RCS, short for Rich Communication Services, is the modern version of SMS. While traditional SMS is limited to text messages (typically up to 70 characters in Unicode), the RCS protocol allows businesses and individuals to send high-quality images, rich text (including symbols and emojis), and interactive content without such limitations.
RCS is a powerful way for businesses to reach potential customers. It offers features like real-time analytics, secure and verified sender identities, encryption, and the ability to create a strong brand impression. All these through the default messaging app available on most Android devices today.
Cutting through the noise and reaching out to people is a real challenge for startups, especially with the limited budget and resources most startups tend to have.
Though it seems a little bit more expensive than SMS at first glance, the advantages RCS provides, anything from providing trust (Verified ID), higher quality messaging, providing direct links, combined with the ability to send photos, videos, GIFs up to 10MB, are incomparable.
Studies suggest that RCS can deliver up to 7x higher engagement compared to traditional SMS. It is safe to say that RCS offers a better return on investment (ROI), even for startups and small businesses. Additionally, many RCS providers offer automation through AI-powered chatbots.
You can integrate chatbots into your messaging, and you can create interactive and responsive marketing experiences that drive better results.
1. Low Cost: Startups always look at cost first. RCS may cost 2–3x more than SMS per message, but the engagement and conversions are much higher.
With images, buttons, and interactive messages, people click more. So yes, you spend more, but you also get more back.
2. Easy Setup: Easy setup is very important for startups because not everyone has a big tech team sitting behind. A good RCS platform should be simple to use, easy to integrate, and should not take weeks just to send your first campaign. The faster you set up, the faster you start reaching your customers. So, you can focus more on marketing and less on technical work. Also, it helps you test things quickly to improve. But if the setup is complicated, you will waste time, depend too much on developers, and sometimes even drop the idea of using RCS completely because it feels too complex.
3. Scalability: When your business grows, your messaging also grows. More users, more campaigns, more interactions. RCS already gives higher engagement compared to SMS, even up to 3x or more, because of its interactive nature.
So when things start working, you need a provider that can handle that growth without issues. The benefit is smooth growth, automation, and better customer experience at scale. But if your provider is not scalable, you may face delivery issues, slow campaigns, or even need to switch platforms later, which is always messy and costly.
WABA Connect is a leading RCS messaging platform and is compatible with small businesses.
WABA provides some of the most engaging RCS messages, along with interactive messages. You can send your OTPs, promote your brand, and send transactional alerts to your customers.
WABA Connect stands out with its minimal and simple nature. That means you do not need a group of people to manage the technological aspects of this service.
WABA Connect is an easy-to-set-up platform that works directly with Meta and Google, which makes the messages you send verified, with blue ticks that build trust in your brand in the earlier stages.
WABA also provides interactive chatbots and automated responses to your customers directly in their default messaging app, which makes communication with your customers a lot easier.
WABA’s notable customers include Farmley, Hyundai, Amber, Vedantu, Coca-Cola, Honda, and Yamaha.
Pricing
₹ 0.10 (Basic), ₹0.12 (Rich) Discount for Bulk User (Contact support for quotes)
Ease of use
Simple API integrations with AI chatbots. WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS are available in a single dashboard.
Messages are safe and encrypted.
Best for startups in retail, e-commerce, and businesses that want to promote with clarity.
Support
24/7 human customer service available
A Delhi-based communication company with deep expertise in India. In 2021, it was acquired by Sinch India. ValueFirst provides simple API integration for teams that need it.
The important features of their APIs include a minimal dashboard that requires no coding, which means developers are not required for backend management.
They give importance to providing customer support in Hindi at all times. Value first provides RCS, WhatsApp, and traditional SMS campaigns all from one platform. ValueFirst has become popular among small businesses and startups, which are new to RCS marketing.
Pricing
₹0.28 to ₹0.55 per RCS message. Free trial available for 500 messages. Starter plans are billed at ₹999 per month.
Ease of use
Economical pricing, so it is great for beginners. Easy API integration.
Support
24/7 customer tech support available in Hindi.
