Pavel Durov Announces Paid Subscription for Telegram

As Durov noted, since the launch of Telegram almost 9 years ago, Telegram team has been providing its users with more features and capabilities than any other messaging application. In the recent post in his Telegram channel Durov admitted: «A free app as powerful as Telegram was revolutionary in 2013 and is still unprecedented in 2022. To this day, our limits on chats, media and file uploads are unrivaled».

Still, Durov admits, many have been asking us to raise the current limits of Telegram. That is the reason why Telegram team searched for new ways to extend the app’s features and possibilities. However, Durov confesses: «The problem here is that if we were to remove all limits for everyone, our server and traffic costs would have become unmanageable, so the party would be unfortunately over for everyone».

Thus, the Telegram team found a balance between the demands of the app’s most passionate users and the ability to maintain existing features free in making new pocket of features a paid option by introducing Telegram Premium. Telegram Premium is a subscription plan that enables users to acquire additional features, speed and resources. According to Durov’s idea, subscription «will also allow users to support Telegram and join the club that receives new features first».

Nevertheless, all the previously existed features will remain free for users. Users who do not subscribe to Telegram Premium will still be able to take advantage of some of the new features, including the ability to view extra-large documents, media, and stickers sent by Premium users, as well as the ability to tap to add Premium reactions already pinned to a message to react in the same way.

Last but not least, Durov said the team’s will experiments with privacy-focused adverts in public one-to-many channels have proven to be more successful. That is why Durov believes that Telegram should be funded primarily by its users, rather than advertisers in order for the messaging application to serve the interests of its users rather than advertisers.