Telegram

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

Overview

Telegram is a messenger with a public side: besides private chats it has channels with an unlimited number of subscribers and groups, and on top of them sit advertising, payments and programmatic access. For working with an audience this means a rare combination: the broadcast format lives in the same app where a person messages their family, and lands in the common chat list rather than in a separate feed.

The platform lists its feature set on its questions and answers page: groups of up to 200,000 members, channels with an unlimited audience, group calls of up to 200 participants, topics in groups, stories and files of any type up to 2 GB. There are also two separate programmatic interfaces — the Bot API for bots and the MTProto API for custom clients.

What sets it apart from most platforms in this guide is development access with no application review, and monetization built straight into the messenger: a share of ad revenue, paid channel subscriptions, payments in an internal currency. The price for that is settlement in cryptocurrency and dependence of payouts on the Fragment service, which the platform states plainly (see the monetization section).

Who's here

The platform reports "more than 1 billion active users" and calls itself one of the five most downloaded apps in the world. Note: the word "active" is not spelled out on the page — it does not say over what period activity is counted. This number cannot be compared with other platforms' DAU or MAU figures.

The platform's ad manager gives one more measurement of its own: “1 billion users generate 1 trillion views per month”. This is the platform's own claim in a marketing context, not the result of an independent measurement.

Telegram does not publicly disclose a breakdown by country or language: the public pages we checked carry neither a country distribution nor a list of interface languages. An indirect source is a channel's built-in statistics: among the charts the platform lists the distribution of subscribers by language, so the data exists but is available only to the administrator of a particular channel, not publicly.

One more observation about geography: the terms of service page telegram.org/tos was served to us in German during our check. The platform substitutes a version of the document according to the location of the request, and the content of the terms may differ between regions.

Getting started

Registration requires a phone number: the same number is used for signing in and for syncing correspondence between devices. There is no separate "business account" with document checks at the door — public work starts with creating a channel or a group from an ordinary account.

A channel

A channel is created from the new message interface. Then comes a choice between two modes: a public channel gets a username and can be found in search, a private one is available only by invitation or link. The owner can broadcast, delete any messages, change the channel's name, image and link, remove subscribers and appoint administrators with an individual set of rights.

An important practical detail at the start: the owner adds the first 200 subscribers by hand, after which the channel grows on its own. This is the only "push" the platform officially gives you.

Business features

The platform describes a separate set of features for companies in a blog post about Telegram Business: opening hours and address, a designed start page, quick replies, greeting and away messages, coloured chat labels, chat links and connecting a chatbot. The same post says that all Telegram Business features are available for free to Premium subscribers — that is, they are tied to the account owner's paid subscription. The post is dated 31 March 2024, and the feature set may have changed since.

A bot

A bot is the main way to automate. The token is issued automatically, without any application review; no separate approval from the platform is needed to launch a bot, which the Bot API describes as the normal way of working. For a custom client you need MTProto: the platform calls it “100% open for all developers”, but requires you to register an application and obtain an api_id.

What you can publish

Formats. The platform lists files of any type up to 2 GB each (up to 4 GB with a Premium subscription), group calls of up to 200 participants, voice chats, stories, topics in groups, and editing and deleting sent messages for both sides. Any message in a channel can be pinned at the top.

An asymmetry worth keeping in mind when automating: a user sends files up to 2 GB, whereas a bot uploads files of no more than 50 MB and downloads no more than 20 MB with the getFile method. If you plan to publish video through a scheduling tool, the limit that applies will be the bot one, not the user one.

What is forbidden. The terms of service name it directly: sending spam and harassing users; promoting violence in publicly available channels and bots; posting illegal pornographic content in public channels and bots; trading in prohibited goods and services. The same document states that for European Union users the minimum registration age is 18; for other regions no age threshold is named in the version of the document we checked.

How to grow

What the platform promises itself

There are no official promises about an algorithmic feed: on the pages we checked Telegram does not describe any post ranking mechanics and does not mention algorithmic recommendation for channels. The only growth mechanism described after the first 200 subscribers is search by a public channel's name and the sharing of links.

Statistics

Every post in a channel has a view counter, and views of forwarded copies count towards the total. Detailed statistics are a separate feature: the platform explains that statistics are available to administrators of channels "of a certain size", and the exact threshold is set by server configuration rather than published. The set includes charts of subscriber growth, views and shares, reactions, notification muting, traffic sources and the distribution by language; for supergroups — the number of messages, active members and lists of the most active ones.

Advertising

The ad manager works on a model of sponsored messages in channels. The parameters we verified: the maximum length of ad text is 160 characters including spaces, one link is allowed, and it must lead to a channel, a bot or an account inside Telegram; external sites are forbidden. Delivery is configured by naming specific channels by their link; once an ad has been created, its delivery parameters cannot be changed. The same page names the entry price: the minimum cost of a thousand impressions of a sponsored message is 0.1 Toncoin, and ads are shown in public channels with 1,000 or more subscribers. Payment is in the TON cryptocurrency.

