How Much Does RCS Cost? From $0.0039 a Segment

Q: How much does RCS cost?

On SimplyRCS an RCS text is $0.0039 per segment and a card or media message is $0.0150, plus the carrier's fee at cost. RCS is free for the person receiving it.

What SimplyRCS charges

What you send	SimplyRCS	Carrier fee, at cost
RCS text: text, reply buttons, call and browser links	$0.0039 per 160-byte segment	$0.0045 to $0.0062
RCS card or media: any card, carousel, image, video or file	$0.0150 per message	$0.0070 to $0.0125
Conversation, optional: every message in a 24-hour conversation	$0.05 per conversation	$0.009 to $0.06
Device check	$0.0004 per check	None
RCS Sender ID setup and review (support)	$250 one-time	Aegis review $200 a year; T-Mobile activation $500 one-time

Customer replies bill at the same rates. Every element is sorted into its type on How RCS billing works.

Published rates by provider

Provider	RCS text	RCS card or media
SimplyRCS	$0.0039 per segment	$0.0150
Twilio	About $0.0083 per segment	About $0.0220
Plivo	$0.0077 per segment	$0.0180
AWS End User Messaging	$0.007 per segment, plus $0.00494 carrier fee	$0.020, plus $0.00949 carrier fee
Sinch, Infobip, Vonage, Bird	Quote only	Quote only

Before carrier fees unless stated. Checked September 2026.

Conversation pricing

A sender set up for conversation pricing pays once per conversation instead of per message: once 4 messages are exchanged within 24 hours, at least 1 from you and at least 2 from the customer, one charge covers every message in that 24-hour window. On SimplyRCS that charge is $0.05, plus the carrier's conversation fee ($0.009 to $0.06), which takes effect on 1 November 2026. Google runs this session billing as a pilot. It is cheaper for long or media-heavy chats and costs more on short ones; the billing guide prices three conversations both ways, carrier by carrier.

What else is on the bill

Line	Amount	Set by
Carrier surcharges	Per message, as above; every carrier's fees	The carriers, passed through at cost
Brand registration	$4.50 one-time	The Campaign Registry
Campaign vetting	$15 one-time	The Campaign Registry
Campaign fee	$1.50 to $10 a month	The Campaign Registry
Telecom taxes	Varies by state	Federal USF, state and local taxes, E911

Full rate card on the pricing page. To price your own month line by line, with every rate sourced and dated, use the cost worksheet; a sample invoice is on billing transparency.

Frequently asked

How much does RCS messaging cost for a business?

On SimplyRCS, $0.0039 per RCS text segment and $0.0150 per card or media message, plus carrier fees at cost. There is no monthly platform fee.

Does RCS cost money for the person receiving it?

No. RCS is built into the phone’s messaging app and uses Wi-Fi or mobile data. The business sending the message pays; the customer does not.

Does RCS cost more than SMS?

Not for text. On SimplyRCS an RCS text and an SMS are both $0.0039 a segment. A card or media message is $0.0150, the same as an MMS.

What is RCS conversation pricing?

An optional way to pay once per conversation instead of per message. Once 4 messages are exchanged within 24 hours, at least 2 from the customer, $0.05 plus the carrier’s fee covers every message in that 24-hour window.

Does Google charge for RCS?

Not the business directly. The cost reaches you through your messaging provider as a per-message rate plus carrier and registry fees.

Is RCS priced differently for utility and marketing messages?

Not on SimplyRCS. The rate follows what the message contains, not what it is for: $0.0039 per RCS text segment and $0.0150 per card or media message, with the carrier fee at cost. A delivery update and a promotion of the same type cost the same. The use case matters at registration instead, where promotional traffic gets its own agent and campaign.