Telegram Channel Boosts: What They Are and How to Get Them

Telegram channel boosts are votes from Premium users that unlock extra features for a channel: stories, custom reactions, colors, a cover and other customization. The more boosts you have, the higher the channel's level and the more features become available. Let's look at how the system works, how many boosts you need and how to collect them honestly.

What Telegram channel boosts are

A boost is a "vote" for a channel that only a Telegram Premium user can give. Regular accounts cannot boost. Votes add up, and the channel moves to new levels: 1, 2, 3 and beyond.

A few important rules, accurate at the time of writing:

• Buying Premium for yourself gives the user several boosts (currently 4), which they can spread across channels or give to one.
• Gifting Premium to another person also gives boosts to the giver.
• A boost lasts as long as the subscription is active. Once Premium expires, the vote is removed from the channel automatically.
• A boost can be moved to another channel, but with a delay, so people rarely "hop" between channels.

Boosts are not only for channels but for groups too: in groups they also unlock extra customization and some conveniences for members.

What channel levels unlock

Each level adds something. The general logic is:

• Stories posted as the channel. This is the first reason most admins collect boosts. As the level grows, so does the number of stories you can publish per day.
• Custom reactions. A channel can add its own emoji reactions, and how many it can add is also tied to the level.
• Colors and customization. Name color, quote and link style, profile cover, channel background, emoji status.
• Extra features at higher levels. For example, custom wallpapers and other customization elements not available at the first levels.

Telegram changes the exact list of features for each level from time to time, and the maximum level is set on the server. So the most accurate source is the app itself: open the channel → "Manage Channel" → "Boosts" (or "Boost Statistics"). There you can see the current level, how many votes are missing for the next one and what it will unlock.

How many boosts you need

There is no single number for everyone. The number of votes needed to reach a level depends on the channel's size: a large channel needs more boosts than a small one. Because of this, a new channel with a few hundred subscribers can get stories with literally a few votes, while a channel with tens of thousands of subscribers will have to ask many more people for help.

Third-party services publish calculation formulas, but Telegram does not officially fix them, and they have already changed. So don't rely on tables from the internet: check the exact number in your channel's boosts section.

How to get boosts

1. Ask your subscribers

The simplest and most honest way. The boosts section has a link like t.me/boost/name, which you can pin in a post or in the channel description. A Premium user taps the link and gives a vote in two taps.

What improves the response:

• Explain why. "We're 3 boosts away from stories, where we'll post behind-the-scenes content" works better than just "boost us".
• Show progress. Telegram displays a level bar: update the post and thank those who have already voted.
• Don't remind people more than once or twice a month. Constant requests are annoying.

2. Premium giveaways

An admin can run a Telegram Premium giveaway through Telegram itself. The winners get a subscription, and the channel gets boosts for the whole term of that subscription. It is a direct way to get many votes at once, and a reason for activity in the channel as well. The giveaway mechanics are built into the boosts section, so you don't need third-party bots.

3. Cooperation with other channels

Some authors agree on mutual boosts: "we boost you, you boost us". This works if you have Premium and don't mind giving away your votes. But remember: a boost given to another channel cannot be used for your own at the same time.

4. Boosts for groups

If a discussion group is linked to the channel, it has its own boosts. Members who boost the group get certain privileges in it, so they are easier to motivate.

Premium audience and boosts: an important clarification

Admins sometimes think: "If the channel has more Premium subscribers, boosts will appear on their own." That's not true. A boost is a separate action: the user has to press the button and give the vote themselves. A Premium subscriber who simply reads the channel gives no boost.

What a Premium audience really gives is the channel's appearance. The share of Premium users is visible in the statistics, and their reactions with custom emoji stand out in posts. InstaHub offers Telegram Premium members with a refill guarantee for various periods. To be honest: this service increases the number of Premium subscribers but does not promise boosts; whether to boost or not is up to the account owner. If your goal is specifically the channel level, rely on asking your audience and on giveaways.

How to make good use of boosts

Collecting boosts is only half the job. What matters is that the unlocked features work for the channel:

• Stories. Use them for announcements of new posts, polls, behind-the-scenes. Stories appear in the top bar, so they bring back readers who haven't opened the channel in a while.
• Reactions. Add a few custom emoji related to your topic: people are more willing to tap something unusual.
• Customization. A color and a cover make the channel recognizable in forwarded messages.

So that posts and stories don't look empty at the start, authors often add Telegram views and reactions. Keep natural proportions: views should be in line with the number of subscribers, and reactions noticeably fewer than views. For more on the overall strategy, see the article how to grow a Telegram channel.

How to keep track of boosts

In the boosts section, an admin sees not only the current level but also the list of people who voted and the expiry of each boost. This is useful for two reasons. First, you can notice in advance that some votes will soon disappear along with expiring Premium subscriptions, and remind your audience in time. Second, you can thank those who supported the channel, for example by mentioning them in a post or a story. Such thanks motivates others to do the same.

Common mistakes

• Buying "boosts" from questionable sellers. Such votes are tied to other people's Premium subscriptions and disappear as soon as the subscription ends. You pay for a temporary effect with no guarantees.
• Demanding boosts in every post. The audience gets used to it and ignores it.
• Not using the unlocked features. You have the level but not a single story, and then asking for more boosts gets harder.
• Relying on other people's tables. Check the threshold in your own channel.