Photon vs Sendara

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Sendara supports 28.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Sendara
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedCreate groups of 2 to 31 and send into them by API. One SMS member turns the group into SMS.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedAdd or remove one participant per request, iMessage groups only.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedSet and update a group name and PNG or JPG icon.
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	PartialHomepage says you can see when contacts type. Sending typing by API is not documented.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	SupportedHomepage lists read receipts. No read events documented in the API.
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	SupportedImages, videos and other files by 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	Supportedvoice_message type, .wav files for iMessage and SMS.
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	PartialFaceTime calling from the CRM. The pricing card lists it as a $99/month add-on.
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	Supportedplatform-lookup returns iMessage, WhatsApp or SMS for a 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	SupportedNo Mac or hardware to run.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedEach line is a dedicated number, not shared. Custom area code for a one-time $30.
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	SupportedPort your existing number to Sendara's carrier, which adds 3 to 5 days.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedNew leads go to any line with daily capacity when no line is pinned.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Supported
RCS fallback	Supported	SupportedFalls back to RCS on supported Android phones, then SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedMessage leads first on every plan, up to 50 new conversations per line per day.
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	SupportedAs fallback for contacts not on iMessage or RCS.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedUsed for supported Android contacts.
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	PartialThe API can look up and send WhatsApp voice notes. The marketing pages do not mention WhatsApp.
Telegram	Supported	Not supportedNot offered
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 listed
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	SupportedOne send endpoint picks iMessage, WhatsApp or SMS per contact.
Developer tools
REST API	SupportedREST API for projects and lines; sending over REST in the 2.0 beta	SupportedREST API with x-api-key auth and an OpenAPI spec.
TypeScript SDK	Supportedspectrum-ts, plus low-level iMessage and WhatsApp SDKs	Not listed
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Not listed
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not listed
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedSite says webhooks send delivery and reply events. Payloads are not in the API reference.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	Not listed
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
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	Not listedManaged service with nothing to host. Self-hosting is not mentioned.
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	SupportedGoHighLevel, Zapier and n8n.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedHubSpot, Salesforce, Close and Pipedrive by OAuth.
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	Not listedThe API reference has no message history endpoint.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Not listedNo free plan or trial is mentioned.
Public pricing	Supported	Supported$249/month for the first line, $149/month for each extra line, $99 setup.
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	Supported
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedTerms say Sendara does not warrant uninterrupted service.
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	PartialPrivacy policy lists GDPR rights for EU and UK residents. No DPA found.

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 mentions, tapbacks, threaded replies and edit and unsend.

Choose Sendara if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

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