How to Get Your Telegram Channel on Google (No Submit Button)
29/10/2026How to Add Clickable Links (Hyperlinks) on Telegram
29/10/2026
What is a Telegram bot?
A Telegram bot is a special Telegram account run by a program instead of a person. You chat with it like a contact, tap its buttons or open its mini app, and code on the developer’s own server reads what you send and answers through Telegram’s Bot API. Bots need no phone number, show the word bot instead of “last seen”, and cannot message you until you start them.
People show “online” or “last seen”. A bot shows the word bot under its name. In the Android and Desktop apps that word becomes App, AI, Agent or Game when the bot’s username ends in one of those.
Illustration of an example bot. Tap the numbered pins.
How does a Telegram bot work?
A bot lives in two places at once. Its account lives in Telegram, but its brain is a program on a server the developer controls. Every message you send it makes this trip.
- You send /startTapping Start sends the /start command, the same as typing it.
- Telegram holds it as an “update”The message waits on Telegram’s servers, tagged for that bot.
- The server asks for itWith polling, the developer’s program keeps asking Telegram “anything new?” with the getUpdates method.
- The code answersThe program decides what to say and calls a method such as sendMessage. Telegram delivers the reply to your chat.
Why this matters to you. If the developer’s server is down, the bot simply stops answering, even though Telegram works. And whatever you send a bot is read by the developer’s program, not only by Telegram. Telegram’s own FAQ says bots should be treated like strangers.
Who makes bots? Anyone. Developers register a bot with Telegram’s official @BotFather and get a secret token that controls it. Our guide to creating your own Telegram bot covers that part.
- 1Open it from a link you trust, or search its exact @username.
- 2Check the profile: the status word, the username and, if it claims to be official, the checkmark.
- 3Read “What can this bot do?”, then tap Start.
- 4Use the Menu button, the buttons it sends, or type /help.
- 5Done with it? Stop or block it (see Plate 8).
What can a Telegram bot see about you?
Less than most people fear, more than some expect. Pick a situation and look at your own profile through the bot’s binoculars.
- Name, photo, username
- App language, Premium or not
- Messages you send it
- Your phone number
- Your location
- Last seen and online status
- Your contacts and other chats
- Other people’s group messages
When you chat with a bot it receives your public profile (name, username, photo), your app language and whether you have Premium, plus every message you send it. It never gets your phone number, your last seen time, your contacts or your other chats.
Source: Telegram FAQ, “Are bots safe?”
A check almost nobody knows: open a group’s member list and look under the bot’s name. Every Telegram app prints either has no access to messages (privacy mode on: it only gets commands, replies to it and messages that mention it) or has access to messages (it is an admin or its developer turned privacy mode off, so it receives everything except other bots’ posts). Adding bots and choosing their rights is covered in how to add a bot to a group or channel.
What kinds of Telegram bots are there?
Eight kinds cover almost every bot you will meet. Filter by where you meet them.
Chat and command bots
The classic kind. You talk in its chat, type commands that start with a slash and tap the buttons it sends. Most utility bots, @BotFather included, and most survey bots are this species.
Inline bots
Type its @username and a word in any chat; results pop up above the keyboard and the one you pick is sent with a small “via @bot” tag.
Mini apps
A full web app that opens inside Telegram from an Open or Menu button: shops, games, tools. It can ask for your location, camera or microphone, and only gets them if you tap Allow.
AI chatbots
Assistants that answer in free text. Since late 2025 they can keep separate threads and stream replies as they write; since May 2026 you can tag one in a chat it has not joined.
Bots that answer for you
Connected to your own account under Settings > Chat Automation (once a Telegram Business feature), they reply to people on your behalf, only in the chats you choose.
Group helpers
Admin bots that greet, filter spam, run captchas or, since June 2026, screen join requests as “AI guardians”.
Shop and Stars bots
Bots that send invoices. Digital goods must be paid in Telegram Stars.
Game bots
HTML5 games with shared high scores.
Which kind of bot is the one in front of you?
Field guides use a dichotomous key: two statements at a time, pick the one that fits. Four steps at most.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Pick the statement that matches what you see. The trail below records your path.
- Inline bot
- Guest bot
- Mini app
- A bot that answers for you
- Group helper
- Chat and command bot
Which official Telegram bots are worth knowing?
The old version of this page promised “free bots”. Here is an honest short list instead: bots that Telegram itself runs or names in its own documentation. All are free to use. Tap a patch.
The bot that creates and manages every other bot: new bots, tokens, names, descriptions, commands. You only need it if you build a bot.
Named in Telegram’s bot developer docs. Guide: create a Telegram bot.
Not on the list on purpose: Telegram’s 2016 inline examples such as @vid, @wiki and @bing are not all maintained today, and third-party “best free bots” lists change faster than any article. For anything else, follow the safety checks below before you tap Start.
How do you spot a fake or dangerous bot?
