Frequently Asked Questions About Telegram

Where is Telegram based?

The Telegram development team is based in Dubai.

Most of the developers behind Telegram originally come from St. Petersburg, a city famous for its highly skilled engineers. Due to local IT regulations, the team had to leave Russia and has since explored various locations, including Berlin, London, and Singapore. Currently, they are happy with Dubai, but remain ready to relocate if regulations change.

Will you have ads in my private chats and groups? Or sell my data? Or steal my beloved and enslave my children?

No. For more details, please refer to our official announcement.

How are you going to make money out of this?

We believe in providing fast, secure messaging that is 100% free.

Pavel Durov, our founder and CEO who has financed Telegram for most of its history, outlined a sustainability strategy in a dedicated post. Following that plan, Telegram has implemented user-first monetization models:

• In 2021, Telegram introduced Sponsored Messages—minimalist, privacy-conscious ads that may appear in certain public channels.
• In 2022, Telegram launched a Premium subscription that users can purchase to support the app and unlock exclusive features.

These revenue streams cover infrastructure costs and developer salaries, but profit is never Telegram's end goal. Learn more in the Telegram Premium FAQ.

What are your thoughts on internet privacy?

We believe the two most important aspects of internet privacy are:

• Protecting your private conversations from snooping by third parties like officials or employers.
• Protecting your personal data from third parties like marketers and advertisers.

Telegram aims to create a truly free messenger with a revolutionary privacy policy.