What Telegram Stars are
Telegram Stars are Telegram's in-app currency. Where they are used — gifts, reactions, paid posts, subscriptions and bots — and where they come from.
Telegram Stars are Telegram's in-app currency for digital goods and services. They appeared in 2024: bots and mini apps sell for Stars, channel authors receive Stars from their audience, and people send each other gifts.
What Stars are spent on
- Gifts. A gift is bought for Stars and shows on the recipient's profile. Many gifts can be upgraded to unique ones — these are NFT gifts. More in what Telegram gifts are.
- Star reactions. A way to support channel authors: the Stars go to the channel — see Stars in a Telegram channel.
- Paid content — photos and videos in channels that unlock for Stars.
- Paid subscriptions to private channels.
- Bots and mini apps — games, services and digital goods sold for Stars.
- Paid messages. Some people charge Stars for incoming messages from strangers — see paid messages.
Stars spent on gifts, paid messages and channel posts also count toward your profile's Stars rating.
Where Stars come from
- Buying: inside Telegram through the app store, or from third-party services such as the Shiba Bank bot, which buys through Fragment, Telegram's platform. If the app won't let you buy, these ways work.
- Gifts and transfers: a friend can send Stars straight to your account.
- Drops, cheques and giveaways in chats and channels — see how to get Stars without buying them.
Your Stars are in Settings → My Stars — where to see your Stars balance.
What one Star costs
The price of a Star depends on where and how you pay. Current package prices in the Shiba Bank bot are on the Telegram Stars prices page; gift prices in Stars are on what Telegram gifts cost.
Frequently asked questions
Can Stars be exchanged for money?
Through Fragment, Telegram pays out only Stars received by channels and bots, and Stars that people and groups get for paid messages. Stars on your account can be sold in the Shiba Bank bot for USDT — see the separate guide, and every way at once in how to withdraw Stars.
Do Stars expire?
No: bought Stars stay on your account balance until you spend them.
Can I send Stars to a friend?
Yes. The simplest way is to buy Stars straight for your friend's @username. Stars in your bot wallet can be withdrawn to a friend's account or sent in a group chat with +send — see how to gift Stars to a friend.
