Telegram Stories officially launch today, no longer requires Premium subscription

Ben Schoon | Aug 14 2023 - 9:25 am PT

Telegram is one of our favorite messaging apps, and today it’s celebrating its 10th anniversary with a big update that officially launches Stories, no subscription required.

Back in June, Telegram announced that it would add support for Stories as the most-requested feature ever added to the app. In July, the rollout began, but it was only available for Premium subscribers.

Today, Telegram Stories are launching for everyone, with no subscription required to use the feature. Stories work much like in other apps, with pictures and videos added and viewable for a limited amount of time with reactions available for those who viewed the story. Stickers, locations, and even views from both cameras can be used in Stories, and all content can be shared with granular privacy settings such as controlling who can see a story post as well as whether or not screenshots are allowed. You can view a story either on someone’s profile page, or through a row at the top of the Telegram UI (hidden under a swipe down).

While Telegram Stories are available to both free and paid users as of today, the experience is much better for paid subscribers. Features for paid subscribers include:

Priority Order – Get more views as your stories are displayed first.
Stealth Mode – Hide the fact that you viewed someone’s story.
Permanent View History – Check who viewed your stories, even after they expire.
Custom Expiration Options – Keep your story up for 6, 12 or 48 hours.
Save Stories to Gallery – Save any unprotected story to your Gallery.
Better Captions – Unlock 10 times longer captions under your stories, as well as links and custom formatting.
More Stories – Share up to 100 memorable stories each day.

Telegram Stories start rolling out today on both Android and iOS. A new camera icon becomes the default with