How to run a Telegram giveaway

Updated 12 November 2026 · By the Vast team

The classic Telegram giveaway asks people to join a channel or group, then draws winners from those who did. You can run it with Telegram's built-in Giveaway feature, which awards Telegram Premium, Stars or a prize you announce, or with a giveaway page that can add actions outside Telegram. Either way, Telegram's terms say you alone are responsible for following the law.

Vast is our product, so weigh that. We read Telegram's Terms of Service, its September 2024 post on Star giveaways and its Bot API documentation on November 11, 2026, plus Vast's own code for what its Telegram actions check. telegram.org served us the EU edition of its Terms, so we also read the global page in an Internet Archive copy from November 1, 2026. The giveaway section is in both.

What do Telegram's terms say about giveaways?

Telegram's Terms of Service open with a short list. Among other things, you agree not to "send spam or scam users." The terms for Telegram Premium on the same page then have a section, 7.8, called "Giveaways in Channels." The parts that matter to a host:

Telegram's Terms also set 18 as the minimum age to sign up in EU countries, among others. Keep that in mind when you set your giveaway's minimum age.

This isn't legal advice; check with a lawyer for your country and prize.

Should you use Telegram's Giveaway feature or a giveaway page?

Telegram's Star giveaways post (September 6, 2024) says channel and group owners can host giveaways "to promote their communities and reward random members with prizes," and earn boosts in return. It calls them "prepaid and completely transparent." It says to start one from Channel Settings > Statistics > Boosts, or Group Info > Statistics > Boosts for a group. Menus move, so check in your app.

Telegram's Giveaway featureA giveaway page
PrizePremium or Stars, paid up front, plus any prize you announceAnything you deliver yourself
Who can enterMembers, by the criteria you set, including channels you listAnyone with the link
Who drawsTelegram, and the result is finalYou, or the tool you use
Actions off TelegramNot described in Telegram's postYes, such as Steam, Twitch or X
RulesTelegram's terms, plus anything you publishYour own official rules

Telegram's feature suits giving Premium or Stars to your own members. A page suits a prize you deliver yourself, such as a game key or merch, entries from people who aren't in your channel yet, and published official rules.

How do you make a join-to-enter giveaway fair?

How does Vast check Telegram joins?

Vast is our product, so weigh this section as a vendor's description.

Vast's Join Telegram Channel/Group action can check that each player joined before their entries count, but only when you set it up to:

  1. Create a bot with @BotFather and add it as an admin of your channel or group.
  2. In the action, choose Public or Private and paste the invite link. For a private chat, enter its title exactly as Telegram shows it.
  3. Under Tracking options, choose Check follow status, then use the bot you saved in Integrations or paste its token.

Players connect their own Telegram account to Vast with Log in with Telegram, open your invite, join, and press Submit. Vast then asks Telegram, through your bot, whether that account is in the chat. Telegram's Bot API documentation says this lookup "is only guaranteed to work for other users if the bot is an administrator in the chat," which is why your bot must be an admin. Our help article Verify Telegram joins with your own bot has every step, and Connect your Telegram is the player's side.

What isn't checked:

Keep the bot an admin until the giveaway ends, or players who joined may not get their entries. For a private chat, set up the action soon after adding the bot, or send a message in the chat first: Telegram only keeps the bot's recent activity for 24 hours. In the two-step launch flow, Join Telegram opens the advanced editor, where these options are.

Around that, winners are drawn at random from everyone who entered when the giveaway ends, and actions worth more entries improve a player's odds. You can't win your own giveaway, and nobody wins twice. Vast drafts official rules for you, starting with no purchase necessary and banning "multiple email addresses, identities, or devices." You can add Steam, Twitch, Discord or X actions to the same giveaway; Steam and Twitch are checked, while Discord and X aren't today.

Telegram actions work on the free plan, which runs one giveaway a month with one prize and one winner. As of November 11, 2026, Basic costs $15 a month or $108 a year and allows up to 30 winners. See our plans comparison. For the rules themselves, our rules template has fill-in wording.

Run a Telegram giveaway with joins checked by your own bot, and official rules drafted for you. Start a giveaway

FAQ

Are giveaways allowed on Telegram?

Yes. Telegram has its own Giveaway feature for channels and groups. Its terms say you're solely responsible for complying with the law, and that channels that mislead people into joining with giveaways later refunded can get a scam label.

Can Telegram pick the winner for me?

With its built-in Giveaway feature, yes. Telegram selects winners by the criteria you choose, and its terms say the results are final and can't be reversed.

Does Vast check that people joined my Telegram channel?

Only if you turn on Check follow status and add your own bot as an admin of the channel or group. With Tracking options set to None, the default, joins aren't checked.

Why does my bot need to be an admin?

Telegram's Bot API says a bot can only reliably look up other members of a chat when it's an administrator there. Vast uses your bot to ask whether each player is a member.

Sources

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