Linq vs Photon: Managed Infrastructure vs self hosted
Photon ships you an SDK. Linq ships you infrastructure that's SOC 2, contractual 99.95% SLA, and zero on-call headaches included.
Trusted by 1,000+ teams
Three differences that matter
Where Linq and Photon actually diverge.
Managed Infrastructure
Dedicated lines across 4 redundant data centers vs an SDK you host and operate yourself.
Linq: fully managed
Photon: bring your own
Contractual Uptime
Industry-leading contractual SLA uptime of 99.95% from our dedicated data centers & redundant core elements.
Linq: contractual 99.95%
Photon: claimed 99.90%
Production webhooks
44 versioned event types, managed retries, trace IDs on every response.
Linq: versioned
Photon: ~20 unversioned
FaceTime call API
Place and receive audio + video calls in beta now, with 7 call webhook events.
Linq: live in beta
Photon: none
Modern messaging is here.
Talk Like a Human
Take advantage of emoji reactions, voice notes, rich media, typing indicators, group chats, and more through native iMessage and RCS protocols. Support for SMS and Voice is included too.
Read API docsReliable Delivery at Scale
Build mission critical workflows with the confidence of low latency, high throughput and best-in-class deliverability.
Uptime
99.95%
Latency
<120ms
Fall back
RCS
Pricing That Makes Sense
Stop paying-per-message. iMessage and RCS unlock cost-effective messaging enabling you to create better customer experiences.
View Pricing
Feature by feature
How Linq and Photon stack up across the things teams ship on.
| Feature | Linq | Photon |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure & compliance | ||
| Uptime SLA | 99.95% — contractual | 99.9% claimed, no contractual guarantee |
| Message volume | 60M+/month | ~4M all time |
| Infrastructure model | Dedicated lines only | Shared tiers (deliverability & spam risk) |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II certified | None published |
| API support | All tiers | TypeScript SDK only |
| FaceTime & FindMy | ||
| FaceTime calls | Outbound + inbound (beta) | No call API |
| Call webhook events | 7 events | None |
| FindMy location API | Live, managed | In SDK |
| Messaging richness | ||
| iMessage effects | 11 screens + 4 bubble | Same |
| Message parts | Up to 100 per message | Not documented |
| Contact card API | Branded blue bubble | Not available |
| Group chats | ||
| Add/remove participant | Available in both | Available in both |
| Chat health score | Beta | None |
| Webhooks & reliability | ||
| Event types | 44 versioned | ~20 unversioned |
| Retry behavior | 10 managed retries | Client-side only |
| Trace IDs | On every response + error | None |
| Where Photon has an edge | ||
| Polls + scheduled messages | Requires configuration | In SDK |
| Multi-channel | iMessage + RCS + SMS | Markets 7 channels |
| Open-source kit | Requires configuration | iMessage-kit, runs on your Mac |
Uptime SLA
Message volume
Infrastructure model
Compliance
API support
FaceTime calls
Call webhook events
FindMy location API
iMessage effects
Message parts
Contact card API
Add/remove participant
Chat health score
Event types
Retry behavior
Trace IDs
Polls + scheduled messages
Multi-channel
Open-source kit
