Full disclosure: SimplyRCS publishes this guide, so we are on the list. Every competitor capability and rate below was read on the vendor's own pages on 10 November 2026, and where a vendor does not publish something we say so. Use the checks below on any platform, ours included.
The six platforms, at a glance:
- SimplyRCS, for US stores that want order updates and promotions on one verified sender with a published bill.
- Klaviyo, for stores whose email and SMS flows already live in Klaviyo.
- Attentive, for larger retail brands with a mobile marketing team.
- Twilio, for engineering teams sending from their own order system.
- Infobip, for enterprise omnichannel across many countries.
- Braze, for brands that already orchestrate customer journeys in Braze.
What an online store sends over RCS
Two kinds of message, and they ask different things of a platform.
Order updates are transactional: the confirmation, shipped, out for delivery, delivered, and the return label. On RCS each one arrives under the store's verified name and logo with a Track order button, which matters because a tracking text from an unknown number is exactly what a delivery scam looks like. These are triggered by your order system, one customer at a time, and most are a short text with a button. Order and delivery updates shows the sequence.
Promotions are marketing: a product carousel, a back-in-stock alert, a cart reminder with the photo of the item, a sale with a Shop now button. These are sent to a segment, they carry images, and they are where the published results come from. Clarins reported a 79% read rate and 22% click-through on a holiday campaign, and Nespresso France a 15% click-through, both vendor-reported and sourced in the retail and e-commerce guide.
The carriers register and price the two differently, so a platform has to keep them as separate campaigns while showing the customer one sender.
What to check, by message type
| Message | What RCS adds over SMS | What to check in the platform |
|---|---|---|
| Order confirmation, shipped, delivered | Verified sender, order summary, Track order button | How the order system triggers the send, and that a text with a button bills at the text rate |
| Delivery exception, return | Reply buttons such as Reschedule or Start a return, a reply that reaches a person | A shared inbox or a webhook for replies, not a dead end |
| Product launch or sale | A swipeable carousel with image, price and a button per product | A card and carousel builder marketing can use, and the media rate per message |
| Abandoned cart, back in stock | The item's own photo and a one-tap return to checkout | Where the cart and catalog data come from |
| Any of the above to a phone without RCS | The same message as SMS or MMS | Whether fallback is automatic and what it costs |
The best RCS platforms for e-commerce, compared
1. SimplyRCS: best for US stores that want orders and promotions on one verified sender
SimplyRCS is a US-only RCS platform reaching AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile through Signalmash. The app, API, bot builder, shared inbox and analytics are included with no platform or seat fee. Order events from your store or order system trigger the confirmation and shipping messages through the API, and the marketing team builds carousels and cart reminders in the same app without code. When a phone cannot take RCS, the same send arrives as SMS or MMS automatically.
The team files the Google sender verification, the 10DLC brand and campaign registrations and carrier activation, with a two-to-four-week target for a first verified send. Rates are published: $0.0039 per RCS text segment, which covers a confirmation with a tracking button, and $0.0150 per card, carousel or media message, plus carrier fees at cost and a one-time $250 RCS Sender ID setup and review. The pricing page has the full card.
Honest limits: US carriers only. Store data arrives through the API rather than through an app-store connector.
2. Klaviyo: best if your flows already live in Klaviyo
Klaviyo sells RCS as part of its SMS product. Its product page describes launching products "in a swipeable carousel", and says RCS can go into any campaign or flow you already use for email and SMS, with SMS as the fallback. Accounts with an active SMS sender are eligible to create an RCS agent, and Klaviyo states it does not currently charge RCS agent fees. Pricing is in Klaviyo credits rather than dollars per message, so the cost depends on your plan. For a store whose abandoned-cart and post-purchase flows are already built there, adding RCS to them is less work than moving them. Sources: Klaviyo RCS, Klaviyo help.
3. Attentive: best for larger retail brands with a mobile marketing team
Attentive says RCS is available across its platform, in campaigns and triggered journeys, with image carousels, GIFs and video. It publishes the carrier fees it passes through but not a platform rate, so the price is a quote. It suits a retailer that already runs SMS marketing at scale on Attentive and wants RCS added by the same team. Source: Attentive on RCS.
