Telegram is a popular free messaging app, and the service announced earlier this month that a premium tier was on the way. Now it has finally arrived.
Telegram Premium bumps up the file upload limit from 2 GB to 4 GB, speeds up file downloads, adds a button to convert audio messages into text messages, removes any advertisements, includes more emoji options for message reactions, and adds new sticker effects. Profiles for Premium subscribers can also have a longer bio, links in the bio, and animated pictures. That feature set is similar to the paid tiers on other messaging services, like Discord Nitro, which also increases upload limits and adds animated profile picture support.
The new subscription also bumps up most of the limits in the app — not just uploads. Premium subscribers can join 1,000 groups and channels (up from 500), pin 10 chats in the main list (instead of five), reserve up to 20 ‘t.me/name’ links (up from 10), and save 400 GIFs in your favorites list (instead of 200).
Telegram Premium comes out to be $4.99 per month, which doesn’t seem unreasonable if you use Telegram often. Discord Nitro, the premium subscription for messaging app Discord, costs $9.99/mo (or $99/year).
Telegram Premium appears to deliver on the company’s previous statements about a paid tier that wouldn’t remove features from the free version. In fact, Telegram is rolling out some new functionality to all users at the same time, including join requests for public groups and improved chat previews on Android.
Telegram is available for Android, iPhone, and iPad.