Infobip had been named among the top 75 in Fortune’s Europe’s Most Innovative Companies in 2025. They provide RCS messaging outreach solutions integrated with a reliable and secure system, along with verified sender IDs. They ensure that their messages are trustworthy and consistent.
Infobip supports RBM with their Moments and Conversations APIs. which helps brands to review the analytics, automate their support, all within a single Interface. Infobip is an all-in-one outreach platform.
Platforms that they thrive in include RCS, SMS, WhatsApp, etc. Moreover, they provide superior and safe RCS OTPs for your users. They have detailed API documentation support for integrating your business.
Pricing
₹0.45 to ₹0.80 per RCS message
Ease of use
Multiple communication platforms on a single platform.
Support
Strong support available for international businesses with national operators.
Kaleyra has a great presence in India as a rapidly growing Cloud Communication Software provider, despite being based in Italy.
The company was founded in 1999. Tata Communications acquired them in 2023. They are a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) that delivers APIs that are secure and Visual tools that communicate with customers worldwide and are prominent in India.
Kaleyra also provides tools to communicate through different interfaces like MMS, WhatsApp Business, and they emphasise RCS to provide high-quality campaigns with the ability to send outreach messages in multiple formats like videos, photos, and emojis.
Companies like Jio, Airtel, and Vi directly work with them, which makes your messages get delivered with minimal latency.
Pricing
₹0.40 to ₹0.70 per RCS message. Free trials are also available.
Ease of use
Low latency. Reliable and Intuitive APIs. real-time analytics. But preferred mostly preferred by large businesses.
Support
Tech support through email directly to their team.
Tanla Platforms is a CPaaS company that is emerging in customer-facing communications. They process more than 800 billion interactions every year as a CPaaS provider. They were included on the National Stock Exchange. They regularly meet TRAI compliance requirements.
They enable interactive and high-quality messaging experiences for the customers. They provide engaging and dynamic experiences to users by integrating multimedia AI chatbots directly into the message application.
Tanla facilitates real-time Two-Way Communication, with a verified sender ID for recognition, assurance of your brand, and that your messages are legitimate. You can broaden your reach globally and deliver consistently regardless of your location.
Pricing
₹0.30 to ₹0.55 per RCS message. Discounts available based on volume.
Ease of use
Better usage for banking services and insurance companies.
Support
Customers can contact them through telephone or email on their website.
BOL7 is an RCS service provider that offers an application filled with unique features that enable small businesses to send visually appealing, interactive RCS messages that are interactive directly to their customers.
This platform allows businesses to send content in different media, while also providing advanced analytics that go beyond traditional SMS. They also offer instant replies all inside a secure interface. They support clickable buttons, images, videos, and carousels. You can look at read receipts, which help you trace and analyse your messages.
Pricing
Usually ₹0.06 to ₹0.18 per RCS message.
Ease of use
Easily accessible and simple integration with a minimal dashboard. User-friendly interface for interactive materials, such as buttons to use.
Support
They provide 24/7 enterprise support and ensure high scalability.
Netcore Cloud provides RCS messages that can go up to two thousand characters, with verified branding and a rich media inclusion that incorporates images, videos, even GIFs, carousels with clickable links, and smart CTA buttons.
They ensure a secure communication between businesses and customers that is ideal for startups and SMEs. With that, you can use RCS to capture the attention of your customers. You can become credible in using their branded sender ID and verified profile.
Delivery of rich content to customers’ SMS boxes that helps your brand to stand out and boosts net engagement. They help your business to build meaningful conversations with your customers, with their AI chatbots in combination with live agents.
You can track performance with read receipts, number of clicks, and deep conversation analysis, which helps you boost, optimise, and pivot your outreach strategies.
Pricing
₹0.35 to ₹0.65 for every message. A free demo is also available.
Ease of use
Raman Ai integration for channel optimisation. Local data centres in India ensure low latency. Strong focus on retail and financial services.
Support
Support is available for related queries, marketing, and partnership queries.
RouteMobile is a Mumbai-based, made-in-India company they have been building messaging infrastructure in India for more than 10 years, offering RBM (RCS Business Messaging). It is a CPaaS company that offers something that other companies, even international providers, cannot.