The requirements for what you promote are strict: a channel or bot must have a profile image and a filled-in description, its purpose must not diverge from the text of the ad, and a channel must have at least one post within the two weeks before review. Advertising goes through moderation; among the things forbidden are political and religious campaigning, alcohol and tobacco, payday loans and pyramid schemes, and unlicensed medical treatment.

Path to monetization

Telegram pays channel owners — it is one of the few platforms in the registry where money goes to the author directly from the platform, not only from an advertiser.

The entry condition is stated plainly: public channels with at least 1,000 subscribers can receive 50% of the revenue from advertising shown in them. The same share is confirmed in the protocol documentation, which says that 50% of revenue goes to the owners of channels and bots. Withdrawal goes through the Fragment service, and the platform promises withdrawal with no fee or the option to spend the funds on advertising, collectible usernames and Premium giveaways. The post is dated 31 March 2024.

The terms for authors set out the mechanics more precisely: the reward is 50% of Telegram's revenue, calculated by the number of valid impressions. From the same source come the holding periods: a balance in Gram becomes available 2 days after it is credited, a balance in Stars after 21 days, and the Stars themselves are valid for 3 years from the date of receipt.

Stars, subscriptions and reactions

The internal currency, Stars, is bought through Apple and Google in-app purchases or through PremiumBot, and is spent on digital goods in bots (a post of 6 June 2024). For authors, the terms set an exchange rate: 0.013 USD of reward from Telegram for every Star.

The ways of receiving Stars named by the platform: star reactions, where the channel owner receives 100% of the stars sent; paid invite links with monthly payment in Stars, that is, a channel subscription; paid photos and videos from bots and business accounts. The same post says that when exchanging Stars for Toncoin the fee is "close to zero", and when an author puts Stars into advertising they get an additional 30% discount (a post of 14 August 2024).

There is an affiliate scheme too: the owner of a mini app sets a commission percentage and how long it lasts, any user can take part, and commission accrues only on purchases made with Stars — physical goods paid through third-party payment systems do not generate it. The rate and the term can only be increased; to reduce them, the programme must be closed and created again.

The geography of payouts

Here the platform honestly disclaims responsibility: Fragment may prove unable to pay rewards to particular users or in particular countries, and advertising and the ability to buy and spend Stars may be unavailable in some regions. No specific list of countries is given. If you are planning income on Telegram, you need to check Fragment's availability for your own jurisdiction separately.

Tools and automation

Official access

The Bot API is the main interface. As of our check date the page states version 10.2 of 14 July 2026; through it you get sending and editing of messages, management of members and rights, payments and Stars, mini apps and connection to business accounts. Updates are stored on the server for no longer than 24 hours, so a service that "wakes up" once a day will lose some events.

The platform names its rate limits openly: no more than one message per second to a single chat, no more than 20 messages a minute to a group, around 30 messages a second for bulk sending. A paid mode raises the ceiling to 1,000 messages a second at a price of 0.1 Stars per message above the free threshold, but is enabled only with a balance from 100,000 Stars and at least 100,000 monthly active users of the bot. The threshold is plainly out of reach for a small project — this is a tool for large services.

The MTProto API opens up more, but requires registering an application and obtaining an api_id.

Third-party tools

Schedulers. Publer names Telegram explicitly in its documentation: the daily posting cap is 5 on the free plan, 10 on the professional one and 15 on the business one, over a rolling 24 hours — that is the tool's limit, not the platform's. Onlypult lists Telegram among its supported platforms and describes its support as “posting to channels and groups with inline buttons and auto-pinning”.

Community administration. Combot describes itself as a chat management service: analytics, configurable filters and restriction rules, spam protection, a trigger system and scheduled announcements. The service gives its own reach figures — 190,000 active groups and 16 million users; that is the service's claim about itself, not an independent measurement.

Channel analytics. Telemetr is an external catalogue and statistics service for channels; it reports that it tracks 8,843,042 active channels. That number likewise belongs to the service, not to Telegram.

Limits and rules

Sizes. Groups up to 200,000 members, channels with no subscriber limit, files up to 2 GB (4 GB with Premium).
Bots. Files up to 50 MB for uploads and 20 MB for downloads, rate ceilings and a paid broadcast mode.
Age. In the European Union, 18 and over.
Content. A ban on spam and harassment, violence and illegal pornography in public channels and bots, and trade in prohibited goods; a breach leads to temporary or permanent disconnection from the service without compensation.
Advertising. 160 characters, one internal link, mandatory moderation, a ban on politics, religion, alcohol, tobacco and a number of financial offers.
Law and geography. The version of the agreement is substituted according to the location of the request (the page was served to us in German), and payouts may be unavailable in particular countries.

