RCS gives businesses a richer messaging experience than traditional SMS by supporting branded sender identities, media, interactive elements, and enhanced delivery signals on compatible devices.
The platform also supports SMS fallback when RCS is unavailable, helping businesses maintain message reach across different devices and networks. RCS requires account enablement and an approved RCS Sender ID before messages can be sent.
RCS is currently available as part of the RCS Private Beta. Availability and supported capabilities may vary by account.
What is RCS?
Rich Communication Services (RCS) expands business messaging beyond traditional SMS by allowing compatible recipients to receive branded and interactive messages in their supported messaging app. Understanding how RCS differs from SMS helps you design messages that take advantage of rich features while remaining effective when SMS fallback is required.
RCS on the platform can support capabilities such as:
- Branded business identity
- Images and rich media
- Tappable actions such as Call, Open URL, and Suggested Reply
- Standalone rich cards
- Carousels
- Delivery signals
- Read or Opened signals when supported by the recipient's device and settings
Recipients must have a supported device, messaging app, carrier or network, and RCS configuration. When those requirements are not met, the platform can use SMS fallback when fallback is enabled.
RCS is SMS with a brand identity. Same reliability, dramatically better experience for contacts who can receive it.
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RCS is rolling out in waves. Add your details below to join the private beta list and get early access as soon as we open the next cohort.
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Key Benefits of RCS
RCS combines familiar business messaging with richer branding and interaction options. These capabilities can make messages easier to recognize, act on, and measure while SMS fallback provides an alternative for contacts who cannot receive RCS.
What You Can Send with RCS
RCS gives you a set of tools that plain SMS simply doesn't offer. Depending on your plan and configuration, you can send:
- Branded messages — your business name appears in the inbox instead of a phone number
- Images and rich media layouts
- Tappable action buttons — Call, Open URL, or Suggested Replies
- Standalone rich cards with titles, descriptions, images, and buttons
- Carousels — multiple swipeable cards in a single message
- Read receipts and delivery signals where the recipient's device supports them
Send RCS as a 1:1 message directly from a contact's Conversations thread, or as a campaign via Bulk Actions using pre-built RCS Snippets. Both are covered in the companion article — How to Create RCS Snippets and Send RCS Messages.
How RCS Compares to SMS and MMS
Before using RCS, it helps to understand exactly what it adds — and where its limits are. The biggest one: RCS reach is growing but not yet universal. That makes it important to design every message so the SMS fallback version is just as clear and useful as the rich version.
| Feature | SMS | MMS | RCS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text messaging | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Images and media | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Branded sender experience | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Rich cards | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Carousels | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Suggested replies and actions | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Delivery status | Limited | Limited | ✅ |
| Read/Open status | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ when supported |
| Requires RCS-compatible recipient | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| SMS fallback support | N/A | N/A | ✅ |
Before finalizing any RCS message, ask: if this arrives as plain text with no image and no buttons, does it still make sense? If yes, you're ready. If no, revise the copy first.
Who Can Receive RCS?
RCS delivery depends on four things aligning on the recipient's end: their device, their messaging app, their carrier, and their app settings. In practice:
- Most modern Android devices using Google Messages or a carrier-supported app are ready to receive RCS
- iPhone support depends on iOS version and carrier — many iPhone users still receive SMS fallback today
- Even within Android, some carrier configurations limit certain RCS features
- Recipients can disable RCS features in their app settings, which also triggers fallback
The platform handles detection and routing automatically. You send one message — the platform determines whether to deliver it as RCS or fall back to SMS based on what the recipient can actually receive.
When a message falls back to SMS, the recipient gets your fallback text instead of the rich card. Billing reflects SMS pricing for that message. Opt-outs apply across both channels — a contact who opts out via SMS is suppressed on RCS too.
Compliance and Consent
RCS is a branded, high-visibility channel — which means the same compliance principles that govern SMS apply here, just with higher stakes. Getting this right protects your deliverability, your sender reputation, and your customers.
Only send RCS to contacts who have explicitly opted in. Your opt-in must tell them what type of messages they'll receive, how often, how to opt out, and how to reach support.
Honor these keywords immediately and without exception — they must suppress all future messages across both RCS and SMS:
STOP • UNSUBSCRIBE • CANCEL • END • QUIT
The opt-out notice is appended to the first 1:1 RCS message sent to a new contact — unlike SMS, it doesn't repeat periodically after that. Texas blocking rules apply the same as SMS and MMS.
Avoid deceptive, misleading, or spammy content. Keep sending frequency consistent with what you promised at opt-in. Reminders, confirmations, and genuinely useful updates perform best — they feel like service, not noise. For regulated industries, ensure your messaging aligns with your specific legal obligations.
Use a sender name that matches your business or website exactly. Inconsistency in your sender identity erodes trust and increases opt-outs over time.
Setting Up RCS
RCS needs to be enabled on your account before you can send anything. The process runs through Support. Before you start, have the following ready:
Fees & Timelines (US Registrations)
There are carrier fees involved for US registrations:
| Fee | Amount (USD) | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Verification | $200 | Per year |
| T-Mobile Submission | $500 | One-time |
Registrations are also available for several other countries. See the most up-to-date list of supported regions: Programmable Messaging – RCS Regional Availability.
The Setup Steps
Request RCS activation on your account. Nothing else can happen until this is confirmed.
Your sender profile is your brand's identity on the RCS network — name, logo, contact details. ISV locations work with Support directly. Non-ISV locations share their brand details with Support for setup.
Support submits your sender profile for approval. This is required before any message can go out. Approval timelines vary — complete, accurate submissions move through faster.
Go to Settings → Messaging → RCS → Fallback and turn on Fallback to SMS. This ensures every message reaches every contact — RCS where supported, SMS where not.
Open Conversations, pick a test contact (US Android device recommended), and send a plain text message first, then test rich content.
Some test contacts may receive SMS fallback — this is expected behavior, not an error.
Message Statuses
After a message is sent, the platform shows delivery signals directly in the conversation view:
| Status | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Sent | Message left the platform and is in transit. |
| Delivered | Message arrived on the recipient's device. |
| Opened | Recipient viewed the message (where the device supports read receipts). |
Read receipts are only available when the recipient's device and messaging app support them — and recipients can turn this off. Treat it as a useful signal when it appears, not a metric you can rely on universally.
Pricing and Billing
RCS billing is based on message type and direction. Here's the full breakdown for US messages:
| Message Type | Direction | Billing Unit | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic RCS Text | Outbound | Per segment | $0.0083 |
| Basic RCS Text | Inbound | Per message | $0.0083 |
| Rich RCS | Inbound | Per message | $0.0165 |
| Rich RCS | Outbound | Per message | $0.0220 |
- Agency Accounts: standard Twilio pricing
- Location Accounts: Twilio pricing + 5% markup
Failed Message Billing
How you're billed when RCS delivery fails depends on whether the SMS fallback succeeds:
No RCS charge. You pay only for the SMS that successfully delivered.
A static processing fee of $0.001 applies — unless the failure matches specific Twilio error codes (30036, 30002, 30450, 21408, and others), in which case no fee is charged.
First-attempt RCS failures that trigger SMS fallback are not charged. A fee only applies if the final SMS fallback also fails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Get Started?
If RCS isn't enabled on your account yet, reach out to Support to get the feature activated. Once you're approved and your Sender ID is live, the next step is creating your first RCS Snippet and sending it to your contacts.
For a step-by-step walkthrough of creating Snippets and sending your first RCS campaign, see the companion article: How to Create RCS Snippets and Send RCS Messages.
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