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Telegram Stars are bought with Gram in two ways: right in the Telegram app, or on marketplaces such as Fragment.
Key Takeaways
- Paying for Stars with Gram costs less than paying by card: Telegram Stars come out more than 30% cheaper when you pay with Gram instead of a credit card (4 September 2026).
- Stars can be bought without a credit card: Gram arrives on your balance in the app from any address on the TON network.
What Are Telegram Stars
Telegram Stars are the in-app currency of Telegram, a messenger with an audience of more than a billion users that Pavel Durov launched in 2013. Stars sit on the account balance and are spent right inside the app: on Telegram gifts, paid subscriptions to private channels, paid messages to strangers, reactions under posts, and bot features.
You can pay for the Stars themselves with more than money: the app accepts Gram - the native coin of the TON blockchain, which was called Toncoin until June 2026.
Why Buy Telegram Stars With Gram
The usual payment methods in Telegram work for most users, but they are not always convenient and not available everywhere. Paying with Gram helps when:
- Gram Is Already In Your Wallet: The coin is spent directly, with no cashing out to money and back.
- You Would Rather Not Pay By Card: The payment goes through without a debit or credit card.
- A Card Does Not Work In Your Country: Paying with cryptocurrency does not depend on local restrictions on payments.
- Your Bank Blocks Payments For Digital Goods: A transaction on the TON network goes around banking rules.
- You Are Buying For Another User: Stars are issued to someone else’s username, and the recipient needs neither a wallet nor cryptocurrency.
- Privacy: The payment comes from a wallet where the keys stay with you, with no documents to upload.
The price in dollars depends on the Gram rate on the day of the purchase, so it is worth checking the amount on the confirmation screen before sending the transaction.
Where to Buy Telegram Stars for a Cheap Price
Telegram Stars come cheapest when you pay with Gram: one and the same pack costs around 36% less than paying by credit card.
A pack of 100 Stars costs 1.1134 Gram, around $1.53, while by card it comes to $2.39. A pack of 25,000 Stars costs 277.749 Gram, around $382, against $609 by card (4 September 2026).
How to Buy Telegram Stars With Gram (Toncoin): Step by Step
Buying Telegram Stars with Gram takes three steps right in the app.
Step 1. Open Gram in the Telegram App
Launch the Wallet mini app in Telegram and open the Gram coin card. Inside the card, tap the button for buying Stars to buy Telegram Stars with Gram.
The purchase of Telegram Stars with Gram starts from the Gram coin card in the app. Source: Telegram
Step 2. Top Up Your Gram Balance
You can top up the balance in three ways: buy Gram with a credit card right in the app, where the payment provider’s fee is added to the price, top up with USDT and USDC stablecoins, or send tokens from your own Gram Wallet - fast, secure, private, and the keys stay only with you.
How to top up a balance in Telegram with a Gram transfer from your own wallet. Source: Gem Wallet
Step 3. Choose the Number of Stars and Pay
Take a ready-made pack or enter your own number: the price of a pack is pegged to the dollar, so the amount in Gram is recalculated at the current rate of the coin. In one purchase you can get up to 150,000 Stars for Gram, while a card tops out at 35,000.
Then enter your own username or the username of the recipient, check the details carefully, and confirm the purchase. If the pack costs more than your balance, the app highlights the amount in red and will not let you move on to payment until you top up Gram.
The number of Stars, the recipient, and the amount in Gram are all visible before the purchase is confirmed. Source: Telegram
How to Buy Telegram Stars on Fragment With Gram
Fragment, the official platform of the TON ecosystem, also sells Stars for Gram and offers a wider range than the messenger: from 50 Stars to 10 million in one purchase.
- Prepare a Wallet: You will need a wallet that supports the TON network and holds Gram.
- Open Fragment: Go to the official site of the platform.
- Connect Your Wallet: Tap Connect TON in the top right corner.
- Open the Stars Tab: This is the section of the platform where Telegram Stars are sold.
- Enter the Number of Stars: The platform shows the cost in Gram at the current rate right away.
- Confirm the Payment: The transaction is confirmed in the connected wallet.
You can also pay for Telegram Stars on Fragment with more than Gram: the platform accepts USDT on Ethereum, TON, and Polygon, and USDC on Ethereum, Base, and Polygon.
The main downside of this route is identity verification (KYC): Fragment asks you to confirm who you are by uploading documents, while a purchase inside the messenger goes through without it.
What to Spend Telegram Stars On
Stars on the balance go on paid subscriptions, messages, and reactions, but the most interesting thing to spend them on is Telegram gifts. How to upgrade them, move them to the TON blockchain, and keep them safely in your own NFT wallet is covered separately: Telegram Gifts: A Beginner’s Guide to NFTs on TON →
