International SMM

TamTam

RegionRussia and CIS

Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.

Overview

TamTam is a Russian messenger with a public side: besides private correspondence it has group chats and channels, and public channels can be read in a browser without installing the app. The owner and operator is named as VK LLC — the same legal entity that stands behind VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

The platform describes itself in one line: “Gather all your friends in one messenger”. Its feature set is listed on the page about the messenger: video calls, chats, channels, location sharing and bots.

For working with an audience, TamTam is interesting for two things: an open Bot API with no application review, and web access to public channels — you can give the link to someone who does not have the app. One limitation worth grasping straight away: the platform has no ad manager, no creator monetization programme and no public audience statistics — at least, none are described on its official pages.

Who's here

The platform does not publish audience figures: no user count, no breakdown by country, no traffic data.

Indirect signs point to Russia as the main market: the site and documents are in Russian (an English version exists), the administrator of the regulations is named as VK LLC, and you can sign in with an Odnoklassniki account, VK ID, a Gmail address or an Apple ID. The regulations require messages in public channels and chats to comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation, including the law on advertising.

A separate observation about the state of the platform: the latest blog post is dated 27 May 2022, and the current edition of the regulations is 15 April 2022. That does not mean the service is not running, but the platform has made no new public announcements for several years.

Getting started

Registration is by phone number with a confirmation code, or through an external account: Odnoklassniki, VK ID, Gmail, Apple ID. The right to use the messenger is granted free of charge.

TamTam has no separate business account. Public work starts with an ordinary channel or public chat, and the role of a "business" profile is played by verification — the blue check.

Channel verification

The conditions are described in the regulations. Official status may be granted to channels connected with a brand or trademark, or with an individual whose name is public and well known on the internet. For a brand you need to supply documents proving rights to the means of individualisation and place a permanent link to the TamTam channel on your official website in the block of social network buttons. For a well-known person — links to at least two other social networks where a page under the same name is already verified.

An important detail for brand owners: if someone else's channel is confusingly similar to yours, the administration may free up the link in the rights holder's interest, and the channel is moved to a private link with its subscribers and content preserved.

What you can publish

The platform names formats and sizes directly: a chat brings together up to 20,000 members and up to 50 admins, files up to 2 GB can be sent, and cloud space is unlimited. A video call gathers up to 100 participants, joining is possible by link without registration, and screen sharing is available from a computer.

A channel is a broadcast format: subscribers receive messages but cannot write into the channel themselves. A public channel is tied to a link, a private one is visible only to subscribers, and for notes you can create a channel with no link at all. The key distribution feature: the first 50 messages of a public channel and a public chat can be viewed in a browser without signing in to the messenger.

What is forbidden is listed in the regulations: messages must not infringe intellectual property rights, call for violence or suicide, promote extremism and terrorism, incite hatred, or contain pornography and scenes of cruelty, malicious files or information about drugs. Adult material requires a label: a channel or public chat with such material must carry an "18+" mark in its description, otherwise it may be blocked, and such channels may be excluded from search results.

How to grow

The platform does not describe any recommendation mechanics. The only named sources of growth are chat search inside the messenger and distribution of a public link: a public chat with a link is available to users in chat search inside the messenger and on the internet.

Built-in statistics are limited to a view counter, and its methodology is described precisely: one view counts as a message being viewed by one unique user per day, and the total is the sum of the daily values. That is, a person who returns to a post the next day adds another view; these numbers cannot be compared with other platforms' counters.

The platform has no ad manager: no advertisers' page, no description of formats, no rate card. Advertising in channels is not forbidden, though — the regulations merely require compliance with the law on advertising. What is directly forbidden is promoting channels and chats by promising gifts, using "botnets", spam mechanisms and material about the fake search for missing people, and spam is defined as mass sending of messages, including advertising ones, to users who have not expressed interest in receiving them.

Path to monetization

TamTam does not pay authors. No share of ad revenue, no paid channel subscriptions, no donations and no built-in payments are described on the platform's official pages. The right to use the messenger is granted free of charge, and the documents provide for no reverse flow of money to a channel owner.

In practice this means that income on TamTam is possible only from outside: direct sales of advertising in your own channel by agreement with the advertiser, or traffic to your own properties. The platform provides no tools for any of it.

