TOP-5 trends in Telegram for 2026: which projects will “shoot” for investors, and which ones to avoid

If a year or two ago, when mentioning Telegram, it was still necessary to explain the difference between this service and a “simple messenger”, then at the beginning of 2026 this is no longer necessary. The user community around the world has already become accustomed to the fact that this is a platform where various interesting things happen and everyone can find something to their taste. Avivi closely monitors Telegram and has implemented more than 20 projects in 2025 alone. So we have compiled the TOP 5 trends for the current year that should interest potential investors. If you need:

• launch a Telegram store without a website;

• make a Mini App;

• automate sales through a bot;

• make any Telegram game;

• develop a crypto wallet, etc...

Telegram's main metrics

According to open data, we can say that Telegram is following its own plan and forecasts and is confidently gaining support around the world. Today, the service's audience exceeds 900 million active users. Even according to rough estimates (and it is impossible to establish more precisely anyway), this is a little more than 11% of the entire population of planet Earth. By the end of the year, the developers predict overcoming the 1 billion mark and have every chance of achieving this. This moves Telegram to the level of top platforms and discards the label of a “niche messenger”.

Geographically, Telegram is widespread in India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and the UAE; its popularity in USA and Canada is also undeniable. It will also be natural for the service to rapidly strengthen its position in countries where, for various reasons, WhatsApp has not taken root — simply as a fact. The average user spends 25-35 minutes on Telegram and opens the application 10-20 times a day. The open rate (percentage of open messages) here is 60-80%, which leaves, say, emails with their 15-25% no chance.

Telegram channels — the service's signature feature — have 10+ million active users, but the statistics here vary greatly: some manage to gather audiences in the millions, others — nothing. The main criteria here are the topics and direction of the channels, and the involvement of their authors.

Well, that's enough for a general chuck-up of information about Telegram and its role in global communication. But it's worth knowing that most Telegram projects in 2026 are garbage that don't make money. Below - where it's really worth investing.

5️⃣th stage: web3, crypto integrations

Don't be in a hurry to be disappointed. Yes, Telegram has not become the world center of gravity in crypto projects, but not because of its shortcomings. Over the past year, the platform has strengthened its own ecosystem and brought web3 to a qualitatively new level. However, it is still too early for the TON cryptocurrency to compete with crypto monsters like Bitcoin or Ethereum, so there was not as much capital attraction in this sector of development as we would like.

At the same time, Telegram has a unique set of solutions for web3 and provides users with a reliable basis for the implementation and development of projects. So if you want to connect your business with Toncoin, you have every chance of success. The main thing is that your audience thinks the same. In this case, the project will definitely “shoot”.

Over the past year, Aviv has been commissioned to develop crypto wallets, NFT projects, but most of all, play-to-earn based on TON. All of this works clearly and coherently, is extremely easy to use for users, and is profitable for their fiat wallets. Unfortunately, we cannot influence the global demand for TON, otherwise we would offer Telegram to everyone and this item would rise higher in our top.

See an example of a successful cryptobot on Telegram here: KRRX-bot .

It would take the Aviv`is team about 2.5-3 weeks to develop something like this.

4️⃣th stage: Games/gamification

In the era of PlayStation and VR, 2D mini-games may seem like nonsense. But that's until you start playing something yourself on Telegram. It's incredible, but it's a fact: orders for games come in very often, and their demand among users is constantly growing. The explanation is quite simple: Telegram gives something that "real" games cannot, namely accessibility and virality. It's much easier to open an application on a gadget and hack a couple of barrels than to launch a full-fledged game application. It's just as easy to dump the game to a friend (via the same Telegram) and brag about your achievements or play together in real time.

In addition to games themselves, Telegram is a great fit for implementing various game mechanics, both for entertainment and for business. It is relatively easy to implement a referral system here, so controlling player attraction and distributing rewards between them becomes much easier than anywhere else. And although the beginning of 2026 did not show an increase in the popularity of tap-to-earn games, the demand for customer loyalty programs based on game mechanics did not disappear.

So, Telegram games are a really promising direction, giving owners a great tool for activity and earnings. The main thing here is to choose the right idea and interest the audience with an unconventional plot or real benefit from the spent gaming time.

See an example of a successful game in Telegram here: Catizen-bot .

It would take the Avivi`s team about 3-4 months to develop something like this.

