Photon vs Zernio

Photon supports 75 of the 77 features compared here, and Zernio supports 57.

Feature comparison

Feature	Photon	Zernio
iMessage messaging
iMessage	SupportedManaged cloud lines, or your own Mac with the local provider	Supported
Group chats	SupportedOn the Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedGroups on ordered senders: reply, create, rename, photo, members. Not on the sandbox line.
Group management	SupportedCreate groups and add, remove or leave members; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedStart a group from a sender and add or remove participants; applied asynchronously.
Group name and photo	SupportedRename groups and set group photos; Business plan (dedicated lines)	SupportedRename a group or change its photo, one change per call.
Mentions	SupportedSend @mentions in multipart messages and read mention ranges on inbound	Not listed
Tapbacks	SupportedSix native tapbacks plus emoji reactions, send and receive	SupportedSix Apple tapbacks plus custom emoji (iOS 18+). Inbound reactions arrive by webhook.
Threaded replies	Supported	SupportedreplyTo on sends; inbound messages carry the reply thread id.
Typing indicators	Supported	PartialSend only, 1:1 chats, about 15 seconds, after a recent two-way exchange.
Read receipts	SupportedMark chats read and receive read events; group receipts are best-effort	PartialMark a chat read inside an active two-way chat. Webhook docs list message.read for other platforms only.
Edit and unsend	SupportedEdit within 15 minutes and unsend within 2 minutes (Apple limits)	SupportedEdit text within 15 minutes; unsend within 2 minutes removes the bubble for the recipient.
Message effects	SupportedAll bubble and screen effects, including invisible ink	Supported13 screen and bubble effects, such as slam, invisibleInk, confetti and fireworks.
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	PartialInbound stickers are typed as sticker. Sending stickers is not documented.
Formatted text	SupportedMarkdown rendered as native bold, italic, underline and strikethrough	SupportedInline *bold*, _italic_, __underline__ and ~strikethrough~ markup renders as rich text.
Attachments	SupportedFiles up to 100 MiB by default, including Live Photos	SupportedUp to 10 per message, each a public https URL of at most 256 characters.
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	SupportedOn by default; linkPreview: false sends links as plain text.
Voice messages	Supported	SupportedvoiceNote: true on an audio file. Inbound voice messages come with a transcript.
Contact cards	SupportedvCard or structured contacts, plus the bot's own native contact card	PartialcontactCard shares the sender's own card only.
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	PartialStatic location pins only. Inbound shared locations arrive without coordinates.
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	PartialSets the name and photo on the sender's contact card, which recipients see when they save it.
FaceTime calls	Not listed	Not listedInbound FaceTime attempts show in the thread as call-typed messages. No calling documented.
Delivery status	SupportedSent, delivered, read and send-error fields per message	Supportedmessage.delivered and message.failed webhooks; sends deferred for pacing show as queued.
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	SupportedZernio orders numbers on its delivery provider's Apple-registered infrastructure.
Dedicated numbers	Supported$250 per line per month on Business	SupportedUS or UK numbers, some active instantly; email-handle senders through the API.
Shared numbers	SupportedFree and Pro route each user through a managed shared pool	SupportedFree shared sandbox line for testing: contact writes first, 5 contacts, 50 messages a day.
Bring your own number	SupportedYour own Apple ID when self-hosting on a Mac, and your own number for WhatsApp Business	PartialiMessage cannot run on a number you own. A sender held with the provider can be registered.
Line pooling	SupportedBusiness: auto-scale adds lines and a routing endpoint balances users	Not listedOne sender per profile; docs suggest spreading contacts across senders by hand.
SMS fallback	SupportedOn every plan per pricing; carrier rules apply to fallback traffic	SupportedSMS or RCS from the same number when the contact is not on iMessage.
RCS fallback	Supported	SupportedSMS or RCS from the same number; the provider picks per contact.
