# RCS rich-card builder.

- Canonical URL: https://www.broadnet.me/tools/rcs-message-builder
- Language: en
- Last updated: 2026-10-21
- Publisher: BroadNet (https://www.broadnet.me)
- Markdown version of the page above, generated from the rendered page.

Free developer tool · runs in your browser

Compose an RCS rich card or a carousel — media, title, description, suggested replies and suggested actions — and check it against public RCS Business Messaging guidelines. Preview the result in a phone frame, see the SMS fallback, and export the structure as JSON. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

Limits and behaviour below are based on public RCS Business Messaging guidelines — carrier and Google support and exact limits vary, so confirm before launch. The rich preview is illustrative, and a clean checklist does not guarantee delivery.

## Build your message

Try an example

Message type A single rich card, or a horizontally-swipeable carousel of cards.

Card orientation Vertical stacks media above the text; horizontal places it beside the text.

Media height The height of the media area on a vertical card.

Media A rich card needs media. Use a placeholder now; supply a real hosted URL at send time.

Title A short, bold heading shown above the description.

24/200 chars

Description The body text under the title.

127/2,000 chars

Suggestions Up to 4 per card: suggested replies (text chips) or suggested actions (open URL, dial, view location, add to calendar).

Open URL

Reply

SMS fallback text When RCS is not supported, the message falls back to SMS. This is the plain-text version recipients receive.

Characters: **86** Encoding: **GSM-7** Segments: **1**

RCS falls back to SMS when the recipient's device or carrier doesn't support it. Keep the fallback short and self-contained — it is billed as ordinary SMS.

Live preview

Your Business

Verified business

Image

Your order is on the way

Order #10482 shipped today and is expected to arrive Thursday. Track it in real time, or reschedule if the timing doesn't work.

Track order Reschedule

Illustrative rendering — actual RCS appearance depends on the recipient's device, carrier and RCS client.

Structure looks ready

No structural problems found against the public RCS guidelines. Carrier and RCS-client support still vary, so confirm delivery before launch.

## Structure checklist

- Card count Pass One card — correct for a standalone rich card.
- Card content Pass Card has renderable content.
- Media Pass Media is set with a URL and alt text.
- Title length Pass 24 characters — about 176 left before the ~200 guideline.
- Description length Pass 127 characters — about 1,873 left before the ~2,000 guideline.
- Suggestions Pass 2 suggestions, within the 4-per-card guideline.
- Action targets Pass Every action has a target.
- SMS fallback Pass Fallback fits in 1 SMS segment (GSM-7).

## Export JSON

The composed structure as JSON — a portable, illustrative representation you can adapt to your provider's RCS payload format.

```
{
  "contentMessage": {
    "richCard": {
      "standaloneCard": {
        "cardOrientation": "VERTICAL",
        "thumbnailImageAlignment": "LEFT",
        "cardContent": {
          "title": "Your order is on the way",
          "description": "Order #10482 shipped today and is expected to arrive Thursday. Track it in real time, or reschedule if the timing doesn't work.",
          "media": {
            "type": "image",
            "url": "https://example.com/order-hero.jpg",
            "altText": "Parcel on a doorstep"
          },
          "suggestions": [
            {
              "action": {
                "text": "Track order",
                "postbackData": "Track order",
                "openUrlAction": {
                  "url": "https://example.com/track/10482"
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "reply": {
                "text": "Reschedule",
                "postbackData": "Reschedule"
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "smsFallback": "Your order #10482 shipped and arrives Thursday. Track: https://example.com/track/10482"
}
```

The short answer

## What goes into an RCS rich card?

An RCS rich card is a single message card with a media area (image or video), a title, a description, and up to four suggestions — either suggested replies (tappable text chips that send a reply) or suggested actions (open a URL, dial a number, view a location on a map, or add an event to the calendar). Several cards can be grouped into a carousel of 2 to 10 cards that the recipient swipes through, all sharing the same orientation and media height. Public RCS Business Messaging guidelines keep the title to roughly 200 characters, the description to roughly 2,000, suggestion labels to about 25, and suggestions to four per card. Because RCS is not universally supported, every rich message should also carry plain-text SMS fallback for devices that can't render it.

### How this builder works

You compose the card the way a message would be structured — media, title, description and suggestions — and the tool checks each piece against the well-known public RCS Business Messaging guideline limits, flagging anything that is missing, empty or over length. A phone-frame preview renders the card or carousel the way it would roughly appear, and the SMS-fallback panel counts the segments the plain-text version would use. Finally it exports the whole structure as JSON so you can hand it to your developers. The limits here are guidelines, not a single fixed vendor contract: carrier and Google RCS support, and the exact caps, vary, so treat this as a design and pre-flight aid and confirm the specifics with your provider before launch.

| Element | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Card title | Up to ~200 characters |
| Card description | Up to ~2,000 characters |
| Suggestions per card | Up to 4 (replies or actions) |
| Suggestion label | Around ~25 characters |
| Carousel cards | Between 2 and 10 |
| Media | Image or video · required for a rich card |
| Action types | Open URL · dial · view location · add to calendar |
| Fallback | Plain-text SMS when RCS is unsupported |

## Frequently asked questions

**What is an RCS rich card?**

An RCS rich card is a structured message with a media area, a title, a description and up to four suggestions (suggested replies or suggested actions). It's the RCS Business Messaging equivalent of a rich, tappable card, and multiple cards can be grouped into a swipeable carousel.

**What's the difference between a rich card and a carousel?**

A standalone rich card is a single card. A carousel is a set of 2 to 10 cards the recipient swipes through horizontally. All cards in a carousel share the same orientation and media height, and each card can have its own media, title, description and suggestions.

**What are suggested replies versus suggested actions?**

A suggested reply is a tappable chip that sends a short text reply back into the conversation. A suggested action does something on the device — opens a URL, dials a phone number, opens a location on a map, or creates a calendar event. You can mix them, up to four suggestions per card.

**Are these the exact RCS limits?**

They are based on public RCS Business Messaging guidelines — roughly 200 characters for a title, 2,000 for a description, about 25 for a suggestion label, four suggestions per card and 2–10 cards in a carousel. Carrier and Google RCS support and the exact caps vary, so treat these as guidelines and confirm the specifics with your provider before launch.

**Why does RCS need an SMS fallback?**

RCS is not supported on every device, carrier or region. When a recipient can't receive RCS, the message falls back to plain SMS, so every rich message should carry concise fallback text. The builder counts the SMS segments that fallback would use so there are no billing surprises.

**Does this send messages or store my content?**

No. The builder runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded, sent or stored. The JSON export is an illustrative structure you can adapt to your provider's RCS payload format. To actually send RCS at scale, talk to the BroadNet team about RCS Business Messaging.

[RCS Business Messaging Verified sender, rich cards and carousels at carrier scale.](https://www.broadnet.me/products/rcs-messaging) [Message Template Previewer Preview a template across SMS, WhatsApp and RCS.](https://www.broadnet.me/tools/message-template-previewer) [SMS Segment Calculator Encoding, segments and cost for the SMS fallback.](https://www.broadnet.me/tools/sms-segment-calculator) [All tools Every free BroadNet messaging developer utility.](https://www.broadnet.me/tools)

## Ready to launch RCS Business Messaging?

BroadNet delivers verified-sender RCS — rich cards, carousels and suggested actions — with SMS fallback built in. Talk to our team about reaching customers with branded, interactive messages.

[RCS Business Messaging](https://www.broadnet.me/products/rcs-messaging) [Contact us](https://www.broadnet.me/contact)