Create a Paid Channel
Turn a private Telegram channel into a subscription: your own bot from @BotFather, two admin rights, a connected project, payment methods, a plan and a test purchase.
By the end of this page, a private Telegram channel is a product: members pay through your own bot, are let in with a personal invite link, renew on their own and are removed when they stop paying. Nothing here needs code, and it fits into an hour.
What you need
- A Telegram account that administers the channel. If the channel does not exist yet, create it and make it private.
- A Subscriby project on Free, Starter or Growth (activate a plan, then create a project).
- One way to get paid: a Stripe account for cards, PayPal, Razorpay for India, Paystack for Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, CoinPayments for crypto, or nothing at all if you start with Telegram Stars.
Create your own bot
Subscribers never see Subscriby. They talk to a bot that carries your name, and you create that bot yourself in two minutes.
Open @BotFather and send /newbot
Open a chat with @BotFather, Telegram's official bot for creating bots, and send /newbot.
Name it
Give it a display name subscribers will see, such as "Alpha Signals VIP", and a username ending in bot, such as @alphasignals_vip_bot.
Copy the token
BotFather answers with the HTTP API token. Copy it somewhere safe: it is the credential Subscriby uses to drive the bot, so treat it like a password. The full walkthrough, with the profile picture, description and command menu worth setting afterwards, is Connect Your Telegram Bot.
Make the channel private and the bot an administrator
Set the channel to Private
Open the channel's settings and set its type to Private. Telegram shows a permanent invite link for a private channel; never share it, because access has to be controlled by the bot, not by a link anyone can forward.
Promote the bot
Add the bot to the channel as an administrator with Invite Users via Link and Ban Users. The first lets the bot hand each paying member a fresh single-use link; the second lets it remove members whose subscription has ended. Everything else can stay off (why the rights matter).
Connect the bot and link the channel
Connect the bot
On All Projects, open the project's Actions menu and choose Connect Telegram. Paste the token and click Connect. The row's Connection column turns Connected and every project page gains an Open Bot button.
Link the channel as a resource
Open Project Resources, click Create New Resource, pick Channel and click Send Request. The bot sends you a Select a Private Channel button; tap it, pick the channel in Telegram's picker and grant the rights it asks for. If you already promoted the bot yourself, it registers the channel on its own and messages you. Refresh the page and switch the new resource Active (linking a place).
Connect the ways your audience pays
Under Payment Methods, switch on whatever fits your audience. Members see every active method at checkout and pick their own.
- Stripe covers cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay in most of the world, connected through Stripe's own onboarding (Stripe).
- PayPal and Skrill suit members who would rather not type a card number (PayPal, Skrill).
- Razorpay gives Indian members UPI, local cards and net banking; Paystack does the same for cards and bank rails in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa; CeyPay covers Sri Lanka (Razorpay, Paystack, CeyPay).
- CoinPayments takes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and stablecoins, for one-time purchases (CoinPayments).
- Telegram Stars needs no account at all: members pay inside Telegram, in live mode only and for one-time purchases (Telegram Stars).
- Access codes are not a gateway but cover bank transfers, cash at an event and gifts (access codes).
Add a card gateway in Test or Sandbox mode first and switch it to Live after your test purchase below (payment methods).
Create the plan
Under Subscription Plans, create the first plan: a name members see, a price, a billing cycle (days, weeks, months, years or lifetime), an optional trial with or without a card up front, and the channel it unlocks (subscription plans). A monthly plan with a discounted annual plan beside it is where most channels start. If you sell a scheduled session rather than open-ended membership, a time-limited pass admits members when the window opens and removes them when it closes.
Share the bot's link
Every bot has a link, https://t.me/YourBotName, and every plan a deep link that opens the bot straight on that plan (Copy Plan Bot Deeplink on the plan's row menu); the hosted portal page lists your plans for people who arrive from a browser (bot links and deep linking, share your project). Put the link in your free channel's pinned message and in your bios elsewhere.
A visitor who taps it is greeted by your bot, shown the plans, taken through payment on the method they choose, and handed a single-use invite link the moment the payment clears. The link works once and only for them.
Test the whole flow
Subscribe to your own channel with the gateway in Test mode (Stripe's test card is 4242 4242 4242 4242 with any future expiry and any CVC). Check that the bot sends an invite link right after payment, that the link adds you to the channel, and that you appear under Members with the right plan and renewal date. If a step fails, the cause is almost always the bot's admin rights or a resource not linked to the plan (bot issues). Then switch the gateway to Live, or add a Live method and deactivate the test one, and run the go-live checklist.
What runs on its own
Renewals are charged on the cycle, members hear from the bot at 7, 3, 2 and 1 days before an expiry, and anyone whose subscription ends is removed automatically, as is anyone who got in without a valid subscription (how the bot admits and removes members). Questions members send the bot land in your support inbox. If Telegram ever restricts your bot, your channel or your account, the Disaster Recovery Program notices, alerts you and moves your members to a replacement.
Frequently asked
Related
- Create a paid group — the same setup for a room where members talk to each other.
- Connect Your Telegram Bot — every step of the bot setup, with what to set afterwards.
- Telegram integration — how the bot admits, removes and bans members.
- Go-live checklist — what to check before you announce.
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Why Telegram
Free hosting and unlimited bandwidth, reliable uptime, your choice of payment methods with direct settlement, and members who never leave Telegram.
Create a Paid Group
Set up a paid Telegram group with automated access: a private supergroup, your own bot with two admin rights, single-use invite links, plans, trials and the mistakes that leak access.