Photon vs Texting Blue

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Texting Blue supports 20.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Texting Blue
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	SupportedSent and received by your own iPhone, which must stay online
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not listedAPI only documents one-to-one sends
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 listedGroup chats are not documented
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 listedMarketing mentions read receipts, but the API has no read status
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 supportedThe only plan on sale (Lite) is text only
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 supportedLite is text only; media_url needs the Standard plan, listed as coming soon
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Not supportedThe only plan on sale (Lite) is text only
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Not listed
Voice messages	Supported	Not supportedThe only plan on sale (Lite) is text only
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	Not supported
Polls	SupportedCreate, vote, add options and receive poll events; all managed plans	Not supported
Chat backgrounds	Supported	Not listed
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not supportedThe only plan on sale (Lite) is text only
iMessage apps	SupportedCustom and live app cards; iMessage mini apps on the Business plan	Not supported
Live app cards	SupportedEdit an app card in place and render live UI without a new bubble	Not supported
Sender name and photo	SupportedShares the agent's name and photo automatically; Business plan	Not listed
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supportedCalls are listed only for the Business plan, marked coming soon
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	PartialSent and failed on Lite; delivered events need Standard, coming soon
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not listed
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 supportedRuns on your own iPhone, which must stay connected
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedProvider: no provisioned business numbers
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	Not supported
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	SupportedUses the number already on your iPhone
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	Not listed
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedUses the iPhone's own send-as-SMS setting
RCS fallback	Supported	Not listed
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedSend to any number; Lite caps volume at 100 messages a day
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedCalls are listed only for the Business plan, marked coming soon
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	PartialSent by the iPhone when iMessage is unavailable; FAQ says not the main use case
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not listed
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Not supportedNot offered; the free website widget only links out to 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 supportedCalls are listed only for the Business plan, marked coming soon
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	PartialSame API for iMessage and the iPhone's SMS fallback only
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	Not listedSite mentions SDKs, but docs show only raw HTTP examples
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	Supportedmessage.received, sent, delivered and failed events with retries
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 in x-textingblue-signature
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 listedOnly the free website contact widget is described as open source
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not listedHosted dashboard and API; only the widget script can be self-hosted
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	Not listedtb_test_ sandbox keys are listed as coming soon
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	PartialWebhooks retried for about 6 minutes; missed messages can be listed through the API
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	PartialSite lists n8n, Zapier and Make; its FAQ says Zapier and Make are coming soon
CRM integrations	Not listed	Not supportedProvider points to webhooks and the API for any CRM; no native CRM apps
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	PartialShared inbox where staff can reply in any thread; no agent handoff controls
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	PartialPer-message trail of which team member sent what and when
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedList and filter messages with cursor pagination
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Partial3-day free trial only
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	Supported$19 per number per month, capped at 100 messages a day
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not supportedTerms: no guarantee of uninterrupted access; SLA listed only for a coming-soon plan
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	PartialEach line is your own iPhone; dashboard and API are shared
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	Not listedAbout page mentions 'SOC 2 practices'; no report or certification stated
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedGDPR page; DPA available 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 group chats, group management, group name and photo and mentions.

Choose Texting Blue if its pricing fits better: it does not support anything here that Photon lacks.

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