Telegram has rapidly grown into a creator-friendly platform, now serving more than 1 billion monthly users as of early 2025. With such a vast audience, many content creators and channel owners are asking if they can make money on Telegram.

In this guide, we’ll provide clear, up-to-date information on Telegram monetization – answering whether Telegram pays channel owners, how the platform’s revenue system works, and what monetization methods you can use to earn from your Telegram channels or groups.

Does Telegram Pay Channel Owners?

Yes—but only under certain conditions. For a more sustainable and universally accessible way to monetize your Telegram channels and groups, keep reading.

Unlike platforms such as YouTube, Telegram traditionally did not directly pay channel owners just for running channels. However, starting in 2024, Telegram introduced an official ad revenue sharing program. This new feature allows eligible channel owners to earn money from ads shown in their channels.

Specifically, public channel owners with at least 1,000 subscribers can receive 50% of the revenue from advertisements shown to their channel’s audience. In other words, if your channel is large enough, Telegram will pay you half of the ad earnings generated by your channel.

Importantly, this is not a flat payment per channel or per post – it’s a revenue share. If advertisers run sponsored messages (ads) in your channel, you get a cut of what they spend. Channel owners can withdraw these earnings with no fees (payouts are made in Toncoin, a cryptocurrency used by Telegram’s ad platform).

So, does Telegram pay for channels? Only indirectly – through this ad program and only if your channel meets the criteria. There is no recurring or direct payment just for running a channel. However, as we’ll explore, there are other ways you can get paid on Telegram even if your channel is small or private.

How Does Telegram Make Money (and Why It Matters)?

Understanding how Telegram makes money helps explain how it can pay creators. For many years, Telegram relied on money from its founders and investors. Recently, however, Telegram began using different ways to earn money and become profitable.

The main ways Telegram earns money are:

  • Telegram Premium – launched in 2022, this subscription service gives users extra features like bigger file uploads, special stickers, and no ads. Millions of users now pay for Telegram Premium, generating steady monthly income for Telegram.
  • Sponsored Messages (Ads) – Telegram sells ad space in large public channels through its official ad platform. Advertisers buy ads with Toncoin (Telegram’s cryptocurrency), and Telegram shares half of this income directly with channel owners.

Telegram also earns smaller amounts of money from in-app purchases, such as paid stickers and Telegram Stars (for digital goods), as well as from partnerships within its TON blockchain ecosystem.

Best Ways to Monetize Your Telegram Channels and Groups

Even if you’re not eligible for Telegram’s ad revenue program, you can still earn money on Telegram, and even better, you can earn a recurring sustainable income using InviteMember.

Below we discuss the most profitable methods to make money with Telegram channels and groups, along with their requirements.

For many creators, the most lucrative and flexible way to monetize Telegram is by offering paid subscriptions to private channels or groups thanks to subscription bots.

This means you create exclusive content (for example, premium tips, courses, community chat, etc.) and charge users a recurring fee to access it.

Telegram itself doesn’t pay you in this case – your subscribers pay you directly. Thousands of creators have been living from this for years now (even before Telegram’s ad program).

However, manually managing a paid channel can be tedious (tracking who paid, adding/removing members on time, etc.), becoming almost imposible at scale, unless you spend more money on time for handling management and marketing.

This is where tools like InviteMember come in. InviteMember is the first and leading Telegram-based subscription platform that automates the entire process of running paid Telegram channels and groups. It lets you set up subscription plans (with flexible membership tiers, periods, currency, and pricing), integrate multiple payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, cryptocurrencies, etc.), and handle member management seamlessly—no coding or technical skills needed.

When someone subscribes, the bot collects payment and automatically grants them access to your private groups and channels; if their subscription expires or they cancel, the bot removes their access without you having to lift a finger. This automation makes scaling a subscription business on Telegram affordable, feasible and secure.

Income potential

Unlike Telegram Ads revenue system, paid memberships can yield steady, recurring revenue. Even a small channel can earn significant income if the content is valuable.

