App-triggered push notifications only reach customers who have your app installed and have granted permission. RCS reaches any RCS-capable Android device- no install, no separate opt-in. See exactly where each channel earns its place.
Trusted by 10,000+ businesses across India
Written by the Get Click Media Pvt. Ltd. Team · Last updated: July 2026 · Reviewed by the Get Click Media RCS team
Trusted by 10,000+ businesses across India
RCS (Rich Communication Services)is the modern successor to SMS, built directly into Google Messages on Android. It delivers verified-brand messages with images, carousels, suggested replies, and tappable action buttons- inside the customer's default messaging app, with no separate download or permission grant required. As part of a broader customer engagement platform, Get Click Media delivers RCS with automatic SMS fallback, so reach never depends on whether a customer has downloaded anything at all.
Push notificationsare alerts triggered by a business's own native mobile app, delivered through Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM). They only reach a customer if two conditions are both met: the customer has installed that specific app, and has granted it notification permission at the OS level. Without either one, the channel simply doesn't exist for that customer- there's no fallback path the way there is with conversational messaging channels like RCS.
| Feature | RCS | Push / App Notifications |
|---|---|---|
| Rich Images | ✅ | ✅ (if implemented) |
| Carousels | ✅ | Depends (custom-built only) |
| CTA Buttons | ✅ | ✅ (deep links) |
| Verified Brand | ✅ | N/A (already inside your own app) |
| Read Receipts | ✅ | Limited (open tracking only, if instrumented) |
| Analytics | ✅ | ✅ (if instrumented via app analytics SDK) |
| API Integration | ✅ | ✅ (FCM/APNs) |
| Customer Experience | High | High, but only for users with the app installed |
| Requires app install | ❌ | ✅ |
| Requires OS notification permission | ❌ | ✅ |
To be fair to push notifications, modern implementations via APNs and FCM do support images and rich media- so app notification vs RCS messaging isn't really a richness contest once both are properly built. The honest gap isn't what the notification can show. It's who can receive it in the first place.
| Aspect | Push Notifications | RCS |
|---|---|---|
| Image & rich media support | Supported through APNs/FCM rich notifications, but it takes custom implementation and ongoing OS-version maintenance. | Rich cards, images, and carousels are built into the RCS spec- no per-OS-version SDK work required. |
| Interactive buttons | Deep-link buttons are possible, but each action needs in-app handling to work correctly. | Suggested replies and CTA buttons work natively inside Google Messages, no extra build. |
| Where the real gap actually is | Media richness is genuinely comparable once built- the real limiting factor isn't what the notification can show. | Same rich formatting, but delivered without requiring the customer to have an app installed at all. |
This is a genuinely interesting tradeoff, not a straightforward win either way. FCM and APNs don't charge per notification, so push looks free at the infrastructure level- but that number hides the real cost: building and maintaining a native app, its SDKs, its OS-version compatibility, and the team to keep all of it running. RCS carries a per-message cost, but zero app-development overhead. If you already have a well-used app, push's marginal cost is close to nothing. If you don't, RCS reaches customers without asking you to build anything first. See our RCS Pricing India page for current rates.
RCS carries images, product cards, and carousels inside the message spec itself- push can show a similar rich image, but only once you've built and maintain the FCM/APNs rich-notification handling for it.
Swipeable product carousels ship standard with RCS. Push notifications have no native carousel- replicating one means building and maintaining a custom in-app UI.
RCS reports delivery and read status natively. A push notification's 'read' status only exists if you've instrumented in-app open tracking yourself.
Push rich media ships through your app's next release and app-store review. RCS rich cards go live the moment you send them.
This is the single biggest reason businesses look at rcs vs push notification reach in the first place. Push notifications only reach customers who have (a) installed your specific app and (b) granted it notification permission. In India, app install and retention rates are a real, well-documented bottleneck- a large share of users uninstall apps they don't open daily, and many never grant notification permission even when they keep the app. RCS sidesteps both hurdles entirely: it reaches any RCS-capable Android device with zero app install and zero separate permission grant, because it lives inside the pre-installed default Google Messages app that's already on every Android phone.
| Aspect | Push Notifications | RCS |
|---|---|---|
| Who can receive it | Only customers who installed your specific app- app retention in India drops sharply after the first 30 days, and many users uninstall apps they don't open daily. | Any customer on an RCS-capable Android device with Google Messages- no app install of any kind required. |
| Permission requirement | A separate OS-level notification permission prompt that a large share of users decline or dismiss without reading. | No separate permission prompt- RCS messages land in the same inbox as SMS, which customers already trust by default. |
| New or lapsed customers | Unreachable until they download the app and open it at least once. | Reachable from the very first message- no onboarding step stands between you and the customer. |
| Cost of building reach | Push has no audience until the app itself has real install and usage numbers behind it. | Reach exists on day one, independent of whether the business has an app at all. |
RCS reaches any RCS-capable Android device the moment you send- there's no download, no app-store detour, no waiting for a customer to install anything.