One thing to note separately: the version of the terms we checked has no country-specific sections. That does not mean there are no country differences — it means the document does not describe them.

Who it's for

Suits you if you run a text or mixed project and want to broadcast without an algorithm in between: a channel shows a post to every subscriber who has not muted notifications, and growth after the first 200 subscribers is entirely up to you. Suits developers: API access opens with no application review, and bot monetization is built into the platform.

Suits projects ready to work with cryptocurrency: both advertising and payouts are tied to TON and Fragment. The entry threshold for income is low — 1,000 subscribers on a public channel — noticeably gentler than on most video platforms.

Does not suit you if you need organic growth from recommendations: the platform describes no mechanism that would bring you a new audience by itself. Does not suit you if payouts in cryptocurrency are unacceptable to you or Fragment is unavailable in your country. And it does not suit advertising the categories listed among the ad manager's prohibitions — moderation will not let them through.

Tools for this platform

The list is built from the tools' own facts: every line is a tool's statement that it supports the platform, with the source named. A tool missing from the list only means we have no such statement.

Scheduling and publishing:

ContentStudio — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Controller Bot — states support; source, checked 2026-08-17
Onlypult — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Postoplan — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Publer — publishing; source, checked 2026-07-28
SMMplanner — publishing; source, checked 2026-07-28
Sprinklr — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28

Statistics and analytics:

LiveDune — analytics, publishing; source, checked 2026-07-28
Popsters — analytics; source, checked 2026-07-28
Telemetr — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28

Customer communication:

Chat2Desk — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Chatwoot — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Crisp — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28
Jivo — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28
Livegram — states support; source, checked 2026-08-17
SleekFlow — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Trengo — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28
Umnico — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28
Wazzup — inbox; source, checked 2026-07-28
amoCRM — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
respond.io — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Bitrix24 — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28

Automation:

Activepieces — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Albato — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
ApiX-Drive — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
BotHelp — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
IFTTT — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Latenode — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Pabbly Connect — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
PuzzleBot — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Salebot — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
SendPulse — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Workato — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
n8n — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28

Social listening:

Brand Analytics — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Brand24 — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Medialogia — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28

Other tasks:

Aitarget — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Perfluence — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
eLama — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
HeyGen — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Ocoya — states support; source, checked 2026-08-07
Smarsh — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Restream — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Combot — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
GetCourse — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28
Tribute — states support; source, checked 2026-07-28

Verified data

The checked data this deep dive rests on.

About the platform

Bot API version 10.2 of 14 July 2026

The version and date are taken from the documentation page itself on the check date

source, checked 2026-07-28

Who's here

more than 1 billion active users; the platform calls itself one of the five most downloaded apps in the world

Metric: «active», the period is NOT stated — neither a day nor a month. Not comparable with MAU or DAU

source, checked 2026-07-28

India is Telegram's largest market. Pavel Durov in the official channel (post of June 16, 2026): the Indian IT ministry's ban hits «150 миллионам обычных пользователей Telegram в Индии». Earlier, in a post of October 2, 2024, India was directly called «нашим крупнейшим рынком». The metric is a country user count named by the company's founder, not MAU under a reporting methodology.

the company's official blog or channel. Verbatim: «150 million ordinary Telegram users in India»

source, checked 2026-08-17

Uzbekistan: Durov's post of June 30, 2024 — «более 70% населения страны в 37 миллионов человек сидит в Telegram» (that is, on the order of 26 million people, though the company does not name the figure itself). What is measured is a share of the population, not a monthly audience.

the company's official blog or channel. Verbatim: «over 70% of the country’s 37 million people is on Telegram»

source, checked 2026-08-17

Russia: Durov's post of June 21, 2020 — in May 2020, out of Telegram's 400 million monthly active users at least 30 million were from Russia. The metric is MAU for May 2020. Earlier, in a post of May 31, 2018, Durov wrote that Russia accounts for only 7% of Telegram's user base.

the company's official blog or channel. Verbatim: «at least 30 million were from Russia»

source, checked 2026-08-17

Iran: Durov's post of September 26, 2017 — «более 40 миллионов человек пользуются Telegram в Иране». In the post of April 18, 2017 — «около 40 миллионов активных пользователей». The data are old, from 2017; the company has published nothing more recent on Iran.

the company's official blog or channel. Verbatim: «More than 40 million people use Telegram in Iran»

source, checked 2026-08-17

United States: Durov's post of January 18, 2021 — «США составляют менее 2% нашей пользовательской базы». A share of the global user base as of January 2021; the company gives no absolute number.

