Photon vs Unipile

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Unipile supports 24.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Unipile
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	Not supported
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not supported
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	Not supported
Threaded replies	Supported	Not supported
Typing indicators	Supported	Not supported
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	Not supported
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	Not supported
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Not supported
Animated text effects	SupportedPer-range effects such as bloom, shake, explode and jitter	Not supported
Stickers	SupportedPlace image stickers on any bubble with position, scale and rotation; sticker events inbound	Not supported
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	Not supported
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	Not supported
Live Photos	SupportedHEIC still plus MOV companion uploaded as one Live Photo	Not supported
Rich link previews	Supportedrichlink() asks Messages to render its own preview	Not supported
Voice messages	Supported	Not supported
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 supported
Location sharing	SupportedFind My requests and live location; Business plan	Not supported
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 supported
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not supported
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Not supported
iMessage availability check	SupportedCheck if a number or email can get iMessage, SMS or RCS before sending	Not supported
Focus and Notify Anyway	SupportedCheck if a recipient has Focus on, then trigger Notify Anyway	Not supported
Numbers and delivery
Managed lines	SupportedSpectrum Cloud runs the Mac fleet; no Mac needed	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	Not supportedDoes not provide numbers; end users connect accounts they already own.
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	SupportedEnd users link WhatsApp, Telegram, LinkedIn, Instagram and email accounts they already own.
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	Not supportedNo iMessage support
RCS fallback	Supported	Not supported
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedStart new chats with one or more attendees from a linked account.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	Not supportedNo iMessage support
Other channels
SMS	BetaStandalone SMS and MMS numbers with 10DLC in the 2.0 beta; SMS fallback on iMessage lines today	Not supportedAnnounced for Android phones only and not released.
RCS	PartialSent on the iMessage line when the recipient cannot get iMessage	Not supportedAnnounced with SMS for Android phones only and not released.
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	SupportedUser-linked WhatsApp accounts, reached through reverse engineering rather than Meta's official API.
Telegram	Supported	SupportedUser accounts linked by QR code, on Telegram's official API.
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Not supportedNot offered
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	SupportedUsers' own Gmail, Outlook and IMAP mailboxes, with calendars on the same linked account.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	Not supportedNot offered
Apple Messages for Business	BetaListed as available in the 2.0 beta	Not supported
Unified channel API	SupportedOne Spectrum SDK across channels, and one REST model in the 2.0 beta	SupportedOne chat and message schema for LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram; email has its own endpoints.
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	Supportedunipile-node-sdk for v1; unipile-node for the v2 API.
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	BetaOfficial SDK for the v2 beta API; installed from GitHub, not on PyPI yet.
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	Not listedThe PHP SDK repository is archived; no other languages found.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	Not listed
Webhooks	Supported	SupportedNew messages, emails, email tracking, account status and new relations.
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	BetaHMAC-SHA256 unipile-signature header in the v2 beta API; v1 only supports a custom secret header.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted at developer.unipile.com/mcp: API reference tools plus live requests with a scoped key.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	Not supportedClosed platform; the Node SDK, MCP repo and n8n node are MIT-licensed.
Self-hosting	SupportedRun the open-source core on your own Mac and number, no Spectrum Cloud	Not supportedHosted cloud service only
Local testing	SupportedTerminal chat UI provider, no phone or number needed	Betav2 beta dashboard test accounts trigger mock webhook events without a real account.
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	Betav2 beta can replay stored webhook events by API; v1 retries a webhook five times.
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	Supportedn8n guide and official n8n node; Make and Zapier guides in the v2 docs.
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	PartialNo streaming; an edit-message API (WhatsApp, LinkedIn Classic) can update a sent reply in place.
Agent group chats	BetaAgents find other agents and add them to a group chat (2.0 beta)	PartialLinked WhatsApp and Telegram accounts can message groups they belong to; nothing agent-specific.
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	SupportedDashboard audit trail of user actions, plus access logs.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	SupportedList chats and messages, and sync a conversation from its beginning.
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	Partial7-day free trial, no credit card.
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	SupportedBilled per linked account; unlimited API calls, no per-message fee.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listedSecurity page shows 99.9% uptime over 24 months; no contractual SLA found.
Isolated infrastructure	SupportedEach line runs in an isolated, dedicated environment	Not listed
SOC 2 Type II	SupportedStated on photon.codes	SupportedSOC 2 Type II; report on request.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedData hosted only in France; processor under GDPR; DPA 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 iMessage, group chats, group management and group name and photo.

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

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