Outbound-first messaging	SupportedBusiness plan, up to 50 new contacts per line per day	SupportedOne new chat per 15 minutes per sender, warm-up from 2 to 50 a day, no links in openers.
Calls on the iMessage number	SupportedPlace and receive SIP calls from the line people already text	PartialOrdered numbers include call forwarding. Placing calls from the iMessage number is not documented.
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	Supported
WhatsApp	SupportedWhatsApp Business, one-to-one, on the Business plan	Supported
Telegram	Supported	Supported
Slack	Supported@spectrum-ts/slack provider on npm and GitHub	Supported
Email	BetaYour own domain with DKIM, SPF and inbound MX in the 2.0 beta	Not supportedNot offered as a channel. iMessage senders can use an email handle.
Phone calls	SupportedSIP calls on iMessage lines; the 2.0 beta adds calls on SMS numbers	SupportedInbound and outbound PSTN calls, SIP trunks, browser softphone, recording and transcription.
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	SupportedSame inbox send call and webhooks for iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and social DMs.
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	Supported@zernio/node
Python SDK	Betaphotonhq-api on PyPI, for the 2.0 beta API	Supportedzernio-sdk
Other SDKs	SupportedGo client for Advanced iMessage; Rust and Go clients for the 2.0 API	SupportedGo, Ruby, Java, PHP, .NET and Rust.
CLI	Supported@photon-ai/cli manages projects, lines, users and billing	SupportedZernio CLI, including iMessage inbox sends and reactions.
Webhooks	Supported	Supported
Signed webhooks	SupportedHMAC-SHA256, plus Standard Webhooks signatures	SupportedHMAC-SHA256 of the raw body in X-Zernio-Signature, keyed by your secret.
MCP server	SupportedHosted MCP server, plus an MCP server for the docs	SupportedHosted at mcp.zernio.com/mcp, with OAuth sign-in or an API key.
Open source	SupportedMIT: spectrum-ts, imessage-kit and most SDKs	PartialSDKs, CLI, n8n node and Chat SDK adapter are MIT or Apache-2.0. The platform is closed.
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	Not listedThe free sandbox still needs your own phone or Apple ID.
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	Supported7 attempts over about 51 hours, then dead-letter; any past event can be redelivered.
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	Partialn8n, Make and Zapier guides cover posting; Make's API call module reaches any endpoint.
CRM integrations	Not listed	SupportedHubSpot: inbox contacts and messages sync to HubSpot timelines.
Built for AI agents
Agent framework	SupportedSpectrum is a multi-channel agent framework with streaming replies	PartialWorkflow engine with AI and handoff nodes; the workflow docs do not list iMessage.
Agent framework integrations	SupportedVercel Chat SDK, Mastra, LangChain, Convex and others	PartialVercel Chat SDK adapter (iMessage not listed) and an OpenClaw skill.
Streaming replies	SupportedAI output streams into one iMessage bubble, edited in place	PartialChat SDK adapter streams by editing on Telegram only.
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	PartialDashboard inbox and workflow handoff nodes; no iMessage-specific handoff documented.
Audit logs	BetaAPI logs and traces in the 2.0 beta dashboard	SupportedAppend-only log of team-management actions; Enterprise adds broader audit logs.
Message history API	SupportedList and get messages per chat	Supported
Plans and compliance
Free plan	SupportedUp to 10 users on shared lines	SupportedFirst 2 connected accounts free; free iMessage sandbox (5 contacts, 50 messages a day).
Public pricing	Supported	Supported$200 per iMessage sender per month, plus the connected-account fee.
No per-message fees	SupportedNo per-message fees for iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram; SMS, voice and email are metered in the 2.0 beta	PartialiMessage pages say no per-message fee; an outbound meter of $1 per 10,000 after 10,000 starts Oct 2026.
Uptime SLA	SupportedContractual SLA on the Enterprise plan	Not listedSite states 99.97% uptime; 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 in the trust portal, by access request.
GDPR	SupportedPrivacy policy covers GDPR rights and SCC transfers	SupportedGDPR documentation in the trust portal; public DPA.

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, animated text effects, Live Photos and polls.

Choose Zernio if you need CRM integrations.

Frequently asked questions

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