the company's official blog or channel. Verbatim: «the US represents less than 2% of our user base»

source, checked 2026-08-17

European Union: the mandatory DSA disclosure on Telegram's website. As of February 2026, over the preceding six months the Telegram services falling under the definition of an online platform had «существенно меньше 45 миллионов» average monthly active recipients of the service in the EU — below the «очень крупной онлайн-платформы» threshold. The company does not disclose the exact number.

mandatory disclosure under the EU Digital Services Act. Verbatim: «deutlich weniger als 45 Millionen durchschnittlich monatlich aktive Empfänger in der EU»

source, checked 2026-08-17

Getting started

public channels have a username and can be found in search; private ones only by invitation or link

source, checked 2026-07-27

the owner can broadcast, delete any messages, add the first 200 subscribers, remove subscribers, change the styling and the link, and appoint administrators with individual rights

source, checked 2026-07-27

the owner adds the first 200 subscribers by hand

A direct answer to the card's «first subscribers» field

source, checked 2026-07-27

Business terms

opening hours and address, a designed start page, quick replies, greeting and away messages, coloured chat labels, chat links, connection of a chatbot · the source is dated 2024-03-31

A post of 31 March 2024

source, checked 2026-07-28

all Telegram Business features are available free to Premium subscribers

The business features are tied to the account owner's paid subscription

source, checked 2026-07-28

What you can publish

groups of up to 200,000 members

source, checked 2026-07-27

channels with no limit on the number of subscribers

source, checked 2026-07-27

up to 2 GB; up to 4 GB with a Premium subscription

source, checked 2026-07-27

groups, channels, private chats, stories, video calls of up to 200 participants, voice chats, topics in groups

source, checked 2026-07-27

Text length. The limits are given separately by kind of entry (Bot API): the text of a message — "1-4096 characters after entities parsing"; the caption to an attachment (photo, video, audio, document, voice) — "0-1024 characters after entities parsing"; the caption to a story in the postStory method — "0-2048 characters after entities parsing"; the quoted part of a reply — "0-1024 characters"

the figures are taken from the Bot API documentation — this is the only place where Telegram publishes them numerically; there are no limits on the length of text in the help centre telegram.org/faq

source, checked 2026-08-04

Images. A photo in a message: "The photo must be at most 10 MB in size. The photo's width and height must not exceed 10000 in total. Width and height ratio must be at most 20". When uploading by link the limit is lower: "5 MB max size for photos", when sending multipart/form-data — "10 MB max size for photos". A photo for a story (InputStoryContentPhoto) — a strictly set size: "must be of the size 1080x1920 and must not exceed 10 MB", and such a file cannot be used again

"width and height must not exceed 10000 in total" — the sum of the sides, not each side; for a story the size is set rigidly and not as a minimum

source, checked 2026-08-04

Audio is a separate format with two kinds. A music file (sendAudio): "Your audio must be in the .MP3 or .M4A format", "Bots can currently send audio files of up to 50 MB in size". A voice message (sendVoice): "your audio must be in an .OGG file encoded with OPUS, or in .MP3 format, or in .M4A format (other formats may be sent as Audio or Document)", the limit is also 50 MB for a bot. The caption to audio — 0-1024 characters

the limit of 50 MB applies to bots; for a user the general file limit of 2 GB (4 GB with Premium) applies

source, checked 2026-08-04

The user: "Send and receive files of any type, up to 2 GB in size each (or 4 GB with Premium)" — the limit depends on the Premium subscription. The bot: "Bots can currently send files of any type of up to 50 MB in size"; when sending by an HTTP link — "5 MB max size for photos and 20 MB max for other types of content", with multipart/form-data — "10 MB max size for photos, 50 MB for other files". An album (sendMediaGroup) — "must include 2-10 items"

the limit of 2 GB / 4 GB depends on the Premium subscription; the bot's limit of 50 MB is from https://core.telegram.org/bots/api , where it is also stipulated that "this limit may be changed in the future"

source, checked 2026-08-04

Video. A video for a story (InputStoryContentVideo): "must be of the size 720x1280, streamable, encoded with H.265 codec, with key frames added each second in the MPEG4 format, and must not exceed 30 MB". For an ordinary video in a message the documentation sets no separate requirements for the codec and the resolution — the general limit on the file applies: a bot sends files of any type "of up to 50 MB in size", a user — "up to 2 GB in size each (or 4 GB with Premium)"

the codec and the resolution are set rigidly only for stories; the user's file size limit — https://telegram.org/faq

source, checked 2026-08-04

A story video: the duration field is described as "Precise duration of the video in seconds; 0-60", that is, no longer than 60 seconds. The lifetime of a story is set by the active_period field and "must be one of 6 * 3600, 12 * 3600, 86400, or 2 * 86400" seconds, that is, 6, 12, 24 or 48 hours. For an ordinary video in a message there is no duration limit in the documentation — the restriction is only by the size of the file

