Telegram will soon begin to place some functionality behind a paywall. In a blog post, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that the messaging service will debut a paid Telegram Premium subscription later this month, providing users with “extra features, speed, and resources.”
Durov teases some of the subscription’s perks, such as early access to new features, the ability to upload larger files, and Premium-only stickers and reactions (which were recently previewed in a beta version of the app).
However, Durov emphasizes that Telegram’s existing functionality will remain free and that the paid additions will have no effect on the app’s experience for free users. Non-subscribers will still be able to view and interact with Premium stickers and replies, as well as larger files uploaded by Premium users.
As Durov adds, a Premium subscription could help the service offset some of the costs associated with raising the “already ridiculous” limits on file sizes, conversations, and media, which Durov claims would be “unmanageable” if made available to all users. A paid subscription has been in the works for some time, with Durov initially discussing it around 2020.
Although the exact scope of Premium services is unknown, it appears that the subscription will appeal to Telegram’s power users, similar to how Twitter Blue provides additional capabilities to those who use the app the most. According to data from the beta version of the app, it will cost $4.99 a month and will include speedier downloads, voice-to-text messages, tools to customize your chats, and more.
The test also shows that Premium customers will no longer see adverts on one-to-many channels, which Durov introduced last year. This is consistent with Durov’s previous pledge to provide a mechanism for users to turn off adverts, albeit it appears that you may have to pay to acquire access.
Despite the fact that the project has been “more effective” than he anticipated, Durov does not appear to have intentions to expand advertising beyond public channels. “I believe Telegram should be paid primarily by its users, rather than advertisements,” Durov writes in his blog post. “In this way, our users will always be our top concern.” Of course, this prediction is likely to be influenced by Telegram’s ability to persuade a sizable portion of its more than 500 million users to upgrade to Premium.
