We priced one Telegram Star three ways. Fans buying inside the iOS or Android app pay about $0.020 per Star (500 Stars for $9.99, per Telestars). Fans buying on Fragment pay about $0.014 per Star, per GramBase. Creators withdraw at Telegram's own stars_usd_withdraw_rate_x1000 config value, which Telegram's API documentation defines and trackers currently observe at about $13 per 1,000 Stars, or $0.013 per Star.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Telegram Stars bought in the iOS or Android app carry an effective take rate of about 35%: the creator gets $0.013 per Star the fan paid $0.020 for.
- The same Stars bought on Fragment lose about 7.1%, so the mobile path costs creators roughly 4.9x as much margin.
- On a $20 fan payment, in-app Stars leave about $13, below Fanvault ($18.40), Passes ($17.70), Fanvue ($17.00), and Fanfix (~$16.00).
- Apple's Mini Apps Partner Program (15%) targets third-party mini-app purchases, and Stars are Telegram's first-party currency, so it likely does not apply.
- A 1,000-Star minimum, a 21-day hold, and TON-denominated payouts add friction on top of the price gap.
Our effective take rate is one minus what the creator receives divided by what the fan paid. On mobile that is 1 - ($0.013 / $0.020) = 35%. On Fragment it is 1 - ($0.013 / $0.014) = 7.1%. The per-Star prices come from vendor trackers rather than a Telegram rate card, so treat the decimals as directional and the gap as the finding.
How much of a mobile fan's dollar actually reaches the creator?
About 65 cents. Apple and Google charge a 30% standard commission on in-app digital purchases, per Apple Developer, and Telegram builds that cut into the mobile Star price. Take 30% off a $0.020 Star and Telegram is left with $0.014, the same price Fragment charges on the web. Telegram then pays the creator $0.013. So a $20 in-app payment from a fan lands as roughly $13 in the creator's withdrawable balance ($20 x 0.65).
Effective take rate on Telegram Stars bought in the iOS or Android app
Share of a fan's mobile payment that never reaches the creator
Lost per mobile fan dollar, versus about 7.1% when the same Stars are bought on Fragment.
Telegram's own launch post says channel owners receive 100% of the stars sent as reactions. That promise is denominated in Stars, not in fan dollars, and the dollars are where the 35% disappears. Durov's stated offset for the app-store cut applies only when Stars are reinvested in Telegram ads, not when they are cashed out, as The Block reported.
How does the mobile Stars rail compare with other creator platforms?
It finishes last. On a $20 fan payment, in-app Stars leave the creator about $13.00, while every platform-fee model in our comparison set keeps the creator at $16 or more. Fanvault's 8% fee leaves $18.40. Passes at 10% + $0.30 leaves $17.70 ($20 x 0.90 - $0.30), Fanvue at 15% leaves $17.00, and Fanfix at about 20% leaves about $16.00.
What a creator keeps from a $20 fan payment, by rail
Before payout and currency-conversion costs
The honest counterpoint: Stars bought on Fragment are competitive. At 7.1% the Fragment rail nets about $18.57 on $20 before cash-out, and a KYC'd TON-to-fiat off-ramp typically shaves another 1-3%, per Cryptonews, putting it roughly level with a 92% creator share. The problem is not Telegram's spread. It is that the default tap-to-buy path costs about 4.9x as much in lost margin as the web path (35% / 7.1%).
Friction adds to the bill on either rail. Withdrawals need a 1,000-Star minimum (about $13), each Star sits in a 21-day hold after it is received, and only earned Stars can be cashed out, per Telegram. Payouts arrive in TON at the spot price on the day of conversion, not in dollars.
Doesn't Apple's new Mini Apps Partner Program fix this?
Probably not for Stars. Apple's program, announced Nov 13, 2025, halves the commission to 15% for qualifying in-app purchases inside third-party mini apps, but the host must adopt Apple's Advanced Commerce and Declared Age Range APIs, and the purchase must belong to a mini app the host does not control, per TechCrunch and CNBC. Stars are Telegram's own first-party currency, not a third-party mini app's purchase. Apple's older 15% Small Business Program does not help either: Telegram is the developer of record for Stars, and its proceeds sit far above the $1M threshold. Even in the best case, if Telegram kept its $0.014 net per Star at a 15% store cut, the mobile price would fall to about $0.0165 ($0.014 / 0.85) and the creator would keep about 79 cents ($0.013 / $0.0165), still roughly 14 cents behind Fragment.
How confident are we in these numbers?
The structure is solid. Apple's 30% standard rate is published policy, and the creator withdrawal rate is a Telegram-defined config value. The retail Star prices are softer: vendor trackers quote in-app prices from about $13.50 to $19.99 per 1,000 Stars, so the exact mobile take rate moves with the tracker you pick, while the direction never flips. The figure we would most like to firm up is mobile's share of Star purchases, which vendor compilations put near 80% (GramBase), a low-confidence number we did not build into the headline math.
Telegram reaches 1 billion monthly users, which makes Stars a real audience channel. It just isn't a cheap one when fans pay the way the app nudges them to: one tap, on a phone, through the store.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the 35% figure come from?
It is one minus the creator's withdrawal rate divided by the fan's in-app price: 1 - ($0.013 / $0.020) = 35%. The $0.013 is Telegram's observed withdraw rate per Star and the $0.020 is the tracked iOS and Android price (500 Stars for $9.99).
Does Apple's 15% Mini Apps Partner Program lower the cost of Stars?
Probably not. The program covers qualifying purchases inside third-party mini apps whose host adopts specific Apple APIs, and Stars are Telegram's own currency. Even if it applied, a mobile fan dollar would net the creator about 79 cents, still behind the roughly 93 cents from Fragment.
Is Fragment a good deal for creators?
On price, yes. Fragment Stars lose about 7.1% before cash-out, and a 1-3% TON-to-fiat off-ramp puts them roughly level with a 92% creator share. The catch is that fans have to leave the app and buy with TON, while the default path is the mobile store.
Where is this data weakest?
Per-Star retail prices come from vendor trackers, not a Telegram rate card, and in-app quotes range from about $13.50 to $19.99 per 1,000 Stars. The share of Stars bought on mobile (near 80% in vendor compilations) is low confidence, so we kept it out of the headline math.