the duration is announced only for stories; for ordinary videos the platform does not limit the duration but limits the size

source, checked 2026-08-04

Content

sent messages can be edited and deleted for all participants

source, checked 2026-07-27

any message can be pinned at the top

source, checked 2026-07-27

a group discussion chat can be linked to a channel — subscribers get a comment button

source, checked 2026-07-27

Promotion

an ad of up to 160 characters with a link to a Telegram resource

source, checked 2026-07-27

delivery in specific channels

source, checked 2026-07-27

the minimum cost of a thousand impressions of a sponsored message is 0.1 Toncoin

source, checked 2026-07-28

sponsored messages are shown in public channels with 1000 or more subscribers

The same threshold as for taking part in the ad revenue share

source, checked 2026-07-28

once an ad has been created, its delivery parameters cannot be changed

source, checked 2026-07-28

the maximum length of ad text is 160 characters including spaces; one link is allowed, and only to a channel, a bot or an account inside Telegram; link shorteners and IP addresses are forbidden

Refines the earlier ad_format entry: external sites cannot be advertised

source, checked 2026-07-28

the promoted channel or bot must have a profile image and a filled-in description; the channel must have at least one post within the two weeks before review; the language of the channel where the ad is shown must match the language of the ad and of the destination

source, checked 2026-07-28

forbidden are political campaigning and the promotion of religious movements, alcohol and tobacco, drugs, weapons, payday loans and pyramid schemes, unlicensed medical treatment and unapproved medicines, clickbait and false claims, sexual material, incitement to hatred, and copyright infringement

source, checked 2026-07-28

«1 billion users generate 1 trillion views per month»

A PLATFORM CLAIM, not an independent source. Not to be carried into the card as a fact

source, checked 2026-07-27

Analytics

every message has a view counter; views of forwarded copies are included in the total

Significant for analytics: the metric includes reposts

source, checked 2026-07-27

Channel statistics: followers (the absolute number of subscribers), views_per_post ("total_viewcount/postcount, for posts posted during the period in consideration"), shares_per_post, reactions_per_post, enabled_notifications ("Percentage of subscribers with enabled notifications"), and also views_per_story, shares_per_story, reactions_per_story. The graphs: growth_graph, followers_graph, mute_graph, top_hours_graph, interactions_graph, views_by_source_graph, new_followers_by_source_graph, languages_graph, reactions_by_emotion_graph

robots.txt was checked separately: neither telegram.org nor core.telegram.org serves a robots.txt file (404), so there is no ban. The built-in statistics and the ones from the API are the same data; for Telegram there is no sense in separating them

source, checked 2026-08-05

Supergroup statistics: members, messages, viewers, posters; the graphs growth_graph, members_graph, new_members_by_source_graph, languages_graph, messages_graph, actions_graph, top_hours_graph, weekdays_graph; the lists top_posters (with the fields messages and avg_chars), top_admins (deleted, kicked, banned), top_inviters (invitations)

for groups Telegram gives what almost nobody else gives: a breakdown by posters, moderators and inviters

source, checked 2026-08-05

The methods stats.getBroadcastStats (channel), stats.getMegagroupStats (supergroup), stats.getStoryStats (story), stats.loadAsyncGraph (loading graphs on demand). The set of metrics is the same as in the built-in statistics

this is MTProto access, not the Bot API; see the separate row about the Bot API

source, checked 2026-08-05

The threshold for access to statistics is not published: "Administrators of channels of a certain size (the exact limit is a server-side config, returned in the can_view_stats flag of channelFull) can invoke stats.getBroadcastStats to get detailed channel statistics"

the threshold in force is set on the server side and is not named in the documentation; an application learns about it only from the can_view_stats flag

source, checked 2026-08-05

About the channel statistics method it is said directly, "Only users can use this method"; a call on a supergroup gives the error BROADCAST_REQUIRED — "This method can only be called on a channel", and without rights — CHAT_ADMIN_REQUIRED, "You must be an admin in this chat to do this"

there is no access to someone else's statistics at all — neither for money nor through API access

source, checked 2026-08-05

The sampling period is set by the platform, not by the user: "Period-related statistics: a pair of values, one at the beginning and one at the end of the period in consideration (period). The period typically depends on channel activity"

an arbitrary period back in time cannot be requested; the maximum depth of the archive is not named in the documentation

source, checked 2026-08-05

Of the information about the audience there is only languages_graph (languages), views_by_source_graph and new_followers_by_source_graph (sources), top_hours_graph and weekdays_graph (hours and days). Age, gender and country are not in the list

