Photon vs SendiMessage

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and SendiMessage supports 27.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	SendiMessage
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedWhere the line type and recipient support it; iMessage-capable lines are confirmed during onboarding.
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	SupportedOne photo, video, audio file or PDF up to 50 MiB per message, via media_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	PartialAudio files send as media, with webm and ogg converted to m4a; a native voice-note bubble is not stated.
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 listed
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	SupportedQUEUED, SENT and ERROR on /status, DELIVERED on history rows, and an outbound webhook.
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	SupportedGET /lookup says iMessage or SMS for a number, cached for 7 days.
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	SupportedLines are provisioned, operated and monitored by SendiMessage after a use-case review.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Supported$129 per line per month.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supportedSendiMessage says it offers no shared numbers or pools.
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	Not listedOmitting line_handle lets any active line send; load balancing is not described.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedOnly where configured on the line; one-way and not selectable per request.
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listedHistory rows can carry RCS, but routing is described as iMessage, then SMS.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedLines carry hourly and daily new-conversation limits; replies in existing threads are not limited.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialInbound call forwarding per line; no calling API.
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	SupportedSMS lines, or SMS fallback on hybrid lines.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listedHistory rows can carry RCS; sending over RCS is not documented.
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 offered as a channel; Slack appears as an integration guide.
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	PartialInbound call forwarding only; the voice AI pages cover texting after calls run elsewhere.
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 and message history across SMS, iMessage-capable and hybrid lines.
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	Supportedsendimessage on npm with TypeScript definitions, MIT.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedsendimessage on PyPI, standard library only, MIT.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedOfficial PHP and Go SDKs, MIT.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	Supportedreceive, outbound, line_blocked and line_unblocked events.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 SendiMessage-Signature with a timestamp for replay protection.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	Not listed
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs are MIT on GitHub; the platform is closed.
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	Not supportedSendiMessage says there is no sandbox; the site playground only simulates with example data.
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	PartialFailed deliveries retry with backoff; reconcile missed events from GET /v2/messages.
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	PartialGuides only: Zapier through Webhooks by Zapier, GoHighLevel through workflow webhook actions.
CRM integrations	Not listed	PartialAPI integration guides for Salesforce, HubSpot and others; no native connectors.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	Not supportedSendiMessage says it is the transport, not the brain, and does not run your model.
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 listedA dashboard team inbox shows replies; takeover of agent conversations is not described.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	Not listed
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedFilterable history with cursor pagination and per-conversation threads.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Not supportedNo free plan or sandbox; the Developer Pilot costs $129 for the first month.
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	PartialFlat $129 per line, but SMS, carrier or provider usage may be billed separately.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedThe security page says SendiMessage does not advertise guaranteed uptime.
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	SupportedEach line is provisioned to one organization and never shared across customers.
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not supportedSendiMessage says it does not hold SOC 2 certification.
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 SendiMessage if you need CRM integrations.

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