Quickstart Guide
From fresh Subscriby account to your first paid Telegram membership, in about 10 minutes.
By the end of this page, you'll have a live Subscriby project with a connected Telegram bot, at least one payment method enabled, and one subscription plan ready to accept your first paying member.
This quickstart follows the exact onboarding order you'll see on the dashboard's onboarding checklist. Each step links to deeper docs if you want the full picture.
Before you start
You need:
- A Telegram account in good standing.
- The email and password you want to use for your Subscriby creator account.
- A Stripe account (or willingness to create one) — for the simplest setup.
- A private Telegram channel, group, or supergroup you want to monetize (or be ready to create one).
- ~10 minutes.
Walkthrough
Create an account
Open the registration page
Go to /register (or click Sign up for free on /login).
Continue with Telegram
Click Continue with Telegram and approve the authorization through @TrySubscribyBot. Telegram shares your public profile with Subscriby and redirects you back to the registration page.
Fill the signup form
Confirm your name (pre-filled from Telegram, 5+ chars), enter your email, set a password (8+ characters, mix of upper/lower/numbers, screened against breach databases), confirm it, and click Create Account.
Verify your email
Open the verification email and click the link. Sign in at /login with email + password, or tap Continue with Telegram again — same account either way. The dashboard's onboarding checklist marks Create an Account complete.
Details: Creating an account.
Activate a subscription
Open Plans & Billing
You'll land on the Plans & Billing page right after first sign-in. (Or open it yourself at /billing/plans.)
Subscribe to a tier
Click Subscribe to Free, or Try Free for 7 Days on a paid tier to start its trial.
Note that a trial gives you the paid tier's features, not its lower fee: your sales stay on the Free tier's 10% rate during the trial, dropping to your plan's rate once the first payment is received. See Transaction Fees.
Complete Stripe checkout
Complete the Stripe-hosted checkout — add a payment method. Even Free plans need a card on file because per-transaction fees apply regardless of tier. On a trial the card is collected but nothing is charged until the trial ends.
Details: Activate your subscription.
Create a project
Open the create-project form
From the dashboard, click + New Project (or Create New Project on the All Projects page).
Fill the project fields
Fill in:
- Platform — Telegram.
- Name — your brand / community name. 5+ characters.
- Handle (optional, Starter+) — URL slug for the portal, e.g.
my-community. - Description (optional) — greeting message for new bot users.
Click Save Changes.
Details: Creating a project.
Connect your bot
Start /newbot with BotFather
In Telegram, open @BotFather and send /newbot.
Name the bot
Follow BotFather's prompts to name your bot and pick a @username ending in bot.
Copy the HTTP API Token
BotFather sends you an HTTP API Token. Copy it.
Activate the bot in Subscriby
Back in Subscriby: open your project, click Actions → Connect Bot, paste the token, click Activate Bot. Your bot is now live and ready to manage Telegram channels, groups, and supergroups as resources.
Details: Connect your bot.
Add a resource
A resource is what subscribers unlock when they pay — a private channel, a group, a supergroup, or a manual perk (like a Google Drive folder or a 1:1 call).
Now that your bot is connected, Channel, Group, and Supergroup resources can be linked directly through it. This walkthrough demos the quicker Manual path instead — see Resources → Linking a Telegram destination if you want to link a real Telegram destination now.
Open Project Resources
From the project, open Project Resources and click Create New Resource.
Pick Manual
Select Manual.
Fill the resource fields
Fill in:
- Title — e.g. "Welcome PDF" or "Onboarding Notion".
- Description — free-form text with basic HTML allowed. Paste the URL, voucher, or instructions you want subscribers to see.
- Active — toggle on.
Click Save Changes. The resource appears in the list — onboarding Step 5 is complete.
Details: Resources.
Set up a payment method
Open Payment Methods
In the project, go to Payment Methods → Setup a Payment Method.
Pick Stripe
Pick Stripe. Select Live (or Test for sandbox experimentation).
Connect to Stripe
Click Connect Stripe to Subscriby. You're redirected to Stripe's onboarding flow.
Authorize Subscriby on Stripe
Sign in or create a Stripe account. Complete the required verification. Authorize Subscriby.
Activate the method
You're redirected back to Subscriby. Toggle the method Active if needed.
Details: Stripe setup. Alternatives: PayPal, Razorpay, Paystack, or Telegram Stars if you want a no-keys approach.
Add a subscription plan
Open Create New Subscription Plan
Go to Subscription Plans → Create New Subscription Plan.
Fill the plan fields
Fill in:
- Plan Name — e.g. "Pro Monthly".
- Description — optional rich-text pitch.
- Linked Resources — tick the resource from Step 5.
- Currency — USD (or your preferred currency).
- Price — e.g.
9.99. - Billing Cycle — Monthly, count 1.
- Recurring — On.
Toggle Active, click Create Subscription Plan.
Sync plans to Stripe
On the Payment Methods page, open Stripe's options menu (⋯) and choose Sync Subscription Plans. Subscriby pushes your plan to Stripe as a product + price so recurring billing works.
Details: Subscription plans.
Generate access codes
Access codes are alphanumeric keys subscribers can redeem in place of paying through a gateway — useful for offline sales, giveaways, influencer campaigns, or team access.
Enable the Access Codes method
Make sure Access Codes is enabled as a payment method: Payment Methods → toggle Access Codes on. No credentials required.
Open Generate New Access Codes
Go to Access Codes → Generate New Access Codes.
Fill the batch settings
Pick the subscription plan from Step 7, set a quantity (up to 1,000 per batch), choose an expiry, tick consent, and click Generate Codes. The bot DMs you the codes once they're ready.
Details: Access codes.
Share your bot link
Copy the bot URL
Copy your bot's URL from the project's Bot Connection section (it looks like t.me/YourBotName).
Post it in your channels
Share it in your existing audience channels — social media bios, newsletters, podcast show notes, your existing Telegram channel.
Test the subscribe flow
Test the flow yourself: open the bot in an incognito browser or a second Telegram account, tap Start, pick your plan, and complete the Stripe checkout (use a Stripe test card if you're in Test mode). On success the bot sends you invite links — tap Join to see what new subscribers see.
Share your portal page
If you set a handle in Step 3, your project also has a public web portal at https://my.subscriby.net/your-handle — subscribers not already on Telegram can browse plans and sign up from there.
Copy the portal URL
Copy the portal URL from your project.
Post it alongside the bot link
Add it to your website, link-in-bio, email signature, or marketing materials alongside the bot link.
Details: Sharing your project.
Congratulations — your Subscriby project is live and ready to take paying members. The exact same flow now works for everyone else you share the bot link or portal URL with.
What's next
- Secure your account — set up two-factor auth or a passkey.
- Add more payment methods so subscribers in different regions can pay their preferred way — see Choosing a provider.
- Watch your dashboard as subscribers roll in — see Dashboard analytics.
- Invite team members (Growth plan) — see Teams & Roles.
If something goes wrong: see Troubleshooting.
How is this guide?
How Subscriby Works
End-to-end walkthrough of the Subscriby flow — creator setup, subscriber signup, automated member management, and the money path.
Overview
Everything you can configure on your Subscriby account — sign-in methods, two-factor authentication, passkeys, recovery options, notifications, and more.