Telegram does not collect age and gender as a matter of principle, so neither the creator nor the tools have these breakdowns

source, checked 2026-08-05

Detailed statistics are only for channels and supergroups, only for administrators and only from a certain size. The announcement of the lowered threshold: «If you have a channel with more than ~~1000~~ 50 subscribers, you can now view detailed statistics about its growth and the performance of its posts» — in the original text the figure 1000 is struck through and replaced by 50

this is the only place where Telegram names the threshold as a figure; in the API documentation the threshold is called a «server-side config». The figure 50 and the threshold in force may not coincide — recorded as it stands

source, checked 2026-08-05

detailed statistics are available to administrators of channels «of a certain size»; the exact threshold is set by server configuration and returned as the can_view_stats flag, and is not published publicly

No public number EXISTS — this is a property of the platform, not a gap in the check

source, checked 2026-07-28

charts of subscriber growth, views and shares, reactions, notification muting, traffic sources and the distribution of subscribers by language; for supergroups — the number of messages, active members and lists of the most active ones

A language breakdown of the audience exists but is visible only to the channel administrator

source, checked 2026-07-28

The Bot API reference has not a single method for obtaining the statistics of a channel or a group: the word "statistics" occurs there only in the descriptions of administrator rights — "access supergroup statistics" and "access channel statistics; for channels only"

the conclusion is drawn from the complete list of Bot API methods; Telegram publishes no separate stipulation that statistics are unavailable through the Bot API. A bot cannot obtain a channel's statistics; access on behalf of a user is needed

source, checked 2026-08-05

How the money works here

Paid subscriptions

files of up to 4 GB; subscription to 1000 channels; 20 folders of 200 chats; a 4th account; 10 pinned chats; 400 favourite GIFs; 20 reserved t.me links

A SOURCE FROM 19.06.2022 — four years old as of the check date. Official but probably out of date: the limits need rechecking in the current help

source, checked 2026-07-27

conversion of voice messages into text, exclusive stickers and reactions, a Premium badge, faster downloads

The same 2022 source

source, checked 2026-07-27

Limits and restrictions

no more than 1 message per second to a single chat

source, checked 2026-07-27

no more than 20 messages per minute to a group

source, checked 2026-07-27

around 30 messages per second without the paid mode

source, checked 2026-07-27

up to 1000 messages per second; 0.1 Stars per message above the free limit

source, checked 2026-07-27

a minimum of 100,000 Stars and 100,000 monthly active users is required

A high barrier to entry for paid broadcasts

source, checked 2026-07-27

bots send files of up to 50 MB

ASYMMETRY: a user up to 2 GB, a bot up to 50 MB. Significant for tool developers

source, checked 2026-07-27

a bot downloads files of no more than 20 MB with the getFile method

Complements the known 50 MB sending limit: the limits for receiving and for sending differ

source, checked 2026-07-28

Named by a number. Word for word: "By default, bots are able to message their users at no cost – but have limitations on the number of messages they can broadcast in a single interval: In a single chat, avoid sending more than one message per second... In a group, bots are not be able to send more than 20 messages per minute. For bulk notifications, bots are not able to broadcast more than about 30 messages per second, unless they enable paid broadcasts to increase the limit." The paid extension: "Enabling paid broadcasts in @BotFather allows a bot to broadcast up to 1000 messages per second. Each message broadcasted over the free amount of 30 per second incurs a cost of 0.1 Stars per message, paid with Telegram Stars from the bot's balance. In order to enable this feature, a bot must have at least 100,000 Stars on its balance and at least 100,000 monthly active users"

The only platform of the thirteen that names the rate limits as direct numbers in the help centre, and not in a section for developers with provisos. The numbers relate to the Bot API

source, checked 2026-08-04

Named by a number for bots and in words for people. Bots: "In a single chat, avoid sending more than one message per second"; "In a group, bots are not be able to send more than 20 messages per minute"; "The API will not allow bulk notifications to more than ~30 users per second – if you go over that, you'll start getting 429 errors". For a restricted human account: "Limited accounts can send messages to people who have their number saved as a contact. You can also always reply to anyone who messages you first"

The numbers are taken from the help centre for bots on core.telegram.org; the wording about a restricted account is from the FAQ about blocks telegram.org/faq_spam

source, checked 2026-08-04

Described both in the help centre and in the list of errors. The help centre: "We may allow short bursts that go over this limit, but eventually you'll begin receiving 429 errors". The protocol: code 420 with the descriptions "FLOOD_WAIT_%d: Please wait %d seconds before repeating the action" and "SLOWMODE_WAIT_%d: Slowmode is enabled in this chat: wait %d seconds before sending another message to this chat"

