How Much Does RCS Business Messaging Cost Per Message? US Rates Compared (2026)

Short answer: in the US, a text-only RCS message costs between $0.0039 and $0.0083 on published rate cards, and a rich media RCS message (image, carousel, video) costs between $0.015 and $0.022, before carrier fees. Carrier fees add roughly $0.0045 to $0.0135 per message depending on the carrier and message class. Several large providers do not publish US RCS rates at all, which is why the range looks wide.

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This guide lays the published numbers side by side, explains the three layers that make up an RCS bill, and shows a worked example so you can price a real campaign. Every figure is taken from the provider's own pricing page or documentation as of September 2026, and we link each one. Signalmash's own product, SimplyRCS, is in the table; we have kept its row to the same standard as everyone else's.

The three layers of an RCS bill

1. The per-message rate. Providers price RCS by class: text only (sometimes called basic or rich text), rich media (anything carrying an image, video or carousel), and, at some providers, a conversational session with a 24-hour window.
2. Carrier and registry fees. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and the regional carriers charge their own per-message fees for RCS, in the same way they surcharge 10DLC SMS. Some providers pass these through at cost on a separate line; others fold them into a marked-up rate.
3. Fixed and platform costs. Per-agent or per-sender fees, number rentals, sender vetting, one-time carrier activations, and any support minimum. These do not scale with volume, so they matter most at low volume.

Published US RCS rates, September 2026

Rates are each provider's published US figures as of September 2026, linked in the sources below. Confirm current pricing with the provider before you budget.

What the table hides

Rich media is the rate that matters. The reason to run RCS is the card, the carousel and the image. At Twilio that class is roughly 2.6 times the text rate ($0.0220 vs $0.0083). At SimplyRCS a text with suggested replies, a Call button or a browser link bills at the $0.0039 text rate, and any rich card or carousel, with or without an image, bills at the $0.0150 rate. Price your campaign off the class you will actually send.

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RCS text bills by segment too. Under the US billing model carriers and Google have used since July 2025, an RCS text bills per 160-byte segment, like SMS, while a card or media message bills once whatever its length. On SimplyRCS a text that would run to four or more segments costs more than the same content sent as a card.

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Fallback changes the blend. Recipients who cannot receive RCS get the message as SMS or MMS, and you pay that rate instead. An image-led campaign to an audience with a low RCS-capable share can cost more than the plain-text version because the fallback lands as MMS. Ask your provider for a delivered-as breakdown so you can reconcile the invoice.

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Fixed costs dominate at low volume. A monthly per-agent fee, such as AWS's $200, is negligible at 500,000 messages a month and decisive at 5,000. SimplyRCS has none, only a one-time $250 sender setup. Run the math at your real volume rather than the headline rate.

Worked example: 100,000 rich media messages

• Twilio: about $2,200 in message charges at $0.0220, plus per-message carrier fees, number rentals, registration filings and a share of failed-message fees.
• SimplyRCS by Signalmash: $1,500 in message charges at $0.0150, with no monthly platform or agent fee, before carrier fees, which are itemized on their own line at cost; the one-time $250 RCS Sender ID setup is paid once, not monthly. Send the same 100,000 as texts with suggested replies and the message charge is $390.
• AWS: $2,000 in AWS fees at $0.020 plus $949 in listed carrier fees, so about $2,950, and you build the sending application yourself.

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Telnyx sits close to SimplyRCS on the media rate ($0.016 vs $0.0150) but self-service carrier approval; SimplyRCS is lower on both the text and the media rate and files the approvals for you.

How to compare providers fairly

1. Ask for the all-in cost at your volume, including carrier fees, per-agent or platform fees, number rentals and registration.
2. Ask whether carrier and registry fees are passed through at cost or marked up.
3. Ask which class your typical message falls into, and whether a rich card without media bills as text or as media.
4. Ask who files sender verification and 10DLC, because a self-service approval process is a cost in weeks even when it is free in dollars.

The per-message rates above are also kept in a five-provider table on SimplyRCS, how much RCS business messaging costs per message, and the fixed charges around them are scored in which RCS providers charge no platform fee.

Frequently asked questions

How much does RCS business messaging cost per message?

‍On published US rate cards, $0.0039 to $0.0083 for a text-only RCS message and $0.015 to $0.022 for a rich media message, before carrier fees of roughly $0.0045 to $0.0135. SimplyRCS by Signalmash publishes $0.0039 and $0.0150; Twilio publishes about $0.0083 and $0.0220; Telnyx publishes $0.0065 and $0.016; AWS publishes $0.007 and $0.020 plus listed carrier fees.

Is RCS more expensive than SMS?

‍Text-only RCS is usually priced at or near the SMS rate, and on SimplyRCS it is the same $0.0039. Rich media RCS costs more per message, roughly two to three times the text rate at most providers, but usually earns it back in engagement; Sinch's customer aggregate reports 3 to 7 times higher click-through than rich SMS.

Which RCS provider is cheapest per message?

‍On published US RCS rates, SimplyRCS by Signalmash ($0.0039 text, $0.0150 media) and Telnyx ($0.0065 text, $0.016 media) are the lowest in writing. SimplyRCS is lower on both classes and has no monthly platform or agent fee, so the gap holds at every volume; its one fixed charge is a one-time $250 RCS Sender ID setup, and carrier approval is handled for you.

Do RCS providers charge setup fees?

‍Often. Twilio's RCS onboarding guide lists a $500 one-time carrier onboarding fee and $200 a year for Aegis per sender. SimplyRCS itemizes a one-time $250 RCS Sender ID setup and review, plus $200 a year for Aegis sender vetting and a one-time $500 T-Mobile activation passed through at cost. Sinch, Infobip, Vonage and Bandwidth quote setup as part of an enterprise contract.

Do carrier fees apply to RCS like they do to SMS?

‍Yes. US carriers charge per-message fees for RCS by message class, in the same way they surcharge 10DLC SMS. AWS lists them at $0.00494 per rich segment and $0.00949 per rich media message; SimplyRCS lists them by carrier at $0.0045 to $0.0135. Ask whether your provider passes them through at cost.

Sources

• SimplyRCS pricing: simplyrcs.ai/pricing and simplyrcs.ai/billing-transparency
• Twilio RCS rates as documented on SimplyRCS vs Twilio (verify with Twilio directly)
• Telnyx messaging pricing: telnyx.com/pricing/messaging
• AWS End User Messaging pricing: aws.amazon.com/end-user-messaging/pricing
• Infobip RCS pricing: infobip.com/rcs/pricing
• Sinch RCS pricing: sinch.com/pricing/rcs
• Plivo, How RCS pricing works: plivo.com/blog/how-rcs-pricing-works