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Telegram Bot API

Free messaging to phones via a bot; the cleanest no-cost notification channel

The Telegram Bot API lets you send and receive messages, photos, files, and rich interactive content through a bot you create with @BotFather. It is free of charge with no usage tier, making it a popular zero-cost way to deliver notifications and build chat-driven automations.

Free tier

Free, no billing; you only need a bot token from @BotFather (paid broadcast is optional, opt-in)

Rate limits

Roughly 30 messages/second overall and ~1 message/second to a single chat; ~20 messages/minute to a single group. Excess returns 429 with retry_after. Opt-in paid broadcasts can raise the 30/s cap.

Auth

API key

Base URL

https://api.telegram.org

What you'd build with it

  • Push alerts and automation results to your phone for free
  • Build a chat interface where users talk to an AI agent through Telegram
  • Deliver reports, files, or images from a pipeline
  • Two-way bots: receive commands via webhook and respond

Key endpoints

  • POST/bot{token}/sendMessageSend a text message to a chat or channel
  • POST/bot{token}/sendPhotoSend a photo with optional caption
  • GET/bot{token}/getUpdatesLong-poll for incoming messages and events
  • POST/bot{token}/setWebhookRegister an HTTPS webhook to receive updates
Members

Members get the runnable recipe

Sign in free to copy the example request, see a sample response, and read the gotchas.

Tags

messagingnotificationschatbotkeyless