Name: Telegram
Rating: 3.8 (118 reviews)

2160 likes

Maximize your messaging experience with efficient communication, speedy delivery, and optional end-to-end encrypted Secret Chats. Engage in unlimited channels and groups up to 200,000 members. Enhance chat management and media sharing with Telegram Premium and its exclusive benefits. All core features remain free.

Cost / License

Freemium (Subscription)
Proprietary

Application typeApplication types

Origin

United Arab Emirates

Platforms

Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
HUAWEI AppGallery
iPad
Apple Watch
Android Auto
Linux Mobile
Android Wear
PortableApps.com
FreeBSD
Apple Car Play

+17

Telegram alternatives

2160likes

335alternatives

45articles

Properties

Lightweight
Free Speech
Support for Themes

Features

Encrypted Chat
Stickers
Chat Bot
Large File Transfer
End-to-End Encryption
Video Calling
Multi Device Support
Channels
Dark Mode
Bots
Share Videos
Secret chats
Cloud based
Integrated File Sharing
Folders
Animated stickers
Private Chat
Persistent History
Custom themes
Voice messages
Multiple languages
Video Conferencing
Public groups chat
VoiP Calls
Encrypted calls
Search by tags
Two-factor Authentication
Multiple Account support
Self Destructing Messages
Portable
IFTTT Integration
Cloud Sync
Instant view
Chat organizer
Chat history
Auto-delete
Messages in cloud
Built-in Photo editor
Voice Chat
Based on phone number
Customizable Themes
Custom Backgrounds
Sync Contacts
Hide chat
Progressive Web App
Contact Folders
Cross-Platform
Cloud platform
Android Auto integration
Support for GIF
Text messaging
Encrypted VoIP calls
Private messaging
Push to talk
Anonymous Secure Filesharing
GPS Location Tracking

Comments and Reviews

Comment summary: Telegram receives both positive and negative feedback. Users praise it for its cross-platform support, security features like secret chats, and ease of use. Concerns arise over default encryption, closed-source server code, and potential privacy issues as data might be accessible to Russian authorities. While some users find it more reliable than other messaging apps, others criticize its open-source claims due to limited availability of source code and encryption on desktop platforms.

Top Positive Comment

nintendogo

★★★★★

Apr 21, 2016

Excellent messenger for those who always want to be in touch .

Top Negative Comment

Johannes Deml

★★★★★

May 25, 2015

While the client itself is open source, there are a lot of parts of telegram that aren't. It is not possible to look through the whole process of one client writing another. I think to make that problem more clear telegram should actually be put in the category Free and not open source.

ChaosDrop

CommentJan 8, 2016

Replying to @Johannes Deml

I'm questioning the "Open source" as well. Even the client isn't really "Open source" any more at least not the one they are using. The provide an open source code base on Github but you can tell by there releases and updates that they themselves are not using it in a very open manner.

Johannes Deml

CommentJan 8, 2016

Thanks for changing the label to Free, I think at least for now it fits way better than Open Source. Anyways we will see on their website they are claiming that eventually they want to make everything open source even though I doubt it.

Martin Ligabue

CommentJun 3, 2016

Replying to @Johannes Deml

they can't put their encription code open source, so exept this is opensource

Johannes Deml

CommentJun 3, 2016

Thanks for changing the tag to free, I think it has the correct labeling now.

Martin Ligabue

CommentJun 3, 2016

Replying to @Johannes Deml

ups, I didnt noticed it, Im new in this site and Im trying to understand it, so please be patient

tuva-hayabi

CommentJun 8, 2017

Replying to @Johannes Deml

From the Telegram FAQ:

Q: Why not open source everything? All code will be released eventually. We started with the most useful parts — a well-documented API that allows developers to build new Telegram apps, and open source clients that can be verified by security specialists.

Johannes Deml

CommentJul 26, 2017

Well, nice that they want to do it at some point, but as for now, the security-critical parts are not open source. As long as that is the case, the tag should be free not open source.

tuva-hayabi

CommentJul 26, 2017

Replying to @Johannes Deml

I totally agree to Johannski. All code will be released eventually is wishy-washy.

Loki RawatFounder & Developer at Photo Signature Resizer

★★★★★

Sep 25, 2026

Founder & Developer at Photo Signature Resizer

Fast, works smoothly across phone and desktop, and channels are great for following updates. Sending large files is much easier than on other messengers. Bots are a nice bonus.

Laslo Lodnar

★★★★★

Sep 13, 2026

No matter what anyone says, Telegram is the best messenger in the world. Hands down.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.

Arsen IbragimovFounder at Topliner

★★★★★

Sep 7, 2026

Founder at Topliner

The best messenger!

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.

jtn0626

★★★★★

Aug 25, 2026

Good alternative to WhatsApp in my opinion

anonymous94984834

★★★★★

Aug 5, 2026

personally love it. basically whatsapp alternative. if it were decentralized like matrix then i doubt i could find people because it would make things more complicated for ordinary people. where i live, this service is most popular following whatsapp. the main reason i use telegram is because it allows custom clients, that alone is enough.

people complains about privacy and transparency, but look at other services, are those as popular as this? people around me never even heard of matrix. i hope telegram stays the way it is and not complicate for ordinary

7 of 136 comments

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AppStores & Other Links

Social Networks

Install from the command line

winget install -e --id Telegram.TelegramDesktop
brew install --cask telegram
flatpak install flathub org.telegram.desktop

Be careful what you paste into a terminal. Check what a command installs before running it.

What is Telegram?

Telegram is a messaging app created by former VK creators with a focus on speed and security. It’s superfast, simple and free. It is like SMS, but more powerful.

You can send messages, photos and videos to people who are in your phone contacts (and have Telegram). You can also create groups for up to 200000 people or channels for unlimited subscribers.

Your chats are not encrypted by default, which enables other people to see what you are writing. You can enable a "Secret Chat" to enable end-to-end encryption.

Telegram offers a Premium plan too: by subscribing to Telegram Premium, users unlock doubled limits, 4 GB file uploads, faster downloads, exclusive stickers and reactions, improved chat management – and a whole lot more. At the same time, all existing features that users have come to expect and rely on for nearly a decade remain free. Moreover, non-premium users will be able to enjoy some of Premium's benefits: for example, download the extra-large documents and view stickers sent by premium users, as well as tap to increase counters on premium reactions that were already added to a message. There are different prices for the Premium subscription based on your country, also if you buy it via the @premiumbot you don't have to pay the app store fees.

Telegram's security model has received notable criticism by cryptography experts. They criticized the general security model of permanently storing all contacts, messages and media together with their decryption keys on its servers by default and by not enabling end-to-end encryption for messages by default.

Telegram's client-side code is open-source software, whereas its server-side code is closed-source and proprietary. The service also provides public APIs with which developers can access the same functionality as Telegram's official apps to build their own messaging applications.

Telegram also provides a bot API for programmers to create different kinds of Telegram bots. Bots are simply Telegram accounts operated by software – not people – and they'll often have AI features. They can do anything – teach, play, search, broadcast, remind, connect, integrate with other services, or even pass commands to the Internet of Things.

Telegram information

Developed by
Telegram FZ-LLC
Licensing
Proprietary and Freemium product.
Pricing
Subscription ranging between $4 and $6 per month + free version with limited functionality.
Rating
Average rating of 3.8 (118 ratings)
Alternatives
335 alternatives listed
News
45 news article related to Telegram
Badge
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Supported Languages
- English
- Arabic
- Belarusian
- Catalan; Valencian
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Korean
- Malay
- Persian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Uzbek