RCS doesn't ask the customer to grant a notification permission- it lives inside Google Messages, which is already trusted and already open.
A push channel dies the moment your app is deleted. RCS keeps working, because it was never tied to the app in the first place.
No 30-day retention curve to climb before your notification channel has an audience worth messaging.
A push notification's trust comes entirely from the fact that it's already inside an app the customer chose to install- there's no separate sender verification layer, because there's no separate sender to verify. RCS messages instead carry a Google-verified business badge confirming your identity before the first message goes out, which matters most for businesses trying to establish trust with a customer who has never opened an app of theirs at all.
Push notification delivery is quietly fragile in ways analytics dashboards don't always surface: Android's battery optimization and Doze mode can throttle or delay delivery, a customer can silently revoke notification permission in system settings without your app ever knowing, and an app uninstall kills the channel completely with no fallback path. RCS campaigns tracked through Get Click Media's RCS Analytics report read receipts and button-tap engagement, backed by automatic SMS fallback- a more dependable minimum-delivery floor than a channel that can go dark without any warning.
Push notifications assume you already have a native app with FCM and/or APNs wired in, plus ongoing SDK maintenance and OS-version compatibility work every time Apple or Google ships an update. That's a real cost even before you send your first notification. RCS requires no app at all- just an integration with the Get Click Media RCS API, which matters enormously for businesses that don't have a mobile app, or don't want the ongoing overhead of maintaining one just to send notifications.
Push notifications require an explicit OS-level permission prompt- a moment of friction that a large share of users decline or simply dismiss, and can revoke later without you knowing. RCS has no equivalent permission-prompt step, since it's not tied to an app's notification permission at all.
| Aspect | Push Notifications | RCS |
|---|---|---|
| Enabling the channel | Requires the user to tap Allow on an OS permission prompt- decline rates are a well-documented industry problem, especially on iOS. | No separate opt-in prompt- RCS is available automatically inside Google Messages, the same way SMS always has been. |
| Recovering a declined or revoked opt-in | Once declined, or once the user revokes it later in system settings, there's no in-channel way to re-prompt without sending them back into their phone's settings menu. | No equivalent revocation path- the channel doesn't depend on a permission toggle staying switched on. |
| Reach before any opt-in action | Zero, until permission is explicitly granted after install. | Full reach from the first send- no prior action required from the customer. |
For businesses with a popular, frequently opened app- food delivery, ride-hailing, banking apps customers check daily- push notifications remain an efficient, low-cost companion channel for the audience that's already engaged and has already granted permission.
For reaching customers who don't have your app, rarely open it, or never granted notification permission- new leads, lapsed customers, or any business without an app at all- RCS is the primary channel that doesn't depend on any of those preconditions being true.
Reaches any RCS-capable device- no app install required
No OS-level permission prompt to grant or decline
Verified sender identity and rich branding
Automatic SMS fallback keeps a delivery floor under every send
Rich cards, carousels, and CTA buttons work natively
Detailed engagement analytics without building your own SDK
Per-message cost, unlike infrastructure-level-free push
Full rich-media experience needs a compatible Android device
Requires Google brand verification before sending
FCM/APNs delivery itself is free at the infrastructure level
Deep integration with in-app screens and state via deep links
Familiar UX for customers who already use your app daily
Rich media and buttons are fully possible when properly built
Only reaches customers who installed your specific app
Requires an explicit OS permission grant, often declined
Silently dies the moment the app is uninstalled, with no fallback
Subject to battery optimization/Doze-mode throttling on Android
Carries the full ongoing cost of building and maintaining a native app
No reach at all until the app has real install and retention numbers
If you already have a popular app your customers open often, push remains a valuable companion channel for that audience. For reaching everyone else- customers without your app installed, or who rarely open it- RCS is the stronger primary channel.
Trusted by 10,000+ businesses across India for messaging infrastructure that doesn't make reach conditional on app installs or permission prompts.
Google's RCS verification review is managed as part of onboarding, so your messages carry a verified identity from day one- no app or permission prompt required.
Every RCS send falls back to SMS automatically for unsupported devices, configured once at the account level.
Read receipts and button-tap tracking come standard- no need to instrument your own in-app analytics to see what's working.
Integrate once through the Get Click Media API and reach customers directly, whether or not you have a mobile app to build push notifications on top of.
Talk to our experts about adding RCS alongside- or instead of- push notifications, with verified branding and SMS fallback built in from day one.
Get Click Media enables brands to move beyond app-only push notifications with verified, install-free RCS messaging that reaches every Android user.
Big or small, we power communication for all- talk to us today.
No. RCS lives inside Google Messages, the default messaging app that's already pre-installed on Android devices. There's no separate app to download, and no install step standing between your business and the customer.
Get Click Media runs RCS alongside your existing push strategy- book a free demo and we'll map out the right mix for your business.
