CRM integrations.

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