Messaging app Telegram is set to launch a subscription plan this month for its millions of active users, according to founder Pavel Durov.
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The subscription plan from the free messaging app will offer extra features, speed and resources, as requested by several Telegram users.
“Many have been asking us to raise the current limits even further,” Durov wrote in a blog post. “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.”
As a result, the Dubai-based social network plans to introduce Telegram Premium, a paid plan for its “most demanding fans” to get additional benefits, while all existing features will continue to be free for regular users.
In 2020, Durov shared that the messaging app will offer some premium features for its 500 million active users.
The subscription could provide doubled limits for channels, folders, pins, and public links; increased upload size to 4 GB from 2 GB (per document); faster download speeds for media and documents; voice-to-text conversion of incoming voice messages; extra animated reactions; premium stickers; and advanced chat management options, based on a beta version of the app.
According to Durov, regular users will be able to view larger 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.
While the nearly nine-year-old messaging app promises to offer the aforementioned benefits to its premium subscribers, it also intends to bring several new free features.
The announcement of the subscription plan had mixed reactions, with some users on Reddit liking specific features, such as support for higher file size and faster data transfer, while some others wished for the availability of certain features like voice-to-text and stickers outside the paid plan to all users.
Besides, there were users who liked the subscription idea as it gives them an avenue to financially support the free messaging app. Supporting the app through the subscription plan is something that even Durov mentioned in his blog post.
Those who support Telegram will get a profile badge next to their name. It is similar to Signal’s sustainer programme, where users who become a Signal sustainer will get badges depending on their contribution.
Telegram’s subscription plan, which could be priced at $4.99 per month, based on reports, may offer an ad-free experience in public channels where the app sometimes shows ads.
