TinyShops

Pay-per-viewinside the Telegram chat.

Telegram paid media, from your inbox: attach one photo or one video, set a Stars price, and the buyer unlocks it in the thread. The Stars are credited to your bot. Tiny Shops takes 0%.

Start selling in chatHow a send works
  • One photo or one video
  • 1–25000 Stars
  • Free until 100 contacts

Why sell the file in the chat

Pay-per-view here means one locked message. The buyer is already in the thread, pays with Telegram Stars, and the same bubble unlocks. There is no product page to leave for.

The buyer never leaves the chat

You send Telegram paid media into the conversation you already have. The buyer sees a locked photo or video, pays the Stars price inside Telegram, and the file opens in that thread. No checkout page, no account on your site.

Stars, from 1 to 25000

The price is a whole number of Telegram Stars from 1 to 25000, the range Telegram documents for sendPaidMedia (core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendpaidmedia, read 2026-09-24). A price without a file is rejected. Text stays free.

The Stars go to your bot

For a chat that is not a channel, Telegram credits the Stars to the bot’s balance. Tiny Shops does not hold the Stars and does not add a platform fee. Telegram’s own cut, if any, is Telegram’s, taken when someone buys Stars.

A catalog is a different shop

This flow is one photo or one video per send. A Mini App storefront — collections, a cart, cards, shipping — is the other Tiny Shops format. Pick the chat when the sale is the file in front of you.

Who chat pay-per-view is for

A fit check, not a slogan. The chat format sells a photo or a video for Stars. It does not replace a catalog, a card checkout, or a file host that emails a zip.

Use the chat format if

  • You already talk to buyers in Telegram and want to sell the next photo or video in that thread.
  • The price is Telegram Stars, and the buyer should pay without a card form.
  • One file per message is enough: a photo, or a video, not an album and not a document.
  • You can connect the bot in Telegram Business so replies go out on your business connection.

Use a Mini App, or something else, if

  • You need a catalog, a cart, promo codes, cashback, or shipping. That is the Mini App store, not this chat sale.
  • You need the buyer to pay by card for the file. Paid media in this flow is Stars only.
  • You need to deliver a PDF, a zip, or a license key. Telegram paid media is a photo, a video, or a live photo; Tiny Shops sends one photo or one video.
  • You need Tiny Shops to refund the Stars from a dashboard button. There is no refunds screen for these sends.

Send a locked photo in three steps

The sale happens in the inbox, after the bot is allowed to speak for your Telegram Business account.

  1. Open a shop and choose the chat format

    Create the shop in Tiny Shops and pick the chat format. That format is built for inbox sales, not for a public catalog. A store stays free until it reaches 100 contacts.

  2. Connect the bot in Telegram Business

    Paste the token from @BotFather, then in Telegram open Business → Chatbots and add the bot. Until that connection exists, the inbox asks you to connect it and will not send.

  3. Attach a file, set Stars, send

    Open the buyer’s thread, attach one photo or one video, enter a Stars price from 1 to 25000, and send. The buyer pays in the chat. When they do, the bubble unlocks. You can send only within 24 hours of their last message; after that, Telegram closes the window until they write again.

What the shop costs

Plans are priced by contacts, not by the Stars you earn. Products on a Mini App are unlimited, there is no Tiny Shops fee on a sale, and a shop is free until 100 contacts. Starter is $9.99 a month after that, Pro from $29, Scale from $79. The Stars themselves are credited to your bot.

Starter

Free
then $9.99/mo after 100 contacts
  • Includes 1,000 contacts
  • +$5 per extra 1,000
  • 1 store

Pro

Most popular
$29/mo
  • Includes 5,000 contacts
  • +$13 per extra 5,000
  • Up to 3 stores

Scale

$79/mo
  • Includes 25,000 contacts
  • +$8 per extra 5,000
  • Up to 10 stores

See the full pricing table

Telegram paid media FAQ

Telegram paid media is a photo or video a bot sends with sendPaidMedia. The buyer sees it locked, pays a Stars price inside Telegram, and the file unlocks in the same chat. Tiny Shops sends one photo or one video this way from the merchant inbox. The Bot API allows a live photo and up to ten items in one message; this product sends one file (core.telegram.org/bots/api#sendpaidmedia, read 2026-09-24).

The two guides under this page, plus the Mini App if a catalog is what you actually need.

How Telegram paid media worksWhat sendPaidMedia does, the 1–25000 Stars range, where the Stars are credited, and the limits Tiny Shops keeps.
Pay-per-view or a Mini AppWhen a locked photo in the chat is the right shop, and when you want a catalog, a cart, and card payments instead.
Telegram shop builderThe Mini App store: catalog, checkout, Stars or cards, loyalty, and campaigns. A different format from chat pay-per-view.

Send the next photo as paid media.

One file, a Stars price, unlocked in the chat. Free until 100 contacts. Tiny Shops takes nothing on the send.