The Telegram Gold Rush: Why Creators Are Abandoning Substack for Telegram’s New Monetization Era

I remember sitting in a coffee shop back in 2022, listening to a group of writers talk about the "newsletter boom." Back then, Substack felt like the promised land. It was clean, it was simple, and for a hot minute, it felt like the only place where you could actually get paid for your thoughts. But creators are fickle beasts, and the platform winds have shifted. Lately, I’ve been hearing a different refrain in the backrooms of the creator economy. The buzzword isn’t email open rates or RSS feeds anymore. It’s Telegram.

It feels a bit wild, doesn’t it? A messaging app, the place where you coordinate dinner plans or vent to friends about your day, is suddenly the hottest real estate for writers, analysts, and influencers who used to call Substack home. But when you look at the economics and the sheer, raw speed of how information moves today, the migration makes a strange, brutal sense. Substack is a slow-motion burn. Telegram? That’s a wildfire.

The Inbox Fatigue Is Real

Let’s be honest with ourselves. How many unread newsletters are sitting in your primary inbox right now? Probably dozens. Substack’s business model relies on the email inbox a space that has become a digital warzone of promotional clutter, automated receipts, and generic marketing fluff. Getting a reader to click your link is a battle against every other distraction vying for their attention.

Telegram changes the psychology of the read. It’s a notification-first environment. When I get a ping from a channel I’ve subscribed to, it feels immediate. It feels like an SMS from a friend rather than a marketing blast from a corporate entity. The barrier to entry is lower, and the intimacy is higher. That’s a powerful cocktail for someone trying to build a sustainable career on the internet.

The Shift from 'Push' to 'Presence'

Substack was built on the 'push' model you publish, you pray for an open, and you hope the algorithm doesn't bury you in the spam folder. Telegram relies on 'presence.' You aren’t just sending an email; you’re existing in a stream. Your readers aren't sorting through junk to find your wisdom. They are waiting for you to pop up on their home screen. For the creator who is tired of the 'subscriber acquisition cost' math, this is a breath of fresh air.

Monetization Without the Middleman Tax

One of the most annoying parts of the newsletter era was the fee structure. Substack takes a chunk, the payment processor takes a chunk, and by the time you actually see your revenue, it feels like you’ve been whittled down by a thousand cuts. Telegram, with its integrated bot systems and the rise of TON (The Open Network), is stripping away those friction points.

I’ve talked to creators who have migrated their paid subscriber base entirely to private Telegram channels. The setup is simple: use a bot to manage subscriptions, verify payments, and grant entry to a gated channel. No platform fee, no proprietary algorithm deciding if your paying members actually see your post, and total control over the UX. It’s wild-west territory, sure. But for people tired of being platform-dependent, it’s freedom.

Direct-to-Audience Ownership

There is a recurring nightmare for every creator: waking up to find your account banned, your reach throttled, or your payment system deactivated because of some obscure policy change. Moving to Telegram gives you a sense of agency that feels almost rebellious. You own the relationship. You own the stream. If you want to drop a voice note, a poll, or a video file, you just do it. There’s no formatting interface to fight with.

The Cult of Personality Over the Cult of Content

Substack incentivized long-form, polished, essay-style content. That’s great for some, but it’s exhausting to maintain. Telegram is different. It rewards the raw, the unfiltered, and the immediate. It’s perfect for the creator who thrives on building a community around their personality rather than their ability to craft a perfectly structured 2,000-word piece every Tuesday morning.

I’ve watched several finance analysts move to Telegram. On Substack, they were writing long, dry market summaries. On Telegram, they are firing off real-time thoughts, screenshots of charts, and audio updates throughout the day. Their audience feels closer to them. They aren't just readers anymore; they’re part of a live, evolving conversation. It’s the difference between reading a book and sitting at the dinner table with someone who really knows their stuff.

Building 'Sticky' Communities

Telegram’s ability to host comment sections and reaction threads within the channel itself makes for a much stickier experience. On Substack, comments often felt like an afterthought. On Telegram, they are the main event. It turns a one-way lecture into a two-way dialogue, which is the holy grail for any creator trying to foster a loyal tribe.

The Risks and the Real Talk

Let’s not get too carried away. Telegram isn't a panacea. It has its own set of headaches. The noise level can be overwhelming if you aren't careful about how you manage your notifications. If you’re a creator, you also have to deal with the fact that Telegram can feel a bit like the Wild West. Moderation is sparse, which is a double-edged sword, and the platform doesn't exactly have a 'discoverability' engine like Substack’s network effects.

You have to bring your own audience. If you don't have a social media presence or a way to funnel people into your Telegram channel, you’re going to be talking to a room with no chairs. It’s a platform for growth once you’ve already started, but it’s rarely where growth begins for a total unknown.

The Algorithmic Blackout

Unlike traditional social media platforms, Telegram doesn't have an algorithm that pushes your content to strangers. You are entirely responsible for your own marketing. That’s a scary prospect for some. But for others, it’s a relief. You aren't guessing what the machine wants you to write today. You’re writing what your people actually signed up to hear.

Why Now? The Perfect Storm

We’re living through a moment of extreme digital cynicism. People are tired of being sold to. They’re tired of the carefully curated, overly polished influencer aesthetic. They want speed, they want authenticity, and they want direct connection. Telegram fits this cultural moment like a glove.

The infrastructure is finally there, too. Payment bots have become incredibly sophisticated, and the integration of crypto-wallets has made it easier than ever to accept global payments without worrying about regional banking restrictions. It’s a global platform, which makes it perfect for creators who want to build a truly borderless business.

The Future of Independent Media

I don’t think Substack is going to disappear overnight. It has a place. But the center of gravity is moving. The creators who win in the next five years will be the ones who figure out how to balance long-form depth with short-form, real-time engagement. They’ll use platforms like Substack as their 'library' the place where the legacy work lives and Telegram as their 'living room,' where the actual relationship happens.

If you’re a creator feeling stuck in the newsletter grind, maybe it’s time to look at where your audience is actually hanging out. They aren’t just reading your emails. They’re on their phones, they’re in the chats, and they’re looking for someone to lead the conversation. You might as well be the one holding the mic.

Building a brand today is about speed and connection. If your platform isn't giving you that, it’s time to re-evaluate. The grass is greener where you water it, but sometimes, the soil just isn't right anymore. Time to move to better ground.