Messaging app Telegram: Few paid subscribers needed to cover costs

The Telegram messaging app, used by a wide range of Russian and Ukrainian officials during the war, only needs a small number of paid subscribers to cover its costs, founder Pavel Durov said on Tuesday (June 21).

Telegram Premium service users will get a higher limit for chats, media and file uploads, Durov said on June 10, noting that paid subscriptions would ensure the app remains funded primarily by users and not advertisers. 

"The beauty of Telegram Premium is that if just 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent of our users sign up for this subscription, Telegram will cover its costs, supported purely by its users," he said on Telegram on Tuesday.

"This will herald a new, user-centric era in the history of social media services."

Telegram and Signal have signed up more messaging users due to growing concerns about privacy on larger rival WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms Inc. Telegram has 500 million monthly active users and is one of the 10 most downloaded apps in the world, according to its website.