How to create rich interactive RCS messages in Klaviyo
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Klaviyo allows you to create rich RCS messages that include text, media, and interactive elements within both campaigns and flows. These richer messages help drive higher engagement and conversion rates by providing a more interactive customer experience.
⚠️ Private Beta: This feature is currently in private beta and more functionality is coming soon. You can request access to this or any other Klaviyo beta via the Beta Landing Page but acceptance is not guaranteed. Klaviyo Support will assist customers enrolled in the beta but cannot provide updates on applications.
Getting started
When creating an RCS message in Klaviyo, you can choose between two message types:
- Text only – A simple text message similar to SMS, with the option to include up to 11 Quick Actions.
- Rich cards – A richer message format that supports images, videos, buttons, and up to 10 cards per message, plus up to 11 Quick Actions across the message.
You can access both options in the message editor when creating or editing a text message within a campaign or flow.
Text-only messages
Text-only RCS messages function like SMS but can include Quick Actions, which make your message interactive.
Quick Actions
Quick Actions appear as suggestion chips below the message. You can include up to 11 Quick Actions per message.
Quick actions support:
- Visit link - a URL attachment linking to an external webpage.
- Quick reply - allowing the recipient to send a predefined response back to you.
Quick Actions can be used to drive engagement, such as linking to a promotional page, or to capture feedback from customers and trigger automated conversations.
Rich Cards
Rich cards let you create visually engaging, interactive messages that combine media, text, and buttons. You can send a single card or a carousel of up to 10 cards within one RCS message.
Card Components
Each card can contain the following elements:
- Media: An image or a video (video support launching in Q4), up to 10 MB
- Title: Up to 200 characters
- Description: Up to 2,000 characters
- Buttons: Up to 4 buttons per card, with 25 characters per label
Each card must include at least one of the following: media, title, or description. You can choose to include just one of these elements, or combine them depending on how you want your message to appear.
You can also add Quick Actions (up to 11 total) across the entire message. These are not tied to individual cards but appear as global suggestion chips at the bottom of the message.
Note: If you do not include a title in a card, iOS will display “One Message” as the message preview. If a title is included, that title will appear in the preview. For multi-card messages, the title from the first card will appear in the preview.
Button attachments
Similar to Quick Actions, each button supports:
- Visit link - a URL attachment linking to an external webpage.
- Quick reply - allowing the recipient to send a predefined response back to you.
You can use dynamic URL links, but dynamic button labels are not supported, as dynamic values may exceed the 25-character limit.
Image guidelines
Follow these recommendations to achieve the most consistent media display possible across devices. RCS images render differently on Android and iOS, so results may vary.
- File types: JPEG, JPG, PNG, GIF (note: GIFs are not supported on iOS and will render as static images)
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Optimal resolution: 1440 × 720 px
- Maximum file size:
- RCS: ≤2 MB
- MMS fallback: ≤600 KB (recommended)
- Klaviyo platform upload limit: 10 MB
These image guidelines apply to RCS Rich Cards with a medium sized image displayed at the top of the message.
Important considerations for iOS:
iOS renders RCS cards differently to Android and does not follow Google’s layout rules. As a result, customers may see:
- More aggressive cropping than on Android
- Extra cropping when titles or descriptions are long
- Visible differences in image height between cards in the same carousel
- GIFs displayed as static images (GIFs do not animate on iOS)
To keep all images the same size in a carousel on iOS, you must keep the card titles and descriptions roughly the same length across every card. iOS dynamically adjusts image height based on the total text in each card, so inconsistent text lengths will lead to inconsistent image sizes.
To maximise consistency across Android and iOS:
- Keep important content away from the edges
- Use clean images with minimal embedded text
- Keep title and description lengths similar across all cards in a carousel
- Preview and test messages on both Android and iOS before sending
Apple is working to improve RCS rendering on iOS, but there is no confirmed timeline.
PricingPricing
RCS messages have two pricing categories:
- Basic RCS – For simple, text-only messages.
- Single RCS – For rich messages that include media and interactive elements.
The eligibility criteria for each pricing category differs slightly between the US/Canada and the Rest of World.
Please see the table below for a breakdown of how pricing categories are defined by region.
| Region | US & Canada | Rest of World | ||
| Pricing Category | Basic RCS | Single RCS | Basic RCS | Single RCS |
| Message Types Supported | Text-only | Text-only, Rich Cards, Files | Text-only | Text-only, Rich Cards, Files |
| Character Limit | 3,072 chars (body); 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) |
Text-only = 3,072 chars (body); 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) Card = 2,000 chars (body); 200 chars (title); 4 x 25 chars (buttons); 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) File = 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) |
160 chars Note. If a message exceeds 160 chars it will be billed as a Single RCS message. |
Text-only = 161 - 3,072 chars (body); 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) Card = 2,000 chars (body); 200 chars (title); 4 x 25 chars (buttons); 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) File = 11 x 25 chars (quick action labels) |
| Suggestions |
Yes Note. Quick reply, open URL (no webview) and dial a number actions only | Yes | No | Yes |
| Billing method | Basic Rate x number of 160-character segments (total chars across body & labels) | 1 x Single Rate | 1 x Basic Rate | 1 x Single Rate |
For exact pricing, please contact our Sales team.
What’s nextWhat’s next
We’ll continue expanding support for additional rich features, including:
- Video support (in cards or as a standalone file)
- Audio file support (standalone file)
- PDF support (standalone file)
- Quick reply actions
- Additional actions (share calendar events, locations, contacts etc.)