Telegram is free and stays free. It was financed for most of its history by founder Pavel Durov personally, and it has since added forms of monetisation chosen so that users are not the product being sold.
What was introduced, and when
| Year | What | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Sponsored Messages | Minimalist, privacy-conscious ads shown only in certain public channels |
| 2022 | Telegram Premium | An optional subscription adding features, which also removes sponsored messages |
| Since | Stars, gifts, paid content | In-app currency for digital goods, with creators and channel owners taking a share |
What makes this model different
- Ads are matched to the channel, not to you. No profile of the reader is assembled, and there is no tracking pixel following you elsewhere.
- They appear only in large public channels. Never in a private chat, a group, or a conversation of any kind.
- Paying removes them. Premium is the opt-out, which is only possible because the advertising is not the foundation of the business.
- Channel owners share the revenue earned from ads shown in their channel.
Why it matters beyond the accounting
A service funded by advertising has a structural reason to collect more about its users, because that is what raises the price of its inventory. A service funded by subscriptions and transactions does not. The privacy policy follows from the business model, which is why the business model is worth understanding before trusting the policy.
Updated