Telegram Will Launch Paid Plans For 50 Crore Users: Expect These Benefits For Premium Users

Telegram is set to launch a paid subscription known as Telegram Premium by month end.

The company’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov confirmed the news after rumors swirling for months.

It is expected to charge a monthly fee of $4.99.

Change In Slogan

Users downloading the app are currently seeing the tagline—“Telegram will be free forever. No ads. No fees”.

Code for an upcoming version of the Telegram app has been spotted online with a different tagline dropping the free slogan.

Free users needn’t worry since all the current features that are free will remain free.

What’s more, new features will be coming to the free tier in the future too.

Premium Benefits

Telegram Premium will allow “anyone to acquire additional features, speed and resources”, Durov says. 

Premium users will get a higher limit for chats, media and file uploads.

He explained that the only way to provide more features to Telegram’s “most demanding fans” while keeping existing features free is to make those raised limits a paid option.

The founder of the platform explained that in order to “raise the current limits even further”, high server costs have to be borne.

Paying users will also be able to support Telegram and join the club that receives new features first.

Free Users Get Premium Benefits Indirectly

Free users will even benefit from those paying for Premium.

Files, media, and stickers sent by Premium users will show for free users, with extra-large file sizes being one perk of the offering.

Premium reactions already in use on a message will also be made available to free users who want to use that same reaction.

Funding From Ads?

Durov shared that Telegram had experimented with ads in public channels and that it was more successful than they expected.

However, this doesn’t mean that ads will become a permanent feature, since Durov wants the service to be funded mainly by its users instead of advertisers to ensure that the users remain its main priority going forward.

Edge Over WhatsApp

Telegram currently has 500 million monthly active users and is one of the 10 most downloaded apps in the world.

It shot up in popularity after privacy concerns with larger rival WhatsApp.

Its appeal grows further since it offers multiple features such as stickers, editing options, secret chat, and more before its competitors.

Rival WhatsApp is also reportedly working on a paid subscription plan that will offer more features to WhatsApp Business users.