This page explains how RCS messages are counted. For prices, contact your Account Manager.
Billing categories
Every RCS sender is set up with a billing category. It decides how messages are billed, not which message types you can send.
The billing category is set during onboarding and cannot be changed afterwards. A non-conversational sender cannot be converted into a conversational one.
Conversational is not possible in the United States and Japan.
|
Category |
How you are billed |
|---|---|
|
Non-conversational |
Billed per message (Basic and/or Single Message) |
|
Conversational |
Billed per conversation: If one party (the agent or user) replies to a message from the other party within 24 hours, a conversation starts. Billed per message (Basic and/or Single Message): If the agent delivers a message that the user doesn't reply to within 24 hours, the agent will be billed for the individual message, similar to a non-conversational agent. |
Rule of thumb: choose non-conversational if you mostly send one-way messages. Choose conversational if you expect customers to reply and want to keep a dialogue going.
Billing types
|
Type |
Applies to |
|---|---|
|
Basic Message |
Text only, up to 160 characters. Lowest cost, comparable to a classic SMS. |
|
Single Message |
Messages with rich features (images, buttons, rich cards, carousels, media), or text longer than 160 characters. |
|
Conversation |
A 24-hour exchange that starts when a customer replies to a basic or single message. All messages in the window are billed together as one conversation. Conversational profiles only. |
How the 160 characters are counted
The limit counts bytes, not characters. Standard characters use 1 byte. Emoji, special characters and multi-byte character sets use 2 to 4 bytes or more. 80 standard characters plus 20 emoji can already exceed 160, and the message is then billed as a Single Message.
Billing per message type
|
Message type |
Billed as |
|---|---|
|
Text, up to 160 characters, no rich features |
Basic Message |
|
Text over 160 characters |
Single Message |
|
Media message |
Single Message |
|
Rich card |
Single Message |
|
Carousel |
Single Message |
Conversation window
If a customer replies within 24 hours to one of your messages (basic or single), a conversation starts. Back-and-forth messages within that window are billed together as one conversation. This makes ongoing dialogue more efficient than paying per message.
United States and Japan
In the United States and Japan, conversational pricing is not available. Conversations still work as usual: customers can reply and you can keep the dialogue going. However, every delivered message is billed separately, whatever the billing category is:
-
MT (application-to-person), Basic or Single
-
MO (person-to-application), Basic or Single