RCS Marketing Software Comparison 2026

What Separates Good from Great

• True two-way automation - Not just "click a button, trigger a message." Real conversational flows that handle back-and-forth dialogue.
• AI/chatbot depth - Intent recognition, personalized responses, human handoff.
• Channel expertise - Has the team actually mastered conversational commerce, or did they bolt RCS onto an SMS platform?
• Commerce & enterprise integration - Deep ties to Shopify, CRMs, and CDPs for personalized journeys - plus support for complex enterprise use cases.
  
  

Platform Comparison

RCS in Numbers: Benchmarks & Industry Data

RCS consistently outperforms SMS and traditional channels:

• 3-7x higher click-through rates compared to SMS (Sinch RCS Benchmarks)
• 60-70% higher conversion rates in A/B tests comparing RCS rich cards to MMS (Sinch RCS Benchmarks)
• 90%+ open rates for RCS messages, with read rates often exceeding 70% (Sinch RCS Statistics)
• 550% traffic growth in 2024 alone, following a 358% increase in 2023 (Infobip Messaging Trends 2025)
• 50 billion messages projected globally in 2025 - Apple's first full year of RCS support (Juniper Research)

Gartner predicts that by 2028, advanced messaging channels like RCS and WhatsApp will overtake SMS for customer service use cases. The shift isn't coming - it's already underway.

Source: Gartner, "WhatsApp vs. RCS vs. SMS," January 2026

What analysts are saying:

• Advanced messaging will overtake SMS for customer service by 2028 (Gartner, "WhatsApp vs. RCS vs. SMS," January 2026)
• 50% more engagement and ROI for organizations that combine advanced AI with messaging channels by 2029 (Gartner, January 2026)
• Only 23% of interactions involve proactive brand outreach today - a massive untapped opportunity for RCS (Gartner, January 2026)
• Messaging apps resolve issues faster than voice, with 58% resolution rates for messaging vs. traditional phone support (Gartner, January 2026)
• Gartner explicitly recommends integrating generative AI into RCS and WhatsApp channels as a strategic priority (Gartner, January 2026)

These numbers assume you're using RCS's interactive capabilities - not just sending prettier text messages.

How to Choose

All providers on this list offer solid RCS fundamentals: rich media, verified senders, and campaign builders. Over time, feature sets will likely converge as the channel matures.

If you already have an SMS provider, it's worth checking whether they offer RCS - many are adding it to existing platforms. This can be a quick way to start testing the channel with minimal switching costs.

But if you want to truly outperform SMS and traditional broadcast messaging, the difference comes down to expertise. RCS's real potential isn't in prettier messages - it's in two-way conversations that guide customers through journeys: product discovery, appointment booking, lead qualification, and guided selling.

This is where charles stands out. Coming from a WhatsApp-first background, the charles team has spent years mastering what most providers are still figuring out: how to design conversations that convert.

You're not alone with a new channel. charles's in-house agency has designed award-winning conversational campaigns - including work with WWF - and supports brands with strategy, flow design, and campaign preparation. Whether you're in e-commerce, automotive, insurance, or travel, you get a partner who understands how to make RCS work, not just how to send messages.

Final Thoughts

RCS is finally mainstream-ready.

Google is pushing hard, Apple is on board, and the infrastructure is in place. The question isn't whether to adopt RCS - it's whether you'll use it as a glorified SMS replacement or as the conversational channel it's designed to be.

The providers that came from SMS backgrounds tend to treat RCS as "SMS with pictures." The providers that came from WhatsApp and chat understand that the real value is in the conversation.

charles is an AI-native platform for conversational marketing and commerce. We help consumer brands automate, personalise, and monetise customer conversations across WhatsApp or RCS. Official Meta Partner and verified Google RCS partner. Made in Berlin.