How to Accept Telegram Stars Payments in Your Bot (2026 Guide)

What Telegram Stars are

Telegram Stars are Telegram's in-app currency. Users buy Stars in packs and spend them on digital things inside Telegram: paid content from bots and mini apps, gifts, paid reactions and posts in channels, and so on. For a bot owner, Stars are the official way to charge for digital goods and services. Telegram's Bot API treats Stars as a currency with the code XTR, and its terms require that all payments for digital goods and services inside the Telegram apps go through Stars, which keeps bots in line with App Store and Google Play rules.

Where a user buys Stars affects what they pay. Inside the iOS and Android apps the purchase goes through Apple or Google, and as of September 2026 a Star costs roughly two US cents there. Buying on Telegram's web and desktop apps or on Fragment, Telegram's own marketplace, is noticeably cheaper because the app store commission is not included. Prices vary by region, Telegram may add local taxes, and packs change, so treat these as ballpark figures and check the current price in your own app.

On your side of the transaction, Telegram's terms for bot developers spell out what a Star is worth to you: you can spend Stars on Telegram Ads at a rate of 0.02 USD of advertising credit per Star, or request a reward, which Telegram processes through Fragment and pays out in Toncoin at the equivalent of 0.013 USD per Star. The same terms say Stars in your balance may take up to 21 days after receipt to become available. That gap between what the user pays and what you receive is the cost of the whole system: app store commission, Telegram's share and the crypto payout. It is still cheaper and far less work than most card processors at small volumes, but plan your prices with the 0.013 figure, not the retail price.

How a Stars payment feels for the user

This is the part that makes Stars work for small sellers. There is no checkout page and no card entry. The whole flow happens in the chat:

1. The user sends a command or taps a button, and your bot replies with a short preview: what they are about to get and the price in Stars.
2. They tap Buy. Telegram shows an invoice message with a native confirmation sheet. If their Stars balance is short, Telegram offers to top it up on the spot.
3. One tap to confirm. Telegram asks your bot to approve the purchase (this is the pre-checkout step, and the bot has 10 seconds to answer), then charges the Stars.
4. Your bot receives a successful payment notice and delivers the content, or tells the buyer you will be in touch.

For the buyer it feels like buying a sticker pack or a Premium gift. That low friction is why tip jars and small unlocks convert so much better in Stars than through an external link to a card form.

What you can sell with Stars

Anything digital that a bot can hand over or that you can deliver online. The patterns that come up most often:

• Paid commands and locked content. A command that only answers in full after payment: a PDF checklist, a template pack, a private invite link, a recording, a set of images, a discount code. The user sees a teaser, pays, and the full reply is delivered.
• Donations and tips. A /donate command with a few preset amounts and a custom-amount option. Ideal for creators, open source projects, community admins and podcasters who mostly want to say "support what I do".
• Digital products. E-books, presets, lesson bundles, worksheets, mini courses, wallpapers, audio. If you already sell these elsewhere, a Stars version inside Telegram is a second shelf with almost no setup.
• Services delivered online. A consultation slot, a portfolio review, a personalised meal plan. The bot collects the payment and you deliver by hand.
• Subscriptions. Telegram supports recurring Stars subscriptions for bots and channels, charged periodically. TeleMinute currently sells one-time unlocks and donations rather than recurring subscriptions, so if you need auto-renewing memberships you will need custom code or a different tool for that part.

If you run an online course, our guide to Telegram bots for online courses covers how to structure lessons and cohorts; Stars are the natural way to charge for them. For a wider view of bot revenue models, see how to make money with Telegram bots.

The rules: digital only, and refunds are on you

Two rules matter more than all the others. First, Stars are for digital goods and services only. Telegram's Stars terms describe them as a way to buy digital goods and services from bots and mini apps, and the developer terms require digital sales to use Stars exclusively. A T-shirt, a meal delivery or an in-person service is not a Stars product. For physical goods you still connect a regular payment provider through the Bot API or link to your own checkout page, and TeleMinute's paid features will not help you there.

Second, refunds are the seller's responsibility. Telegram states that sales of Stars to users are final, but a developer is expected to refund a buyer who did not receive what was advertised within the agreed time, and Telegram does not mediate disputes. The Bot API has a dedicated refund method for Stars payments, so a refund is one action rather than a support ticket, but make sure your previews are honest about what the buyer gets and when.

A few smaller points worth knowing: Stars in a bot's balance are not your property in the legal sense, they are a balance you can convert; if the bot's owner account is deleted the balance is lost; and Fragment may be unable to pay rewards to users in certain countries. Read the current terms once before you build a business on it.

