Telegram founder Pavel Durov has confirmed that a paid subscription service called Telegram Premium will be launched by the company later this month.
The idea is that a paid subscription will give users early access to new features, allow them to upload larger files and give them exclusive stickers and reactions.
Last month, a preview of Telegram Premium was spotted in a beta build, in which a range of exclusive reactions, emojis and stickers were discovered.
In a post on Telegram, Durov wrote that the company has been giving its users "more features and resources than any other messaging app" and that to this day its "limits on chats, media and file uploads are unrivaled."
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He went on to say that many users have been asking the company to raise those limits even further, prompting them to look "into ways to let you go beyond what is already crazy. The problem here is that if we were to remove all limits for everyone, our server and traffic costs would have become unmanageable."
Durov said the company realised that the only way to give users more is by keeping existing features free but keeping extra features as a paid option, for those who need them.
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The company will introduce Telegram Premium later this month, and Durov describes it as a "subscription plan that allows anyone to acquire additional features, speed and resources. It will also allow users to support Telegram and join the club that receives new features first."
Durov said that he believes Telegram "should be funded primarily by its users, not advertisers. This way our users will always remain our main priority."
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