Scam bots copy the look of real ones. Move the loupe over this example chat, or tap the numbered marks, to reveal what a trained eye sees.
- Never type a login code, password or 2-Step Verification password into a bot.Telegram sends codes from its official “Telegram” service chat and the FAQ says never to share them.
- A bot cannot write to you first.If a “bot” opened the chat, someone started it from your account, or it is a user account pretending to be one.
- Do not trust the status word alone.Android and Desktop print app, ai, agent or game instead of bot when the username ends that way, and anyone can name a bot “Telegram Support”.
- Check the username letter by letter and look for the checkmark.Official bots such as @BotFather show Telegram’s verified checkmark. Companies may carry a separate third-party verification logo before the name, which shows the profile is checked by that organisation.
- Open bots from links you trust.Links on an official website or channel beat search results. Already caught out? See how to report Telegram scammers.
How do you stop, block or remove a Telegram bot?
Turn the dial from the gentlest option to the strongest. The panel shows what each one really does and the button name in each app.
Open the bot’s chat, tap its name, then Mute (or Notifications off).
- No more alerts from its messages
- It can still send you messages
- The developer keeps what you sent
Steps to stop a bot completely. 1. Open the bot’s chat. 2. Tap its name to open the profile. 3. Choose Stop Bot (iPhone), Stop and block bot (Desktop) or, on Android, the three-dot menu and Delete and Block. 4. Optional: delete the chat; on Android the delete dialog has a Block bot box that is ticked by default. Changed your mind? The same place then shows Restart Bot.
Other homes a bot can have: a bot that answers for you is switched off under Settings > Chat Automation; a mini app pinned to your attachment menu has a Delete bot option in its own menu; to remove one from a group, see our guide to adding and removing bots. Blocked people and bots both live in your block list.
What is the difference between a bot and a userbot?
A userbot is an ordinary Telegram account, with a phone number, driven by a script through Telegram’s full client API instead of a person’s thumbs. Tap any trait.
Tap a trait to read why it matters.
A bot can welcome people. It cannot bring them.
Greeting bots, captchas and AI guardians keep a community tidy, but someone still has to find it first. If your channel or group is new and looks empty, a starting base of members and views helps the first visitors take it seriously. Keep posting good content; that is what keeps them.
- Greet, filter spam, screen joins
- Run polls, quizzes and forms
- Cannot invite strangers or message them first
- Cannot make a channel appear in search
Questions people ask about Telegram bots
What is a Telegram bot in simple words?
It is a Telegram account controlled by a computer program instead of a person. You send it messages or tap its buttons, the developer’s program receives them through Telegram’s Bot API and sends back an answer, a file, a game or a mini app.
Are Telegram bots safe to use?
Most are, but Telegram does not check every bot. A bot only gets your public name, username, photo, app language and the messages you send it. Treat it like a stranger: never send login codes, passwords or card details, and open bots from links you trust.
Can a Telegram bot see my phone number?
No, not unless you give it. A bot can show a button that asks for your number, and Telegram first warns you: “The bot will know your phone number.” If you never tap Share, it never gets it.
Can a bot read all messages in my group?
Only if it is an admin or its developer turned privacy mode off. Look at the member list: “has access to messages” means it reads everything except other bots’ posts; “has no access to messages” means it only receives commands, replies to it and messages that mention it.
Are Telegram bots free?
Using and making bots is free; Telegram charges no fee for the platform. Some bots sell digital goods or subscriptions, which must be paid in Telegram Stars, and a few sell physical goods through outside payment providers.
Can a bot send me a message first?
No. A bot can only write to you after you start it, message it or add it to a group. If a “bot” wrote first, treat the chat as suspicious.
How do I know if a bot is official?
Check the exact username letter by letter and look for Telegram’s verified checkmark next to the name. Official bots are linked from telegram.org or the company’s own website. A third-party verification logo before the name means an outside organisation has verified that profile.
Is a mini app the same as a bot?
A mini app is a web app that belongs to a bot. You open it from the bot’s Open or Menu button, or from a link, and it runs full screen inside Telegram. The bot account is still there behind it, with its own chat and profile.
Where to go next
- Add a bot to a group or channelSteps, admin rights and privacy mode.
- Create your own bot@BotFather, token, first code.
- Run a survey with a botWhen one poll is not enough.
- Report scammersFake bots and impersonators.
- Check limits with @SpamBotIf your account is restricted.
Trail end: all Telegram guides, by topic
How we checked this guide. On 27 October 2026 we read Telegram’s developer pages on bots, bot features, the bot FAQ, the Bot API changelog (up to Bot API 10.3), third-party verification and API rules; the Telegram FAQ and Standard Bot Privacy Policy; Telegram’s announcements of guest bots and Chat Automation, AI guardians, threads for bots, Telegram Business and third-party verification; and the bot status and dialog code of Telegram for Android, Telegram for iOS and Telegram Desktop. Button names can differ slightly between app versions. Written by the AddTelegramMember team, a Telegram growth service since 2019.