  • For example, if you charge $10/month and have 100 subscribers, that’s $1,000 per month. Think of thousands of subscribers and tens of thousands of dollars per month via subscriptions.
  • Telegram communities, gathered in private groups and channels, can often earn far more through 1,000 paying members than through 100,000 ad-supported free members.
  • While ad-based channels might make on the order of $20–$50 per month per 1K subscribers, a subscription-based channel can make roughly $10 per subscriber per month (so 1K subscribers ≈ $10K/month). Of course, you must consistently provide value to keep people subscribed.

Monetization tips

  • To succeed with memberships, you need content that people are willing to pay for on an ongoing basis (e.g. exclusive insights, personal interaction, specialized knowledge, etc.).
  • Building a loyal community is key. Also, running a paid channel means handling customer service (with codeless support AI chatbots you can build with SUCH for free).
  • There may be platform fees from the payment processors or the bot service (InviteMember, for instance, charges a low flat fee for its service and payment processors might charge transaction fees).

Overall, though, if you have devoted followers, charging for premium Telegram content can be the most scalable way to get paid on Telegram.

Brand Partnerships

Another common monetization route is working with sponsors or affiliate programs – essentially leveraging your Telegram channel as an advertising or referral platform (outside of Telegram’s official ad system).

Many Telegram channel owners get paid by businesses to post promotional content or reviews to their subscribers. For example, if you run a popular tech news channel, a VPN company might pay you to post about their product.

These sponsored posts or shout-outs are typically negotiated directly between the channel owner and the advertiser. You can charge a fixed fee per post, or for a campaign, depending on your channel’s size and niche.

Unlike Telegram’s built-in ads (which are anonymous and platform-run), these are direct collaborations – essentially you’re acting as an influencer. Before Telegram introduced revenue sharing, selling paid posts was one of the main ways channel admins monetized their followings.

Affiliate Marketing

Similarly, you can use affiliate marketing in Telegram. This means sharing special links or promo codes and earning a commission for any sales generated via your channel. For instance, a book review channel might post Amazon affiliate links to books – when followers purchase, the channel owner earns a percentage.

This works well if your channel frequently discusses or recommends products/services. Some channels are even built entirely around finding deals or promoting certain products, earning via affiliate commissions.

Selling Your Own Products or Services

Telegram can also serve as a channel for business revenue if you have something of your own to sell. For example, entrepreneurs and creators use Telegram to sell online courses, e-books, consulting services, handmade products, or merch.

In this model, your Telegram channel is essentially a marketing and distribution platform, and your groups paid communities:

  • If you offer online courses or coaching, you might run a free channel providing valuable tips, and then funnel interested users to pay for a detailed course or consulting (which could even be delivered via a private Telegram group or through live calls).
  • If you have physical or digital products, you can showcase them on your channel and take orders. Telegram’s Bot API supports payments, meaning you could integrate a payment bot to handle orders securely. There are also e-commerce bots and services that let you create simple storefronts within Telegram.

Donations, Tips, and Telegram Stars

If you want to keep your main channel or group free but still earn money, Telegram’s Stars system is now the native and easiest way to get support from your audience.

Stars as Donations and Reactions

Telegram introduced Star Reactions in mid-2024. Followers can tap a Star under your post to send you digital currency directly.

Channel owners receive 100% of these Stars, with no commission deducted by Telegram. They can later be converted into Toncoin and withdrawn via Fragment or reinvested into ads or promotions.

How Stars Work

Users acquire Stars via purchases through Apple/Google in-app methods, Fragment.com, or via Telegram’s PremiumBot. Paid Stars are stored in their Star balance, which can be used to tip creators, unlock paid posts, support bots or mini-apps, and more.

Final Thoughts

Telegram has evolved from a simple messaging app into a viable platform for creators to earn income. To recap, Telegram itself will pay channel owners through its ad revenue program if you meet the criteria – a big shift that now lets popular channels share in the platform’s growth.

But beyond that, Telegram channels get paid through creativity and entrepreneurship: from memberships and exclusive content, to sponsorships, affiliate deals, and product sales. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to monetization, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Yet, with a professional approach and the right tools, even small Telegram channels can generate reliable revenue.