A direct carrier among major telecom operators in this country. For startups based in developing urban cities, Route Mobile’s network is dominant. They offer end-to-end encrypted Messages and provide the ability to edit and even unsend messages.
Moreover, perks like a strong and healthy API, verified branding support, advanced analysis, and availability of email channels on the same platform come hand in hand to build a credible brand.
Pricing
₹0.32 to ₹0.60 per RCS message. Prizes for volume start from 1,00,000 messages.
Ease of use
Native RCS service and Business WhatsApp API. E-mail channels are also available on Route Mobile.
For SMEs, e-commerce, finance, and insurance-related businesses across India
Listed on BSE and NSE.
Support
Support is available on their official website. Support is available regarding technical queries.
ACL Mobile is a company (part of Sinch) that provides advanced CCS (Cloud Communication Services) for sending rich-media content to users in India. The platform enables startups to communicate with their potential and current customers.
As per their website, the company serves more than 500 enterprises and has massively succeeded in the Banking and Financial industries. Their notable customers are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, OLX, and MakeMyTrip. Their API provides analytical dashboards, emphasising automation with reliable and secure message delivery.
Pricing
₹0.16 to ₹0.20 per message. Customizable per-message rates based on volume.
Ease of use
Easy-to-use API integrations. Considered to be one of the top-tier RCS solution providers in Southeast Asia.
Support
Support is available for technical queries and development issues.
Prelude is known for emphasizing the most fraud-prevention and being secure in activities pertaining to OTP sharing. Prelude also sends RCS messages automatically, but returns to the regular SMS when RCS is not supported for the phone number on the receiving end, which makes it reliable in a few ways. They comply with SOC 2 in making their infrastructure security-first, ensuring integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, which reduces some risks and ensures trust.
Pricing
₹0.20 to ₹0.50 per SMS. custom plans available for RCS and other services.
Ease of use
Beginner user-friendly and modern interface. Quick setup and easy integration. Easy migration from other providers.
Support
Fast, approachable, and helpful customer support.
Rich media is one of the biggest advantages. Instead of plain text, you can send images, videos, GIFs, and even carousel-type messages.
Interactive buttons and quick replies like “Buy Now”, “View Offer”, or “Book Appointment” that reduce friction and increase clicks because everything is just one tap away.
Verified sender identity with your brand name, logo, and blue tick verification build trust instantly.
Analytics is important for real growth. You can track delivery, reads, clicks, and user actions, so you can improve every campaign step by step instead of guessing.
If RCS is not supported on a user’s phone, the message automatically goes as SMS. So you never lose reach while still enjoying advanced features.
RCS is clearly not just an upgrade. It is a complete shift from traditional messaging. From rich media to interactive buttons, from verified branding to detailed analytics, everything is designed to improve engagement and results.
For startups and SMEs, this matters even more. Because every message you send should bring some value, whether it is clicks, conversions, or customer trust.
But choosing the right provider is what actually decides your success.
That’s where WABA Connect stands out. It keeps things simple, easy to use, and powerful at the same time. From verified messaging to chatbot automation, from multiple channels like WhatsApp, SMS, and RCS in one dashboard, WABA Connect is built especially for startups and growing businesses.
If your goal is not just to send messages but to actually grow your business through messaging, then WABA Connect is easily one of the best choices you can go with.
RCS messaging has been adopted by more than 58 million iPhones as of 2025. So, you can send promotional messages to iPhones.
WABA Connect is considered to be better for high-quality message sharing and provides simple interfaces for beginners. While BOL7 is an economical choice.
RCS message campaigns typically achieve up to 30% CTR, unlike regular SMS at 4-7% and email outreach at 2-4%
RCS message protocol was built by Google as the next encrypted generation of traditional SMS.
Get your verified ID with providers like WABA Connect and start campaigning for your businesses using simple dashboards.
ENQUIRY NOW
For more information about the WhatsApp Business API solutions we provide, call now. Let’s together unlock the full potential of WhatsApp for your business.
Related articles
info@wabaconnect.com
+91 799 135 8888
