Telegram is arguably one of the more popular messaging apps. The app rose to prominence when the world was looking for an alternative to the Meta-owned WhatsApp and Messenger messaging apps. The app’s robust features propelled it into the limelight and it has continued to grow since.
That might be slowing down soon as the company looks to expand the app further. In order to support the many features and extensive development and adoption of the app, its founder, Pavel Durov, took to Telegram to say that they will be introducing a paid “Premium” tier to the app. It’s unclear what exactly the “Premium” tier will bring in terms of features and support, but it looks like the free version isn’t going anywhere soon.
In his announcement, Durov states, “…many have been asking us to raise the current limits even further, so we looked into ways to let you go beyond what is already crazy. The problem here is that if we were to remove all limits for everyone, our server and traffic costs would have become unmanageable, so the party would be unfortunately over for everyone…. After giving it some thought, we realized that the only way to let our most demanding fans get more while keeping our existing features free is to make those raised limits a paid option.”
While it seems like an earnest effort to help expand and improve the application, Durov is also looking into expanding the company. He reassures that the app’s current features will continue to be offered free of charge. However, those that choose to subscribe to Telegram Premium will get early dibs on new features and some extra benefits like larger file sizes when sending files. Telegram Premium will be rolling out sometime this month according to the announcement.
A dive into the Telegram Reddit uncovers some rumours that Telegram Premium will be available for MYR5. If you subscribe, it looks like you’ll be able to access extended emoticons and even access to send files of up to 4GB in size. This is twice the amount present in any gaming PC so far. Reddit also theories that the Premium subscription could start from USD$5.