Telegram does not block for tempo but returns the waiting term directly in the text of the error — the number of seconds is substituted in place of %d. The sources: core.telegram.org/api/errors and core.telegram.org/bots/faq

source, checked 2026-08-04

Contesting exists and is conducted through a bot. Word for word: "If you are sure that the limit was wrongfully applied to your account, please contact our @SpamBot." And separately: "I know I was wrong, please release me sooner! We're sorry, but this is impossible. We value the inner peace of Telegram users too much." The term: "If this happened to you for the first time (and you are not an industrial scale spammer), most likely your account will be limited for a few days or so"

There are no forms and no email addresses: the only path is correspondence with @SpamBot inside Telegram itself. The platform directly calls the early removal of a restriction impossible

source, checked 2026-08-04

There is no hourly window; the nearest announced one is the minute window, word for word: "In a group, bots are not be able to send more than 20 messages per minute". For a single chat: "In a single chat, avoid sending more than one message per second. We may allow short bursts that go over this limit, but eventually you'll begin receiving 429 errors"

Telegram measures the tempo in seconds and minutes and introduces no hourly limits. Checked in the help centre for bots and in the general FAQ

source, checked 2026-08-04

Not named by a number, but the very existence of restrictions for accounts that have only just been set up is acknowledged. Word for word: "I've just signed up and didn't send any messages yet, but my account is limited. Some numbers may trigger an overly harsh response from our system, either due to their previous owners' activities or due to them being certain virtual/VOIP numbers. We're sorry if this resulted in your account being limited for no reason. If you think this is your case, please contact @SpamBot and tell it your story"

Telegram links the restriction on a new account not to the lifetime of the account but to the history of the telephone number (including virtual and VOIP numbers). There are no numbers — how many messages in the first days — either in the FAQ about blocks or in the help centre for bots

source, checked 2026-08-04

Limits on subscriptions are not announced; limits on inviting others are announced. Word for word: "As the channel's owner, you may invite the first 200 subscribers to your channel. Once the subscriber count reaches 200, the channel is on its own." The size of communities: "create groups for up to 200,000 people or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences"; "a channel can have an unlimited number of subscribers"

How many channels and groups one user may open, or how many they may subscribe to, Telegram does not write anywhere. Checked in the FAQ about channels and in the general FAQ. The number 200 is the limit of the manual addition of subscribers by the owner, not a limit on subscriptions

source, checked 2026-08-04

Restrictions

spam and harassment of users; promotion of violence in public channels; illegal pornographic content; trade in prohibited goods

source, checked 2026-07-27

for European Union users — a minimum of 18 years

For other regions the document sets no explicit restriction

source, checked 2026-07-27

the terms page was served in German

The sixth instance of geo-dependence in the project

source, checked 2026-07-27

Moderation

The ladder is described without exact periods: a first violation brings a temporary restriction, verbatim: «most likely your account will be limited for a few days or so»; repeat offences last longer, verbatim: «Repeated offences will result in longer periods of being blocked»; at the limit, forever: «you may lose the ability to do so forever». The specific number of violations and the expiry periods are not published

The restrictions concern messaging strangers; they are lifted through @SpamBot

source, checked 2026-08-07

Legal

there are no country sections in the terms: a document of 16 thousand characters contains neither sections by jurisdiction nor caveats about supplementary terms taking precedence

Checked by searching the section headings; the absence of such sections is itself a property of the platform

source, checked 2026-07-28

the terms page was served in German during the check

A repeat record of geo-dependence: the version of the document is substituted according to the location of the request

source, checked 2026-07-28

API access

Bot API — an HTTP interface for developers

source, checked 2026-07-27

the token is issued automatically through @BotFather; approval is NOT required

RARE: open access with no review of applications

source, checked 2026-07-27

the token is passed in the request URL

source, checked 2026-07-27

sending, editing and deleting messages in chats and channels; managing members and rights; inline mode; payments; Web Apps

Deleting messages through the API IS possible — unlike Instagram and TikTok (see the delete-post-automatically task)

source, checked 2026-07-27

MTProto API — the full protocol for building your own clients, «100% open for all developers»; application registration is required

A second API besides the Bot API; there is no information about approval of applications

source, checked 2026-07-27

A chat member's rights are visible to a bot: «Use this method to get information about a member of a chat. The method is only guaranteed to work for other users if the bot is an administrator in the chat. Returns a ChatMember object on success.»

Parameters: chat_id and user_id. The proviso about being an administrator is the most important part here: without it the method may simply not answer for someone else's user

source, checked 2026-08-11

The list of a chat's administrators is available to a bot: «Use this method to get a list of administrators in a chat. Returns an Array of ChatMember objects.»

