Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov confirmed that the platform will be introducing Telegram Premium later this month. This comes after reports have surfaced about a subscription service.
The new subscription service will offer “additional features, speed, and resources.” It will also allow users to support the company and get new features first.
Durov clarified that all existing features will remain free with more free features coming. Additionally, he mentioned that you can still be able to view extra-large documents, media, and stickers sent by Telegram Premium users or tapping to add Premium reactions already pinned.
He closed out the statement by saying that “Telegram should be funded primarily by its users, not advertisers.” The decision was even after privacy-focused ads in public channels were more successful than they expected. As Durov explains it, “This way our users will always remain our main priority.”