Telegram Stars: what they are and who can buy ads with them
Telegram Stars pay for digital goods and services inside Telegram. A person buys Stars, and a channel or bot earns them. Bought Stars pay for digital goods, paid content, subscriptions and gifts, but not for Telegram Ads. Earned Stars work differently: a channel or bot can spend them on Telegram Ads, but only to advertise itself.
What Telegram Stars are and how a person buys them
Stars are virtual items that Telegram introduced on 6 June 2024 as the way to pay for digital goods in bots and Mini Apps. Today they are also spent in channels and between users.
A person buys Stars with an in-app purchase in Telegram for iOS or Android. On the Web, on desktop and in the Android version downloaded from Telegram's website, Stars are bought through @PremiumBot. Fragment, the platform where Telegram usernames and numbers are traded, also sells Stars in bulk.
In the App Store and Google Play, 1,000 Stars cost 19.99 USD at 0% VAT; local taxes and additional fees may change the price. Telegram itself does not refund unwanted or accidental purchases of Stars and can change the price at any time. If the buyer gets the money back through the App Store or Google Play, Telegram can debit those Stars.
Stars can also come as a gift from another user or as a giveaway prize from a channel. In some regions Stars cannot be bought or spent.
Three Stars balances: who holds them and what they pay for
You cannot move Stars between your own balances: personal, channel and bot.
| Balance | Where Stars come from | What they pay for | What they cannot pay for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | A purchase in a store, through @PremiumBot or on Fragment; a gift or a giveaway prize | Digital goods and subscriptions in bots and Mini Apps, paid posts, Star reactions, channel subscriptions, gifts, paid messages, suggested posts | Telegram Ads, channel giveaways, raising Mini App limits |
| Channel | Paid posts, Star reactions, channel subscriptions, paid messages to the channel, suggested posts, affiliate commissions | Telegram Ads for this channel, giveaways for its subscribers, rewards through Fragment | Telegram Ads for another channel, a bot or a website |
| Bot or Mini App | Sales of digital goods, digital services and subscriptions | Telegram Ads for this bot, higher message limits, gifts to users, rewards through Fragment | Telegram Ads for a channel, another bot or a website |
How a channel or bot earns Stars
A channel earns Stars when a reader unlocks a paid photo or video, sends a Star reaction or pays a monthly subscription through a paid invite link. A channel that charges for direct messages earns Stars on those too, and the owner receives all the Stars sent as reactions. A sponsor can pay for a suggested post in Stars. A channel can also join Mini App affiliate programs and earn Stars on purchases made by people it referred.
A bot or Mini App earns Stars from the digital goods, digital services and subscriptions it sells. Inside Telegram apps such sales must be in Stars only: Apple and Google require in-app purchases for digital goods, and Stars are bought through those purchases.
The share of Telegram Ads revenue comes in Gram, not in Stars
On the Monetization tab a channel has two balances: Stars for what readers and sponsors paid in Stars, and Gram (formerly Toncoin) for its share of the ads Telegram shows in the channel. Eligible owners of public channels with at least 1,000 subscribers may receive 50% of the revenue Telegram earns from valid impressions of ads in their channels (the share on 01.10.2026). Since October 2024, bots and Mini Apps can take part as well. Fragment pays this share out in Gram.
Telegram Ads paid with Stars: which Stars can pay and what can be advertised
A channel or bot spends its earned Stars on ads through the Buy Ads button. It sits in the channel's Monetization section (Profile → Statistics → Monetization) and in the bot's Balance section (Profile → Edit → Balance). It opens an ad-platform account tied to that channel or bot and paid from its Stars, and that account can advertise only that channel or bot.
Each earned Star counts as 0.02 USD for ads. A bot may have to wait up to 21 days before the Stars it received can be spent on ads. Ads and rewards draw on the same earned Stars balance. Stars moved into the ad account can no longer be withdrawn, moved or refunded.
The ad and the channel itself, including its name and branding, must comply with the Ad Policies and Guidelines.
How much a Star is worth when bought, withdrawn or spent on ads
Users buy Stars, while only a channel's or bot's earned Stars can be withdrawn or spent on Telegram Ads. Each of these operations has its own figure:
| Purpose | Figure for 1,000 Stars on 01.10.2026 |
|---|---|
| Buying them in the App Store or Google Play | 19.99 USD at 0% VAT |
| Buying them on Fragment | 15 USD |
| Withdrawing earned Stars as a reward | The equivalent of 13 USD, paid in Gram through Fragment at the market rate |
| Spending earned Stars on ads | 20 USD of advertising credit |
Telegram sets the reward and credit values at its discretion; neither is tied to the purchase price. The USD or EUR estimate next to a balance is approximate and holds only at the moment you see it.
Ads for another channel, a bot or a website: an agency account in Adstat
In Adstat, campaigns for a website, a client's channel or several channels at once can run in an agency account, ours included, with a separate advertising budget. Stars do not move into that account, whether bought or earned by a channel or bot, and neither does the channel's Gram balance.
An ad there can promote a channel, a bot or a website, and the report shows impressions, clicks, actions and spend for each ad. For a channel, add @adstat_invite_bot as a channel administrator and turn on Create invite link when you create the ad. The report then shows subscriptions and unsubscribes per ad and the cost of a subscriber who stayed.
Questions and answers
Do I need a crypto wallet to spend Stars on ads?
No. The Buy Ads account is topped up straight from the channel's or bot's Stars. A wallet is needed only for withdrawals through Fragment, both rewards and the ad revenue share: Fragment sends them to the address you enter on its site.
My bot sells an online course. Can it take card payments instead of Stars?
Not inside Telegram apps, and a separate website for sales does not change that. Physical goods and non-digital services are the exception: they may use other currencies and payment providers.
A sponsor paid for a suggested post in Stars. Can those Stars buy ads?
Yes. They land on the channel balance if the post stays published for 24 hours, and the channel spends them like the rest of its earned Stars. One caveat: if the sponsor bought those Stars in a store such as the App Store, the store may refund them within 21 days. Telegram may then deduct those Stars from the channel.
What to do first
- Open the channel's Monetization tab or the bot's Balance and note the Stars balance and, if there is one, the Gram balance separately, with the date.
- Before planning ads, decide how many earned Stars to keep for withdrawal: Stars moved into the ad account cannot be withdrawn.
- If you run campaigns through an agency account, ours included, plan a separate advertising budget for a website, a client's channel or several channels: Stars do not move there.
- Before spending Stars on ads, check the ad and the channel's content, name and branding against the Ad Policies and Guidelines.
- Put the date next to every figure you rely on: the 0.02 USD credit and the 0.013 USD reward can change.