Affiliate Programs
Developers are able to open affiliate programs for their mini app – allowing content creators, other mini app developers and any Telegram user to promote it and earn commissions on purchases made by people they referred.
Joining Affiliate Programs
Telegram users are able to browse a list of active affiliate programs from their Star balance in Settings > My Stars. There they can sort programs by their start date, total revenue or potential profit and join any program they wish. There are no limits on the number of programs a user can join.
Joining a program generates a unique link for you to use. When creating the link, you choose a Star balance to connect to your link – the balance of your personal account, or alternatively, the balance of a channel you own or mini app you develop.
This determines where the Stars from your commissions will be sent and how they can be spent. Make sure to consider carefully before choosing, as Stars can't be transferred between balances. For example, Stars sent to your personal balance can be used to purchase products or subscriptions in mini apps – but they can't be used to create giveaways in your channel or increase limits for your mini app.
You can create additional links for the same program to earn Stars on multiple balances – such as for your channel or mini app, in addition to your personal account.
Sharing Your Referral Link
Once you have a referral link, you can share it anywhere – both inside and outside of Telegram. When another user starts a mini app for the first time via your referral link, all purchases they make there with Telegram Stars will generate a commission for you.
Content creators and mini app developers can use their platforms to promote their link by including it in channel posts or mini app interfaces. You can also post your link on social media sites, add it to your story, share it in groups of friends or even convert it into a scannable QR code.
Make sure to share your link responsibly – sending your referral link to strangers or posting it in public groups could lead to temporary limitations on your account.
Receiving Commissions
Any Telegram users who start the mini app for the first time after following a referral link will be considered a successful referral – and any purchases they make with Telegram Stars will earn commissions for the respective affiliate.
You will be able to receive commissions for the length of the commission period set by the program creator. For example, if a user you referred launches the relevant mini app on January 1 under a commission period of 30 days, you will receive commissions from the purchases of that user until January 31.
Stars from commissions go directly to the affiliate's Star balance – which can then be used to purchase digital products and subscriptions, unlock paid content in channels, send gifts to contacts and much more.
Using Telegram Stars
Telegram Stars can be used throughout the Telegram app – with plenty of uses for mini app developers, channel owners and regular users. To help you determine which Star balance to use when generating a referral link, below is a list of all the ways Stars can be spent.
From Your Balance
- Purchase Digital Products
- Donate to Channels
- Subscribe to Channels and Mini Apps
- Unlock Paid Content in Channels and Mini Apps
- Send Gifts to Contacts
From a Channel Balance
From a Mini App Balance
Creating Affiliate Programs
Developers can start an affiliate program from the profile page of their mini app. When creating the program, the developer sets a commission rate and commission period for the campaign. The rate dictates what percentage an affiliate will receive from qualifying purchases. The period determines for how long an affiliate will receive commissions from qualifying purchases.
Once a program has been created, its commission rate and period can only be increased from their initial values. If you wish to decrease these values, you will have to terminate the program and create a new one. Only the Telegram account that owns the mini app is able to create, modify or terminate its affiliate program.
Affiliate programs are intended for mini apps that offer digital products for Telegram Stars. Physical products sold via third-party payment providers do not give commissions for affiliates – see the Terms of Service for more details.
FAQ:
Q: Can I change which Star balance is connected to my referral link?
No – after creating your referral link, it is not possible to change which balance receives the commissions from people you refer via that link. To do so, you will need to get a new link and select your preferred balance for it.
You can do so at any time via Settings > My Stars > Earn Stars > My Programs – tap a program to show your link, then tap the profile under 'Commissions will be sent to' to select the balance you want the new link to use. Note that doing so will issue a new link with a different URL.
Your previous link will still work – and you can quickly access it by switching back to that profile under 'Commissions will be sent to'. As such, it's possible to utilize multiple referral links for one program – allowing any of your bots and channels to receive Stars, in addition to your personal account.
Q: How do I stop my mini app's affiliate program?
Once created, affiliate programs remain active until manually terminated by the program creator via the Mini App Profile > Edit > Affiliate Program > End Affiliate Program. Around 24 hours after manual termination, all active referral links tied to the program will be revoked.
However, affiliates will retain all commissions they earned before the program was terminated. Additionally, future purchases by users who were referred by affiliates that joined while the program was active will continue generating commissions for those affiliates until their originally specified commission period has elapsed.
For example, if an affiliate program had a commission period of 30 days, and a user you referred launched the relevant mini app on January 1, you would receive commissions from their purchases until January 31. If another user joined on January 14, you will receive commissions until February 13. If the creator terminates the program on January 15, no new affiliates will be able to join, but the existing affiliates who joined before termination will continue to receive commissions until the end of the respective commission periods.
Q: Can I leave an affiliate program?
Yes – if you wish to no longer participate as an affiliate, you can leave a program via Settings > My Stars > Earn Stars. Simply press and hold the program in your list and tap 'Leave' – this will revoke your current link. If you change your mind later, you can always rejoin the program if it's still active.