Tools and automation

Bot API

The main automation tool is the open Bot API. The documentation is published and contains an OpenAPI specification; the page states version 0.5.6 and the Apache 2.0 licence. A bot is created and configured through @PrimeBot — the messenger's main bot, the creator of all bots, and nobody reviews an application.

What a bot can do: talk to users and answer queries, offer actions through programmed buttons, and request personal data — name, short link, phone number. The methods cover chats, messages, subscriptions and file uploads.

Notifications arrive via webhook or long polling, both cannot be used at once; on non-delivery the platform retries at intervals of 30 to 60 seconds and for no longer than 8 hours from the event, and by default no more than 100 notifications per second are sent. Requests come from the subnets listed in the documentation — they can be added to an allow list. Button types: callback with a payload, a link, a contact request, a location request and a button that creates a chat tied to the message.

Ready-made bots and constructor mode

The platform names three bots of its own: @reactions for reactions, @comments for discussing posts and @abuse for complaints; developers are invited to add features through constructor mode.

Limits and rules

Who it's for

Suits projects that need a simple broadcast channel with a web version and free automation. The Bot API is open, documented and requires no approval of an application — for service scenarios (notifications, requests, surveys, support) that is enough. Suits communities: a chat for 20,000 members with fifty admins and unlimited cloud storage is a strong set for a platform that charges nothing for it.

Does not suit you if you need advertising, paid promotion or a measurable audience: there is no ad manager, statistics come down to a view counter with its own methodology, and the platform publishes no audience data. Does not suit authors counting on payouts from the platform — they do not exist. And it is worth taking into account the age of the public material: the blog and the regulations have not been updated since 2022.

Verified data

The checked data this deep dive rests on.

About the platform

the platform describes itself as follows: «Gather all your friends in one messenger»

Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment

source, checked 2026-07-28

VK LLC is named as the administrator of the messenger and the licensor

The same entity is named in the licence agreement

source, checked 2026-07-28

the latest blog post is dated 27 May 2022

The current edition of the regulations is 15 April 2022; the platform has made no public announcements for several years

source, checked 2026-07-28

Getting started

registration by phone number or through an Odnoklassniki account, VK ID, a Gmail address or an Apple ID; the right to use is granted free of charge

The licence agreement

source, checked 2026-07-28

Account and access

official channel status (the «blue check») is granted to channels of brands and trademarks or of publicly known people; a brand needs documents proving its rights and a permanent link to its TamTam channel on its own site in the social network block, a well-known person needs links to at least two other social networks with an already verified page

The regulations state neither review times nor requirements for subscriber numbers

source, checked 2026-07-28

Content

the first 50 messages of a public channel and a public chat can be viewed in a browser without signing in to the messenger

The regulations, edition of 15.04.2022

source, checked 2026-07-28

Analytics

one view counts as a message being viewed by one unique user per day; the total is the sum of the daily values

The same person returning the next day adds another view — not comparable with other platforms' counters

source, checked 2026-07-28

Limits and restrictions

a chat brings together up to 20,000 members and up to 50 admins; files up to 2 GB can be sent and cloud space is unlimited; a video call takes up to 100 participants, and you can join by link without registration

The page has no date

source, checked 2026-07-28

Restrictions

if the profile of a public chat or channel with a link has no activity for 365 days or more, the administration may free up the public link; the chat is given an automatic private one

Subscribers and content are preserved

source, checked 2026-07-28

spam is defined as mass sending of messages, including advertising ones, to users who have not expressed interest in receiving them; promotion by promising gifts, by «botnets» and by spam mechanisms is forbidden, as is the use of any programs and automated scripts to collect information and interact with the messenger

The official Bot API is not cancelled by this ban, but home-made scraping falls under it

source, checked 2026-07-28

API access

an open Bot API with a published OpenAPI specification; the page states version 0.5.6 and the Apache 2.0 licence; a bot is created through @PrimeBot with no review of applications

The methods cover chats, messages, subscriptions and file uploads

source, checked 2026-07-28

notifications arrive via webhook or long polling, and both cannot be used at once; on non-delivery retries go at intervals of 30–60 seconds and for no longer than 8 hours from the event; by default no more than 100 notifications per second are sent, and a raise is available on request to support

Requests come from the subnets listed in the documentation

source, checked 2026-07-28

Languages

the interface language of the home page: ru

The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang

source, checked 2026-07-28

Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: Russia and CIS · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions