# Telegram, free: Telegram channel API

> The Telegram Bot Platform hosts more than 10 million bots and is free for both users and developers. [...] Developers communicate with this server via an easy HTTPS-interface with a simplified version of the Telegram API – known as the Bot API.

Telegram's Telegram channel API on its Free plan. It costs $0.00 per 1,000 channels. It returns 2 of the 5 key fields we check: Bio, Photo.
We haven't run Telegram through our Telegram channel API benchmark yet.
Half of the 98 plans we rank by price cost $1.469 per 1,000 channels or less. This plan has the lowest price per 1,000 channels of the 98 plans.

- This page: https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/telegram/free
- Get it: https://core.telegram.org/bots?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing
- Request: `GET https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/getChat`
- API key: with the plan, on https://core.telegram.org/bots?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing
- Its API docs: https://core.telegram.org/bots/api?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing#getchat
- Sold by: Telegram (https://telegram.org?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing)
- Checked: 2026-11-02

## In the answer

- Completeness: 40%
- Bio: ✓
- Photo: ✓

## Price

- $ per 1,000 channels: $0.00
- Per: call
- Billing: free

## Charges

- Also pays for: nothing else

## Not found

- $ per 1,000: $0.00

## In their words

- Their pitch: The Telegram Bot Platform hosts more than 10 million bots and is free for both users and developers. [...] Developers communicate with this server via an easy HTTPS-interface with a simplified version of the Telegram API – known as the Bot API.

## Data

- Freshness: live
- Keep data: 4.2. Data Storage and Retention of its Bot Developer Terms: "Without limiting Sections 4 and 9, and except as expressly required by applicable law, Telegram imposes certain obligations regarding the degree to which you may continue to retain user data over time. [...] Namely, insofar as you are allowed to do so under applicable law, you must, without undue delay: (a) Delete user data upon their (or our, as the case may be) request that you do so, (b) Delete user data when retention thereof becomes unnecessary to operate your TPA or to fulfill any other obligation as the case may be and as expressly agreed between you and your users, (c) Delete all user data obtained through or in connection with Bot Platform upon the cessation of your TPA's operations therein, except for data that users have expressly agreed can be retained, which may be kept until such agreement remains in effect, (d) Delete all user data obtained through or in connection with Bot Platform in response to a lawful request from an authorized legal entity, "
- Use data: 4.3. Data Scraping of its Bot Developer Terms: "You agree not to use your TPA to collect, store, aggregate or process data beyond what is essential for the operation of your services. Always prohibited uses include any form of data collection aimed at creating large datasets, machine learning models and AI products, such as scraping public group or channel contents."

## Plan

- Pay: $0

## Rate limit

- Batch: 1

## Speed

- Answer: in the call

## The call

- You send: chat_id
- Method: GET
- Path: /bot<token>/getChat

## About the plan

- Plan: Free
- Who can get it: anyone who registers a bot with @BotFather

## The 26 fields the plan's answer can hold

Telegram ID, type, name, username, active usernames, profile picture, bio, invite link, pinned message, linked chat ID, accent color ID, max reaction count, available reactions, background custom emoji ID, profile accent color ID, profile background custom emoji ID, emoji status custom emoji ID, emoji status expiration date, accepted gift types, can send paid media, message auto-delete time, has protected content, paid message star count, unique gift colors, community, success

## Telegram's plans (1)

- [Telegram, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/telegram/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 40% complete, live

## Telegram's calls (1)

- `GET /bot<token>/getChat`: [Telegram, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/telegram/free/llms.txt)

## Telegram's APIs (1)

- [Telegram: Telegram channel API pricing, 1 plan](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/telegram/free/llms.txt)

## Telegram: Telegram channel API alternatives

- [Anysite, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/anysite/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 100% complete, live
- [FetchGoblin, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/fetchgoblin/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 100% complete, live
- [DataXAPI, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/dataxapi/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 80% complete, live
- [Parse, free](https://datacircle.dev/telegram-channel-apis/parse/free/llms.txt): $0.00 per 1,000, 40% complete, live

## Sources

From each provider's own pricing page and docs, and from what providers tell us. We read this row from these pages on 2026-11-02.

- https://core.telegram.org/bots?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing
- https://core.telegram.org/bots/api?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing
- https://core.telegram.org/bots/faq?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing
- https://telegram.org/tos/bot-developers?utm_source=datacircle.dev&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=telegram-channel-api-pricing