In Telegram for Android, the beta release reveals how the free version and Telegram Premium will handle Stories. The information comes from a source known as Durov’s Code. Free users will have a basic set of options for posting Stories, while Premium subscribers will access a broader toolkit that enhances how they share and interact with content. The distinction is clear and reflects Telegram’s strategy to offer core functionality to everyone while reserving advanced features for paying members. Code.
For users without a Premium subscription, the limit is modest. Free Telegram accounts can publish up to three Stories per day. In addition, there are weekly and monthly caps: seven Stories per week and thirty Stories per month. These limits define a predictable rhythm for personal updates and moment capture on the platform, ensuring that the feature remains manageable for general users. Code.
Premium subscribers, in contrast, will enjoy a significantly expanded storytelling capability. They can post as many as one hundred Stories each day, a scale that supports more frequent sharing or longer campaigns of updates. Moreover, for paid members the duration of each Story can be extended beyond the usual 24 hours. When available, users will be able to choose from six, twelve, twenty-four, or forty-eight hours for each Story’s visibility, subject to the author’s own settings and any restrictions they impose. If the author allows it, Premium users may also browse public Stories anonymously and save them to the device for later viewing. Code.
Additionally, Telegram Premium will lift character limits on Story descriptions. Free accounts will be capped at two hundred characters for Story captions, while Premium members can add up to two thousand and forty-eight characters. This expanded space enables more context, narrative detail, and branding within each Story. Hyperlinks remain unavailable to standard users, and rich text formatting stays locked behind a Premium subscription. Location tagging becomes an editor option for Premium users, offering a practical way to indicate where moments were captured. Code.
The rollout of Stories is anticipated to be public and usable by a broad audience no later than mid-August, with the exact date depending on internal testing and regional availability. This timeline aligns with Telegram’s practice of gradually widening access to new features after internal checks and gradual public testing. Code.
As a point of reference for the signal Telegram is sending, users may recall that a similar feature has recently been introduced by other messaging platforms as part of a broader push toward ephemeral, easily shareable content. In particular, WhatsApp has already rolled out comparable short-form storytelling capabilities on its platform, highlighting a growing trend toward quick, visual updates that disappear after a short period. Code.