The optional parameter return_bots: «Pass True to additionally receive all bots that are administrators of the chat. By default, bots other than the current bot are omitted». No requirement for the bot to be an administrator is stated in this method's description

source, checked 2026-08-11

The owner and an administrator are told apart by the status field: ChatMemberOwner has «The member's status in the chat, always “creator”», ChatMemberAdministrator has «always “administrator”»

So «owner» and «administrator» are distinguishable to a bot rather than merged into one

source, checked 2026-08-11

updates are stored on the server for no longer than 24 hours

A consequence for services: a bot that polls rarely loses events

source, checked 2026-07-28

sending and editing messages, managing members and rights, payments and Telegram Stars, mini apps, connection to business accounts

An update of the capability list for version 10.2

source, checked 2026-07-28

metrics

Every channel post has a view counter; the counter includes views of forwarded copies, verbatim: «Views from forwarded copies of your messages are also included in the total count». The counter is not unique by person: after about 4 days the fact of a view is forgotten and reopening the post counts again. The figures are approximate, verbatim: «Please note that these numbers are approximate — we don't want to keep a record for everything you've ever viewed»

There are no thresholds of time or share of screen; a view = the post being displayed, including copies in other channels. One person may be counted many times — a rare case where a platform admits this outright

source, checked 2026-08-07

There is no single engagement metric; the channel statistics have «shares per post», verbatim: «total_sharecount/postcount, for posts posted during the period in consideration», and an interactions graph (views and forwards by hour) — with no definition of what the interactions consist of

Read: core.telegram.org/api/stats and telegram.org/faq_channels; the platform defines neither an engagement rate nor a list of actions

source, checked 2026-08-07

transfer

The platform describes transferring a bot to another user: «You can transfer ownership of your bot to another user. To do this, send /mybots, select your bot, then transfer ownership.» Our translation: to transfer a bot to another user, send /mybots, select your bot, then choose «transfer ownership»

The «Transfer ownership» section of the bot features page. The quotation is verbatim, the source language is English

source, checked 2026-08-11

Not just anyone can receive a bot: «You can only transfer a bot to users who have interacted with it at least once.» Our translation: you can transfer a bot only to users who have interacted with it at least once

Checked before the deal: the recipient has to write to the bot first

source, checked 2026-08-11

Transferring a bot is irreversible and gives everything away: «Transferring ownership will give full control of the bot to another user – they will be able to access the bot's messages and even delete it. The transfer is permanent, so please consider it carefully.» Our translation: transferring ownership gives another user full control of the bot — they will be able to read the bot's messages and even delete it; the transfer is permanent, so consider it carefully

The platform's word, not our warning. Telegram offers no way to undo the transfer

source, checked 2026-08-11

Transferring a channel or a supergroup is described in the protocol documentation as the method channels.editCreator: «Transfer channel ownership». Parameters: the channel, the new owner, and the «2FA password of account»

A protocol method, not a help-centre button: the same action is called transferring ownership in the apps. No separate article about it was found in the user help

source, checked 2026-08-11

Without two-factor authentication the transfer does not go through: «PASSWORD_MISSING: You must enable 2FA before executing this operation». Our translation: you must enable two-factor authentication before performing this operation

From the method's list of errors. The condition is checked before the deal, not at the moment of transfer

source, checked 2026-08-11

Two waiting periods are stated in the method's errors: «PASSWORD_TOO_FRESH_%d: The password was modified less than 24 hours ago» and «SESSION_TOO_FRESH_%d: This session was created less than 24 hours ago». Our translation: the password was changed less than 24 hours ago; the session was created less than 24 hours ago

The 24 hours are counted from the password change and from the sign-in to that session. The number in the error name is how long is left to wait

source, checked 2026-08-11

The recipient must be a mutual contact: «USER_NOT_MUTUAL_CONTACT: The provided user is not a mutual contact». Our translation: the user provided is not a mutual contact

A mutual contact means each party has the other in their contacts. The condition is checked before the deal

source, checked 2026-08-11

The sender must be an administrator: «CHAT_ADMIN_REQUIRED: You must be an admin in this chat to do this». Our translation: you must be an administrator in this chat to do this

source, checked 2026-08-11

About ordinary groups the help says only this: «If you are the owner and want to leave the group, pick a new owner at the same time, so the group keeps running.» Our translation: if you are the owner and want to leave the group, pick a new owner at the same time so that the group keeps running

source, checked 2026-08-11

Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: Middle East · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions

Telegram

Overview

Who's here

Getting started

A channel

Business features

A bot

What you can publish

How to grow

What the platform promises itself

Statistics

Advertising

Path to monetization

A share of ad revenue

Stars, subscriptions and reactions

The geography of payouts

Tools and automation

Official access

Third-party tools

Limits and rules

Who it's for

Tools for this platform

Verified data

About the platform

Who's here

Getting started

Business terms

What you can publish

Content

Promotion

Analytics

How the money works here

Paid subscriptions

Limits and restrictions

Restrictions

Moderation

Legal

API access

metrics

transfer