How to buy stars in Telegram and what are they for

Some time ago, Telegram introduced its internal currency – stars, which became an important tool for platform users. We tell you why stars are needed, how to buy them, and what opportunities they open up for channel monetization—from paid access to exclusive publications.

What are stars in Telegram

Stars are Telegram's internal digital currency. It can be used to pay for digital goods and services within the messenger's ecosystem. Thanks to stars, users can purchase digital goods and services without switching to third-party payment services.

Why do stars matter to ordinary users?

There are many ways to use stars, such as supporting content creators by sending donations or making purchases within the platform.

Paid reactions

Stars can be sent to show support for posts in channels. One post can have from one to 2500 stars. To add many stars to a post in one click, you need to hold down the reaction with the star - a separate menu will appear. The donation flies away under your own name or anonymously for other users, although channel administrators will still see the sender's name in the list of supporters.

Purchasing content

Stars can be used to purchase additional content in mini-apps, bots, or channels that offer this option. Stars will also be useful for buying donations. These could be online courses, premium content subscriptions, in-game items, and more.

Present

Gifts are animated pictures that can be purchased for stars and sent to other users. A bouquet costs 50 stars, a ring with a stone costs 100 stars, and a hair dryer costs a thousand. Recipients can keep the gifts or convert them into stars, but the platform retains a portion of the amount when exchanging, which is why the final number of stars will be less than the value of the gift.

Why do channel authors need stars?

With the emergence of stars, Telegram content creators have more opportunities to monetize and promote their content.

Paid channels

You can set a fee in stars for subscribing to a private Telegram channel. To do this, go to the channel settings, select "Channel type" - "Manage invitations" - "Create link". The action of the link for paid access to the channel can be limited in time. In the menu that opens, activate the "Monthly fee" option, then specify the number of stars that subscribers will pay each month for access to your channel.

Paid reactions

Channel visitors can put stars as reactions to posts, and they will be credited to the virtual account of the channel author. If you enable paid reaction, the star will always be displayed at the top of the list. To give subscribers the opportunity to place them, you need to go to the channel settings and enable the paid reactions function.

Paid posts

Authors of Telegram channels can create posts that can be accessed by paying with stars. To create such a publication, you need to select a photo (or other content) and click on the three dots at the top before sending it to the channel. A menu will open in which you need to click "Make paid". After that, you can specify how many stars will cost access to the content in the post.

Promotion and advertising

Earned stars can be spent on advertising a Telegram channel. To do this, go to the channel profile, click "Balance" and "Buy advertising". This will open the Telegram Ads platform, where you can manage your advertisements. There is a 30% discount on buying channel or bot advertising for stars.

How much do stars cost in Telegram

The cost of stars may vary depending on the payment method, as it is subject to the influence of the platform's policy and possible changes in pricing. For example, at the moment 100 stars can be purchased for 182.99 rubles when paying through Premium Bot - the official Telegram bot for purchases within the messenger. The difference in the cost of stars when paying via Premium Bot (left) and the App Store

At the same time, purchasing the same number of stars through Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) stores will be more expensive - for example, in the App Store it is already 229 rubles. The difference is explained by the commission that these platforms charge, up to 30% of the transaction amount.

How to buy stars

There are several ways to buy stars in Telegram. From any device via the official Premium Bot. To do this, select /start in the bot menu, then /stars, and then click "Buy Telegram Stars". Then select the number of stars you want to buy and pay for them with a bank card.

 

Buying Stars with Premium Bot

Through official Apple and Google stores. In the Telegram app, go to "Settings" - "My stars" and select the number of stars to purchase. Payment is made through the official Apple and Google stores.

 

Go to "Settings" - "My Stars" and select the number of stars to purchase

With TON. Stars can be purchased on the Fragment platform by exchanging Toncoin (TON) cryptocurrency for them. This method of purchase is only available to those who have a TON wallet, as Fragment operates on The Open Network (TON) blockchain and transactions are carried out exclusively in this ecosystem.

 

This purchase method is only available to TON wallet owners.

The process looks like this:

• you must have a TON wallet created and configured (for example, via Telegram Wallet, Tonkeeper or another compatible wallet);
• There must be Toncoins in your wallet that you are ready to spend on purchasing stars;
• on the Fragment platform - this is the official service for such operations - you exchange Toncoin for stars at the current rate;
• After purchase, stars are credited to your Telegram account and can be used within the platform.

How to remove stars from Telegram

Only content creators whose Telegram channels have received donations from other users can withdraw stars. Stars that you bought yourself can only be spent in Telegram.

Content creators can exchange stars for real currency via the already mentioned Fragment platform. You need to have at least 1,000 stars in your account to withdraw them. To do this, you need to create a TON wallet, then select the number of stars you want to withdraw in your channel settings. After that, Telegram will redirect you to the Fragment platform.

Once the transaction is confirmed, the stars are converted into Toncoin. These coins can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or real currency through cryptocurrency exchanges or exchangers that support TON.