Adsun

How to monetize a Telegram Mini App without relying only on subscriptions

A hybrid revenue model for Telegram Mini Apps: rewarded and interstitial ads, task ads, Telegram Stars one-off purchases and optional subscriptions — with a formula to compare them.

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Balance scale with a locked subscription card outweighed by rewarded ads, coins, stars and gifts
Balance scale with a locked subscription card outweighed by rewarded ads, coins, stars and gifts

Content owner: Adsun Editorial & Ad Operations Team · Last verified:

Quick answer

To monetize a Telegram Mini App without relying exclusively on subscriptions, add ads for free users — rewarded, interstitial and task ads through a network such as Adsun — and offer Telegram Stars one-off purchases for boosts, items or ad removal. Keep the subscription as an option for power users. Compare models with ARPDAU (revenue ÷ daily active users) so ads and payments are measured on the same scale.

Key takeaways

  • Most users never subscribe; ads monetize the rest.
  • Rewarded ads pair naturally with in-app currencies.
  • Stars purchases and an ‘remove ads’ option complement ads.
  • Use ARPDAU to compare ads, Stars and subscriptions.

A hybrid revenue stack

  • Rewarded ads: opt-in value exchange for coins, lives or unlocks.
  • Interstitial ads: natural breaks with a cooldown.
  • Task ads: rewards for joining channels or trying apps.
  • Telegram Stars: one-off items, boosts, ad-free passes.
  • Subscription: kept for heavy users who want everything.

Compare with one metric

ARPDAU = (ad revenue + Stars revenue + subscription revenue) ÷ daily active users. Track it with retention: a model that raises ARPDAU but lowers day-7 retention may earn less over time.

Where Adsun fits

  • Publisher side: Reward, Interstitial and Task ad blocks for Telegram Mini Apps, plus bot placements via a server-side snippet.
  • Advertiser side: Network campaigns and Native Ads (media, inline ads, channel posts and bot messages).
  • Safety: server-to-server Reward URL; onReward fires after server verification. Debug mode is not billed.
  • Controls & reporting: time between ads and daily limits per block; platform, block and country reports and an SDK health panel.
  • Status: Adsun is an independent network, not Telegram’s official advertising platform. Commercial terms are shown in the account.

Metric definitions and formulas

CPM
Cost per mille: what an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions.CPM = (Ad spend ÷ Impressions) × 1,000
CPC
Cost per click: average price an advertiser pays for one click.CPC = Ad spend ÷ Clicks
CTR
Click-through rate: the share of impressions that produced a click.CTR = (Clicks ÷ Impressions) × 100%
eCPM
Effective CPM: what a publisher earns per 1,000 impressions, whatever the pricing model.eCPM = (Publisher earnings ÷ Impressions) × 1,000
Fill rate
The share of ad requests that returned an ad.Fill rate = (Filled ad requests ÷ Total ad requests) × 100%

More terms in the glossary and the advertising metrics guide.

Worked example

Hypothetical example — not real Adsun data

A Mini App sends 200,000 ad requests in a day. 170,000 return an ad (fill rate = 170,000 ÷ 200,000 = 85%). The publisher earns $255 for those impressions (eCPM = 255 ÷ 170,000 × 1,000 = $1.50). 2,550 users click (CTR = 2,550 ÷ 170,000 = 1.5%). Use the same formulas on your own dashboard numbers to compare networks fairly.

Adsun measurement methodology

Adsun counts an impression when an ad is rendered in a publisher block, a click when the user opens the ad destination, and a reward only after the server-to-server Reward URL confirms completion. Debug-mode traffic is excluded from billing and reports. Metrics are shown per platform, block and country in the partner and advertiser dashboards. Adsun does not publish aggregate network benchmarks in this guide; any number below marked “Hypothetical” is illustrative only. See the SDK documentation for integration details.

About Adsun

Adsun is a Telegram advertising network operated by Adsun. Products: Rewarded ads, Interstitial ads, Task ads, Native ads. Platforms: Telegram Mini Apps, Telegram bots, Telegram channels. Learn more about Adsun.

Frequently asked questions

Is ad revenue better than subscriptions for a Mini App?

They serve different users. Ads monetize the majority who never pay; subscriptions and Stars monetize the minority who do. Most apps combine them.

Can I offer ‘remove ads’ with Telegram Stars?

Yes, a Stars purchase can unlock an ad-free mode; follow Telegram’s payment rules for digital goods.

Sources

Update log

  • 2026-10-18: First published. Competitor features are described by category only; verify each network’s current documentation.
Telegram Stars vs adsCompare Telegram Stars payments with ad monetization for Mini Apps and bots: who pays, revenue predictability, user experience and how to combine both.Mini App monetizationHow to monetize a Telegram Mini App: rewarded, interstitial and task ads, placement planning, SDK setup, frequency limits and revenue measurement with Adsun.Rewarded adsUnderstand rewarded ads in Telegram Mini Apps: opt-in placements, Adsun Reward blocks, completion events, debug testing and integration safeguards.Task adsUse Adsun Task blocks in Telegram Mini Apps: the adsun-task element, reward events, time-away checks and cooldowns for task-based monetization.