Photon vs Pinnacle

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Pinnacle supports 26.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Pinnacle
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	BetaOnboarded per account by emailing Pinnacle; sent through the MMS endpoint; not in the API docs
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 listedA reactions endpoint exists for SMS, MMS and RCS; iMessage support is not documented
Threaded replies	Supported	Not listed
Typing indicators	Supported	Not listedTyping indicators are documented for RCS only
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	Not listediMessage uses the MMS endpoint, which takes media URLs; iMessage media is 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 listedvCards can be sent over MMS; not documented for iMessage
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 listed
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Not listed
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not listedRCS capability lookup is documented; an iMessage check is not
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 listedHow iMessage lines are run is not documented
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedSearch and buy local and toll-free numbers by API
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedTest numbers and RCS test agents for development
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	PartialBlasts spread sends across several sender numbers
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	PartialFAQ says RCS, then iMessage, then MMS, then SMS; the API documents RCS to SMS/MMS fallback
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listedThe FAQ fallback order puts RCS before iMessage
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedBusiness-initiated sends and audience blasts on registered campaigns
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	SupportedSMS and MMS; the pricing page lists group MMS at the MMS rate
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedCards, carousels, quick replies, media, typing indicators, read receipts and SMS/MMS 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 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	SupportedInbound and outbound calls with live audio WebSockets, recording and conferences
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 and SDK, but each channel has its own send endpoint; iMessage rides the MMS one
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedREST API with OpenAPI 3.1 specs
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Supportedrcs-js
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedrcs on PyPI
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedRuby gem rcs
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedMessage, user, form, campaign, call and fax events
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	PartialSends your signing secret in a PINNACLE-SIGNING-SECRET header to compare; no HMAC
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supported95 tools; remote at mcp.pinnacle.sh or npx @pinnacle-rcs/mcp
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedHosted platform; sample RCS chatbot projects are public on GitHub
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	SupportedSimulate endpoint triggers inbound messages, button taps and location events without a device
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	Partialn8n through its MCP node, per the Pinnacle for AI page
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)	PartialGroup MMS is supported at the MMS rate
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	Not listedDashboard and embeddable inbox let people reply; no agent handoff API found
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialAudit logs listed with SSO under the Enterprise section of the plan page
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedConversations API lists threads and their messages; List Messages filters by date and status
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Not listedA self-serve sandbox is mentioned; no free tier is stated
Public pricing	Supported	PartialPer-message rates published; the monthly base is quoted (llms.txt lists $50 and $500 plans)
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 supportedPer-segment rates, SMS from $0.015 with carrier fees included
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	PartialCustom SLA guarantees listed under Enterprise; the homepage cites 99.99% uptime
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialBAA customers get a separate HIPAA environment
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	PartialFooter shows a SOC 2 Type II badge; the security page (March 2026) says it is working toward it
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 Pinnacle if its pricing fits better: it does not support anything here that Photon lacks.

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