Pricing tips for Stars

• Use round Stars numbers. 25, 50, 100, 250, 500. Users think in packs, and a price like 73 Stars looks like a conversion from another currency.
• Do the maths with 0.013, not 0.02. A 100-Star product earns you roughly 1.30 USD in reward value, not 2 USD. Price your work accordingly.
• Remember where your audience buys. A mobile-first audience pays the app store price; a desktop audience can buy cheaper on the web or Fragment. Telling users that Stars are cheaper on the web is fair and often appreciated.
• Respect regional purchasing power. Stars are priced in dollars behind the scenes. 500 Stars is an easy tip in one market and a serious purchase in another. If your audience is global, keep a low tier (25 or 50 Stars) alongside the main price.
• Offer a tip tier even if you sell products. Some users will not buy a product but will happily send 50 Stars after a helpful reply.
• Plan for the hold. With up to 21 days before Stars become available, the money is not same-week cash. Treat it like a monthly payout.

How to accept Stars with TeleMinute, without code

TeleMinute is a no-code Telegram bot builder: commands, keyword replies, buttons, lead forms, broadcasts, statistics, a daily report and RSS autoposting, on the web and in native iOS and Android apps, with the interface in 10 languages. Stars payments are built into the editor and are available on the Premium plan ($3.99 per week, $9.99 per month or $49.99 lifetime, with regional discounts applied automatically). Here is the whole setup.

1. Connect your bot. Create a TeleMinute account and paste the token from BotFather (our BotFather guide shows how), or start with a 15-minute demo bot from TeleMinute's pool and add your own token later. Payments need a bot you own, so add your token before going live.
2. Create the thing you are selling as a command. In the bot editor, add a command such as /checklist and put the deliverable in its reply: text, up to 4 images, and buttons that can open a URL, for example a download or a private invite link.
3. Switch on Paid content. On the same command, toggle Paid content. Set the Price (Stars), any whole number from 1 to 100,000. Write a Preview text, the teaser users see before paying; leave it empty and TeleMinute shows a default locked-content note. Choose Delivery: Automatic sends the command content right after payment and the buyer keeps access, so sending the command again returns the content without a second charge; Manual means you contact the buyer and deliver yourself, which suits consultations and custom work.
4. Add donations and a store in the Payments tab. Under Donations, enable the feature, keep or rename the donation command (/donate by default), enter up to three preset amounts such as 50, 100 and 250 Stars, decide whether to allow a custom amount, and write a thank-you message. Under Store, enable a store command (/store by default) that lists every paid command in one menu, so users can browse what you sell.
5. Save and test with your own account. Open your bot in Telegram, send the paid command, and check the preview and the Buy button. Pay once with your own Stars to see the invoice and the delivery exactly as a customer would. You can refund yourself afterwards.
6. Announce it. Mention the paid command in your /start message, add a button that runs it, and use a broadcast to tell existing users. Keyword replies can point people who type "price" or "buy" to the store command.
7. Track sales. The Sales page for each bot shows total earned, total refunded and the number of sales, plus a row per payment with buyer, item, amount, date and status. Manual-delivery purchases are flagged as "Delivery pending" until you handle them. Each row has Reply, which messages the buyer through your bot, and Refund, which returns the Stars to the buyer. The daily report can include Stars sales, so you get a summary in Telegram every morning.
8. Withdraw. Stars go straight to your bot's Telegram balance, not to TeleMinute; TeleMinute takes no cut of your sales. When Stars become available, use them for Telegram Ads or request a reward through Fragment, following the current Telegram terms.

Behind the scenes TeleMinute sends the invoice in XTR, answers the pre-checkout query, verifies the amount, records the payment so a duplicate notice cannot double-deliver, and remembers who has already unlocked what. You never touch any of it.

Frequently asked questions

How much is one Telegram Star worth?

It depends on which side of the payment you are on. Users buy Stars in packs, and as of September 2026 a Star costs roughly two US cents inside the iOS and Android apps, less when bought through Telegram on the web or on Fragment because there is no app store commission. On the bot owner side, Telegram's terms for bot developers set the reward at the equivalent of 0.013 USD per Star, or 0.02 USD of advertising credit if you spend the Stars on Telegram Ads. Prices vary by region and change over time, so check Telegram's current terms.

Can I sell physical products with Telegram Stars?

No. Telegram's terms reserve Stars for digital goods and services: content, access, downloads, consultations, memberships, in-bot perks. Physical goods and services delivered offline must be sold through a regular payment provider connected to the Telegram Bot API, or through a link to your own checkout. TeleMinute's paid commands, donations and store are Stars-only and therefore digital-only.

How do I withdraw the Stars my bot earns?

Stars paid to your bot land in the bot's own Stars balance on Telegram, not in TeleMinute. Telegram's developer terms say Stars may take up to 21 days after receipt to become available, after which you can either spend them on Telegram Ads or request a reward through Fragment, which pays out in Toncoin at the equivalent of 0.013 USD per Star. Fragment may be unavailable in some countries and there may be a minimum amount, so check Telegram's current terms before you plan on it.

Do I need to write code to accept Stars with TeleMinute?

No. In the TeleMinute editor you switch on Paid content on any command, type a price in Stars, optionally add a preview text and choose automatic or manual delivery. The Payments tab adds a donation command with preset amounts and a store command that lists every paid command. Invoices, pre-checkout confirmation, delivery, a Sales page with refunds and buyer replies are all handled for you. Paid features require a Premium plan.