Telegram is offering an in-house way to host giveaways

Telegram is now giving channels a way to host giveaways, allowing followers a chance to win a free Premium subscription to the messaging service.

Telegram is setting itself up as one of the first widescale apps to add an in-house giveaway service. Often, channels or accounts on social media services will host giveaways, but the process is likely always formed from a third-party service. On the recipient’s end, a giveaway is a giveaway, but the channel or account has to put in quite a bit of effort to organize one.

To make the process a lot easier, Telegram announced a way to organize giveaways that are easily available to channel owners. The new process is simple and will let channel owners offer prizes in the form of free Telegram Premium subscriptions, which are paid for by the channel that’s hosting the giveaway.

With the new giveaway feature, Telegram will automatically select the winners at random. Channels can specify rules for the giveaway, whether that means it’s open to all channel subscribers or only new ones. Once winners are chosen, they’ll get a code that can be turned in for a free Telegram Premium subscription. Those who are already Premium members can gift their winnings to other users. In the video above, the default subscription term is 12 months, which is a hefty prize if Telegram Premium is something you value.

This opens a way for channels to garner new subscribers or build a following. Telegram’s giveaway prizes aren’t limited to subscriptions and can also be a foundation for offering real monetary rewards to users for your channel. For every subscription given away, a channel earns four boosts to trade in for custom colors and features for the channel.

Users will also get boosts for signing up for Telegram Premium. Gifting subscriptions also gives users a chance to level their accounts up. Telegram’s new giveaway tool will definitely benefit channels and the app itself, considering subscriptions that are given away are not free for the channel to pass on to followers.