Telegram appears to be testing another way for the super-popular messaging app to start bringing in revenue. Beta testers of Telegram’s iOS app noticed some new content in version 8.7.2, which was created by android police: A new set of stickers and reaction emojis that you can only unlock by “Subscribing to Telegram Premium”.
Of course, Telegram Premium doesn’t exist yet. (And Telegram didn’t respond borderline Request a comment. ) but now, users with access to Telegram’s TestFlight build and its test server are able to send each other reactions of exploding hearts and flying ghosts, a sticker of the unbearably sadness of that cute drop-shaped yellow duck, and a few others New things. It appears that eventually, even the recipients of these messages will need Telegram Premium to see them; if you send a sad duck to non-subscribers, they’ll be prompted to sign up.
There’s no word yet on the price of Premium, when (or even if) it will roll out more widely, and what other features might be included in the subscription. But subscriptions like this are coming from Telegram for a long time. Founder Pavel Durov said in late 2020 that in order not to be snapped up like WhatsApp, or disappear like many other messaging apps, “Telegram will start generating revenue next year.” The plan to place ads in the platform’s large channels, and said Telegram “will add some new features for business teams or power users,” comes at a price.
From what we know so far, Telegram’s approach to paid features appears to follow the Discord model of messaging app monetization. Discord’s Nitro subscription costs $10 per month and offers premium users more playable toys: more emojis, better video and audio bandwidth, improved badges and avatars, and more. Nitro isn’t what users need to use the service, but it’s popular enough to convince Discord that it’s a long-term business model.
Durov also promised that in 2020, all free parts of Telegram — and all those dedicated to private messaging — would remain free. That’s the trick with messaging apps, really: The way to make money isn’t chatting among friends, it’s finding other things for users to do in the app. That’s why the WeChat-style “super app” idea is so popular. And, as Telegram expands into livestreaming, chatbots, cryptocurrencies, and more, it may continue to find ways to make money.
But making money without making users angry? That’s harder. Last fall, for example, as ads started appearing in Telegram channels, authors and subscribers alike fought back so strongly that Durov said it would create a way to shut them down. (If I’m reading tea here, I’d wager that disabling ads is a premium subscription benefit.) This may be part of the reason Telegram seems to be slowly rolling out this rollout, and starting small, rather than shifting the platform to freemium.
Still, Telegram, which has more than 500 million users on the platform, may only need to convince a fraction of its users to subscribe to become the break-even business Durov has always said he wants to be.