With half a billion monthly active users, Telegram has finally taken the subscription plunge. Founder Pavel Durov announced that the instant messaging service platform will be adding subscription plan for its users soon.
The company had been testing Telegram Premium in beta for some time. Now, the subscription plan will be rolled out to all later this month. This service will add new features like the capability to send extra-large documents and more. It will also deliver a faster speed of app.
In his note on Telegram channel, Durov said that free features will not be bound by payment restrictions, rather they will co-exist with subscription features. “Not to worry though: all existing features remain free, and there are plenty of new free features coming. Moreover, even users who don't subscribe to Telegram Premium will be able to enjoy some of its benefits: for example, they will be able to view extra-large documents, media and stickers sent by Premium users, or tap to add Premium reactions already pinned to a message to react in the same way”, said Durov.
He further revealed that while the app had found success with privacy-focused ads in public one-to-many channels, the app remains committed to stay funded primarily by its users and not advertisers.