4. Twilio: best for engineering teams sending from their own order system
Twilio's RCS is an API. It publishes US rates of $0.0083 per rich text segment and $0.022 per rich media message plus carrier fees, and its Messaging Services send SMS or MMS when RCS cannot be delivered. There is no campaign builder for a marketing team, and you file the sender registration yourself with Twilio reviewing it. It is the natural choice when developers own messaging and the order system is custom. Source: Twilio US pricing.
5. Infobip: best for enterprise omnichannel across many countries
Infobip carries RCS alongside WhatsApp, email and voice, with fallback channels for devices that do not support RCS, and it documents tracking Shopify store events such as abandoned checkouts into its customer data platform. It does not publish US RCS rates. It fits a retailer selling in many countries that wants every channel under one enterprise contract. Source: Infobip RCS docs.
6. Braze: best if you already orchestrate journeys in Braze
Braze lists the United States among its supported RCS countries and describes SMS fallback when a carrier or device does not support RCS. It does not publish RCS pricing, and it documents about four to six weeks for a US verified sender. It makes sense when the customer journeys, segments and triggers are already in Braze. Source: Braze RCS.
Comparison table
| Platform | Best for | Where store data comes from | Fallback to SMS | Who files verification | Published US RCS pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SimplyRCS | US stores, orders and promotions on one sender | API from your store or order system | Automatic, per recipient | SimplyRCS, 2 to 4 weeks | $0.0039 text segment, $0.0150 card or media |
| Klaviyo | Stores already on Klaviyo | Klaviyo's own catalog and flows | Yes, SMS | Ask | Credits, plan-dependent |
| Attentive | Larger retail brands | Attentive campaigns and journeys | Ask | Ask | Quote |
| Twilio | Engineering teams | Your code | Via Messaging Services | You file, Twilio reviews | $0.0083 text, $0.022 media, plus carrier fees |
| Infobip | Multi-country enterprise | Its customer data platform | Yes | During onboarding | Not published |
| Braze | Brands already on Braze | Braze journeys | Yes, SMS | Ask; about 4 to 6 weeks documented | Not published |
What the two message types cost
On SimplyRCS, 10,000 shipping updates sent as a one-segment text with a tracking button are 10,000 messages at $0.0039, and 10,000 promotional carousels are 10,000 messages at $0.0150, each plus the carrier fee for that message class. The gap between the two rates is the reason to keep order updates as text with buttons and save cards for the sends that sell. How much RCS costs sets the published rates of five providers side by side.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best RCS messaging platform for e-commerce order updates and promotions?
It depends on where the messages are triggered: from a marketing platform that already holds your catalog and flows, from an API you call in your own code, or from a platform that does both. SimplyRCS is built for a US store that sends order updates from its own system and wants promotions on the same verified sender at published rates. The comparison table shows what each of the six platforms publishes.
Can order updates and promotions come from the same RCS sender?
Yes. A verified RCS agent is the brand, so the customer sees one name and logo for both. Behind it, transactional and marketing traffic are registered as separate campaigns because the carriers treat them differently, and opt-out applies to marketing without stopping order updates the customer needs.
Do I need a Shopify app to send RCS from my store?
No. An app is one way to pass order and cart events to a messaging platform; an API call from your store or order system is the other. Marketing platforms such as Klaviyo hold the catalog and flows themselves. SimplyRCS and Twilio take the events through an API.
What happens when a customer's phone cannot receive RCS?
The message is sent as SMS or MMS instead. Check that this is automatic and decided per recipient, so nobody has to resend, and check what the fallback costs. How RCS falls back to SMS explains it.
Does RCS reach iPhone customers?
Yes, on iOS 18.1 or later on a supporting carrier, which includes AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. That is set by Apple and the carrier rather than the platform. Which platforms reach iPhone as well as Android has the detail.
How long does it take an online store to go live on RCS?
Verification by Google and the carriers is the long step on every platform. SimplyRCS targets two to four weeks to a first verified send and files the paperwork for you; Twilio's and Braze's own guidance is about four to six weeks.