Telegram Stars: What They Cost and How to Use Them

Telegram Stars are the in-app currency you spend on digital things inside Telegram. Its terms call them "virtual items that allow users to purchase digital goods and services from bots and mini apps inside the Telegram ecosystem, send gifts to content creators on the Telegram platform, and more," and that covers most of it. In the App Store or Play Store, 100 Stars cost $1.99, going by Telegram's own price table. The developer who sells you something for those Stars keeps $1.30.

We read Telegram's Stars terms, its developer docs with the price table and its June 2024 launch post through our server on October 23, 2026.

How much do Telegram Stars cost?

Stars	You pay	Developer gets
50	$0.99	$0.65
100	$1.99	$1.30
250	$4.99	$3.25
500	$9.99	$6.50
1,000	$19.99	$13.00
2,500	$49.99	$32.50

Telegram's Star Pricing table in its developer docs, for App Store and Play Store purchases billed in USD with 0% VAT. Read October 23, 2026.

Apple's US App Store matched most of that table when we checked on October 23, 2026. Two packs cost a little more there: 250 Stars at $5.09 and 2,500 at $50.90.

Most of the gap goes to the app stores. On 1,000 Stars, Telegram's table shows $6.00 going to Apple or Google as a 30% commission and $0.99 to Telegram's own costs. Your price won't always match, since amounts "may vary from user to user due to VAT and other applicable fees," Telegram says. Its terms also let it change the price "at any time." So a Star costs you about 2 cents, and the person you pay gets about 1.3 cents.

"Telegram stars" gets about 33,100 searches a month, up 15%, and "telegram stars price" another 2,900.

How do you buy Telegram Stars?

You'll buy them inside Telegram. Stars "can be acquired via in-app purchases on the Telegram apps for iOS and Telegram for Android," its terms say, and through @PremiumBot on the direct Android version and Telegram's Web and Desktop apps. Your balance sits in Settings, on a screen Telegram's pages call "My Stars" or "Your Stars." If a purchase goes wrong, talk to the payment processor, since "Telegram does not process these transactions," by its own account.

What can you do with Telegram Stars?

• Buy from bots and mini apps. E-books, courses, game items and other digital goods.
• Unlock paid posts and media in channels that charge for them.
• Send gifts and tips. You can donate to creators or send Telegram gifts.
• Gift Telegram Premium. The terms list "gift subscriptions to Telegram Premium" as something Stars can buy. Our Telegram Premium guide covers its price.
• Pay to message someone. Some chats charge a fee per message.

Bots can't take any other currency for digital goods. Telegram's developer docs say all such payments inside its apps "must exclusively use Telegram Stars, in order to comply with the guidelines of the App Store and Play Store." When it launched Stars, Telegram said "over 400 million users interact with bots and mini apps on Telegram every month," so that's a big market.

Paid messages pay well, too. People who switch on message fees "receive 85% of the Stars paid to send each message," the terms say.

Can you sell or refund Telegram Stars?

Mostly, you can't. "All sales of Telegram Stars are final and Telegram does not issue refunds for unwanted or unintentional purchases of Stars," its terms say. You also "may not sell, withdraw, transfer" Stars from your personal balance. There's one fix if a bot doesn't deliver: the developer can refund you, and bots should answer the /paysupport command. And if you delete your account, your remaining balance "will be considered forfeit."

How do creators turn Stars into money?

If you're a creator or developer, you'll get a separate Star balance on your channel or bot. Paid posts earn "an equivalent of 0.013 USD worth of rewards from Telegram for each Star," the creator terms say, which matches the price table's $1.30 per 100 Stars. Those rewards wait 21 days before you can withdraw them. Telegram's launch post said developers would "withdraw the stars earned by their bots in Toncoins via Fragment," and the creator terms say Telegram "currently outsources the processing of all Content Creator Rewards to Fragment" as well. You can also spend them on ads for your channel instead. There, "each Star in your balance is worth 0.02 USD in advertising credit," the terms say. Our guide to making money on Telegram covers the 50% ad share and the other routes.

Stars and ad money both grow with your audience. Hclout sells Telegram members and Telegram views, so weigh that the way you'd weigh any seller, and our free Telegram members guide covers the free routes. Hclout's free tier gives 5 free Telegram subscribers, with no password, on the free page. A short Cloudflare check runs before each claim.

Frequently asked questions

What are Telegram Stars?

Telegram's in-app currency for digital goods, paid posts, gifts and creator donations.

How much is 1 Telegram Star in USD?

About $0.02 to buy in the app stores, since 100 cost $1.99. The developer or creator who receives it gets about $0.013.

Can you sell Telegram Stars?

You can't sell them from your personal balance. Telegram's terms say you "may not sell, withdraw, transfer" them. Creators and developers can withdraw their rewards through Fragment.

Are Telegram Stars refundable?

Not for purchases you regret. A bot's developer can refund Stars when an order isn't delivered.

What happens to your Stars if you delete your account?

They're gone. Telegram's terms say your remaining balance "will be considered forfeit."

Sources

• Telegram, "Terms of Service for Telegram Stars"; "Bot Payments API for Digital Goods and Services," with its Star Pricing table; "Telegram Stars: Pay for Digital Goods and More," June 6, 2024 (date as Google lists it); and "Terms of Service for Content Creators," read through our server on October 23, 2026
• Google Ads Keyword Planner, worldwide, read October 23, 2026