Telegram hits 700 million monthly users

These are the good times for the messaging service, which is also rolling out a premium tier with additional features.  

Do it for the ‘gram

No, not that ‘gram. Telegram is having a moment. Having hit the heights of 700 million monthly active users, the messaging service is also making moves with a new, monetized version which will allow users to send files as large as 4GB and make far faster downloads. Those paying a premium will also be able to follow up to 1,000 channels – an extra 500 on the free version – and create up to 20 chat folders with 200 chats in each. There’s networking, and then there’s Telegramming.

It could be a watershed moment for messaging apps. Telegram is the first to have offered a premium tier, with prices appearing to range between $4.99 to $6. So if it works out, we could see the likes of WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger following suit.

Sustainability is key

Telegram’s latest move seems impressively well thought out. Founder and chief executive, Pavel Durov, is all about ‘sustainable monetization’. “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,” he said.

With the trajectory that Telegram is currently seeing, you’ve got to have some faith in the big decisions being made. After earlier hopes that the firm would monetize its platform through its blockchain token project, the project was ditched and the $1.2 billion raised from investors was offered back to investors. Talk about sensible.

Back in 2021, Telegram raised more than $1 billion from investors including Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners. And now, as the firm raises the bar among the other big players in the online messaging space, those with a stake in Telegram must be rubbing their hands.