Photon vs Sendblue

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Sendblue supports 58.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Sendblue
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	BetaGroup API is in beta on select plans. AI Agent plan can only reply in existing groups.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	BetaAdd and remove participants in iMessage groups via the beta groups API.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedRename groups and set group photos on supported lines.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	PartialSend classic tapbacks or any emoji. No inbound reaction events documented.
Threaded replies	Supported	Supportedreply_to on V2 iMessage lines, in direct and group chats.
Typing indicators	Supported	SupportedSend and receive. iMessage 1:1 only, not in groups.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialCan mark chats read (1:1). Outbound statuses stop at DELIVERED, with no read status.
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not supportedDocs say editing is not supported via API and delete does not unsend.
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Supported13 send_style values.
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	SupportedUp to 100MB on iMessage, 5MB on SMS.
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	PartialDocs say links expand only after the recipient saves your contact.
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedSend .caf files to render as inline voice notes.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	SupportedSend .vcf files via media_url.
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	SupportedFind My request, read and live watch. Dedicated iMessage lines only.
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	SupportedApp Cards for your own Messages extension. V2 lines, not on the free plan.
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	PartialUpdates go out as new messages in the same App Card session; Sendblue says the original is not edited.
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	SupportedName and Photo Sharing profile per line, shared into direct iMessage chats.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	PartialOutbound FaceTime audio over WebRTC (Agora). Needs a purchased FaceTime line.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	SupportedStatus callbacks from REGISTERED through SENT or DELIVERED.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedLookup API checks a phone number or email for iMessage.
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	Supported
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Supported
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree sandbox uses a shared number with verified contacts only.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	PartialOnly by porting the number in, which adds 3 to 5 days.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	SupportedNumber pooling with sticky sending. Automatic line selection needs account enablement.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	Supported
RCS fallback	Supported	SupportediMessage, then RCS, then SMS. RCS on V2 lines.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedFull outbound on Enterprise or Blue Ocean; Free and AI Agent plans are inbound-first
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	SupportedDashboard calls and FaceTime from the texting number; API calls via your Twilio caller ID.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	Supported
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	SupportedV2 lines.
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 listed
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered. iMessage can be sent to Apple ID email addresses.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	PartialNo native calling API. Dashboard calls, outbound via your Twilio caller ID, inbound forwarding.
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 API for iMessage, RCS and SMS, the only channels offered.
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	Supportedsendblue on npm.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedsendblue on PyPI.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	PartialGo, Rust and Ruby packages, listed as community packages.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Supported@sendblue/cli: signup, messaging, contacts and webhooks.
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	PartialSends your shared secret in an sb-signing-secret header. No HMAC signature.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Supportedsendblue-api-mcp via npx.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs and CLI are MIT or Apache-2.0 on GitHub. The messaging platform is closed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not listedSold as a hosted service on Sendblue's Apple devices; 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	PartialNo replay. Docs say to repair gaps by listing messages updated since a timestamp.
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, Make and GoHighLevel. Docs FAQ says n8n resources are coming soon.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedGoHighLevel, HubSpot, Salesforce, Close and Monday.com.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialNo own framework. Maintains a Vercel Chat SDK adapter.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	SupportedSendblue-maintained Vercel Chat SDK adapter.
Streaming replies	SupportedAI output streams into one iMessage bubble, edited in place	Not supportedDocs say message editing is not supported via the API.
Agent group chats	BetaAgents find other agents and add them to a group chat (2.0 beta)	BetaA line can add another of your own dedicated lines to a group, via the beta groups API.
Human handoff	BetaA person can reply in a conversation from the 2.0 beta Inbox	SupportedShared team inboxes with assignment, and agents that escalate to a rep.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialSecurity page says all API requests are logged. No customer-facing audit log documented.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	Supported
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFree sandbox: shared number, up to 10 verified contacts, no webhooks.
Public pricing	Supported	SupportedAI Agent plan at $100/mo per line. Enterprise is custom.
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	Supported99.99% uptime SLA on the Enterprise plan
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedA dedicated HIPAA instance for HIPAA customers
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	SupportedSOC 2 Type II, report on request.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedPrivacy policy says Sendblue adheres to GDPR. DPAs on request.

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, edit and unsend, animated text effects and stickers.

Choose Sendblue if you need FaceTime calls and CRM integrations.

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