Telegram announced on Wednesday that it’s adding new ways for creators to make money on its platform. Most notably, the platform is launching monthly paid subscriptions that users can purchase using the app’s digital currency, Stars, in order to get access to a creator’s extra content.
Content creators can now make invite links that allow users to join a channel in exchange for a monthly payment in Stars. The idea behind the feature is to allow creators to charge for extra or early access to content in a way that’s similar to Patreon.
Creators can set the price for their content and can convert Stars into Toncoin cryptocurrency rewards or subsidized ads. Telegram takes a commission from transactions involving Stars, but the company hasn’t specified how much.
Telegram is also launching Star Reactions, allowing users to directly support their favorite content creators. Star Reactions is similar to YouTube’s “ Super Thanks ” feature and X’s Tips feature. Creators get 100% of the Stars they receive via the Reactions feature.
The new features build on Telegram’s current efforts to help creators earn money through its platform. Last month, the company started letting creators share paid content to their channels, and a few months ago, Telegram launched ad revenue sharing with creators.
Today’s announcement comes as Telegram reached 950 million active users last month, and aims to cross the 1 billion mark this year. Earlier this year, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the company expects to hit profitability next year and is considering going public.