How Telegram Makes Money, and Where Ads Appear

No ads in your private chats

Telegram's FAQ answers the worry directly: there will be no ads in your private chats and groups, and Telegram does not sell your data. It also says private messaging is free and will stay free, with no ads and no subscription fees.

Servers and staff still cost money. According to the FAQ, founder Pavel Durov financed Telegram for most of its history. Telegram then added two sources of income, and the FAQ describes them as the way it pays for infrastructure and developer salaries, adding that profit will never be an end goal.

Source of income	What the FAQ says	Where you meet it
Sponsored Messages	Launched in 2021. Short, privacy-conscious ads that can appear in certain public channels	In public channels, below the posts
Telegram Premium	Launched in 2022. A paid subscription that supports the app and unlocks extra features	Settings, in the group with Telegram Stars and Telegram Business

Where Telegram ads actually appear

Telegram's ads are short text messages shown inside public channels, marked Ad with a what's this? link next to it. The Telegram Ad Platform lets an advertiser write up to 160 characters and choose the channels their ad runs in. You will not see them in a one-to-one chat or in a group.

• They are not based on your chats. In Telegram's own words: "We don't use the contents of your private chats or contacts lists for ad targeting or other commercial purposes."
• Everyone in a channel sees the same ad. The app's explanation says sponsored messages are based solely on the topic of the public channel they appear in.
• The channel owner gets half. The Ad Platform states that 50% of the revenue from Telegram Ads goes to the owners of the channels where they are displayed.
• They can be turned off. Telegram Premium hides them, and channels that reach a high enough level can remove them for their subscribers.

If you see an ad and want to know more, tap what's this?. The window it opens, About These Ads, repeats these points.

On a free account you may also meet one result marked Ad at the top of global search, above what you actually typed. It is placed there by an advertiser, so read its name and username before you open it.

Swipe to see more ›

Not every promotion is a Telegram ad

Many channels publish paid posts or promotions themselves, as a normal post from the channel. Those are not Telegram's Sponsored Messages: Telegram did not sell them, does not check them, and Premium does not hide them. Treat them like any advert from a stranger, and be especially careful with posts promising investment returns, crypto giveaways or gambling wins.

	Telegram ad	Channel's own promotion
Who sells it	Telegram, through the Ad Platform	The channel owner
How it looks	Marked Ad, with what's this?	An ordinary post
Hidden by Premium	Yes	No
Limits	Up to 160 characters	Whatever the channel posts

Telegram Stars, the in-app currency

Telegram Stars are a balance you buy inside the app and spend inside Telegram. The Stars screen describes them as a way to unlock content and services in mini apps. You also meet them as paid reactions on channel posts, paid posts in channels, and gifts.

Settings also shows My Grams, a balance in Gram, the coin of the TON blockchain formerly called Toncoin. It matters mainly to channel owners and to people using TON features; you can ignore it if you only chat.

What this means if you never pay

• Messaging, groups, channels, calls and cloud storage are free, and the FAQ says private messaging stays free.
• If you see a Telegram ad, you are in a public channel. Premium hides it; so does leaving the channel.
• The only things that cost money are Premium, Stars and optional extras such as gifts, all bought inside the app.

Whether the subscription is worth it is covered in Is Telegram Premium worth it?. How Telegram treats your data is the next step: Telegram's stance on your data.