3️⃣rd stage: eCommerce directly in Telegram

The “golden mean” of Avivi’s top is occupied by e-commerce. The trend of transferring sales to messengers has been around for a long time, but it was in 2025 that a real boom was observed, which continues to this day. But if earlier online store owners sought to simply duplicate the store on the platform, now there are customers who work without a website at all (to be precise: a website is just a landing page that leads to Telegram, not a store).

E-commerce on the platform deserves a separate blog article, as it has a number of unique advantages. The most important of which is that you can create a fully automated sales funnel with all stages (product selection, payment, delivery), which works without the participation of a live manager. This is very convenient for buyers and extremely profitable for the seller, as it saves time and costs. And most importantly, everything you need for both is in one place - in Telegram.

Sellers may also be pleased with the service's ability to integrate with corporate software: CRM, ERP, leading programs, etc. All this happens automatically and without any human intervention, and at any time of the day. So if you sell anything online but don't have a sales channel on Telegram, think about it: your competitors may already have one.

See an example of a successful e-commerce project on Telegram here: AC-Step-bot .

The Avivi team spent about 1 month developing this project.

2️⃣nd stage: AI bots

Last year's trend with smart chatbots lost one position, but has developed significantly in terms of implementation. The total use of artificial intelligence has turned a primitive dialogue in the format: "press a button - the bot will write an answer" into a full-fledged conversation. Integration of the Telegram bot with numerous AIs to choose from allows you to organize interaction with the audience as accurately as possible and truly find an individual approach to each client.

Telegram bots simplify customer support dozens of times and reduce its cost; AI assistant is able to increase sales conversion and personalize work with each individual client based on the analysis of previous contacts. At the same time, there is still demand on the market for relatively simple FAQ bots (RAG bots), which will answer numerous user questions for an infinitely long time and will not be rude to any of them :)

In general, a Telegram bot is a fairly extensive and widespread phenomenon, where using AI, you can implement any scenario from the customer. The main advantage of such a bot is its constant presence in the application on your client's smartphone or other device and the ability to be guaranteed to "push" such a person at the right time.

See an example of a successful Telegram bot project using AI here: ShopperAIPriceDevBot .

It took Avivi's team about 4 hours to develop this project.

1️⃣st stage: mini-apps in Telegram

Telegram Mini Apps are the best thing to implement in Telegram, of course, after the ability to record a “circle” to the interlocutor. You have definitely seen mini-apps and, perhaps, you use one of them on a regular basis. This is, in essence, a combination of all of the above, but with its own design.

Mini App is a complete analogue of a web-app, that is, the ability to implement any idea from the digital world. The only limitation, which is currently the main advantage, is that it works within the Telegram application.

Mini-apps are fully integrated with the platform ecosystem and are always at the user's fingertips. It does not require downloading or installation. Developing a Mini App takes half (on average) less time and resources than a browser counterpart.

So, if you want to enter Telegram in 2026, start with Mini Apps. Everything else is secondary. Avivi will help with this, since ⅔ of our projects in 2025 were related to mini-apps - we have the expertise.

See an example of a successful Telegram Mini App project here: Fragment

It would take the Avivi`s team about 2.5 months to develop something like this.

⛔Cautions

We are always open to our customers, so in the end, we will also be honest about what we think is not worth doing on Telegram. Again, this is based on experience and from an ethical point of view - we cannot limit your creativity and ideas, but we share our observations from our own experience:

Authored content channels

Oddly enough, one of Telegram’s “features” is gradually becoming the least profitable in terms of profit. Developing your own channel for monetization should be done when you have exclusive, in-demand content that can create competition. This is quite difficult and, in practice, cannot be corrected by developers like us. Therefore, in 2026, take up the channel only with complete confidence in your own abilities.

“Bot farms”

We identify under one concept projects united by the idea of using automated or fake accounts. Despite the claim that Telegram is full of bots (which is not unfounded), we know about the platform's strict, if not cruel, policy on blocking unwanted users. It is very easy to get a system and irreversible ban, but it is practically impossible to restore an account.

Scam

Be very careful about participating in projects with little-known (or unknown) or suspicious people. If Telegram (as anywhere else) offers you “easy money”, sky-high dividends or safe participation in opaque schemes, don’t take the risk. Unfortunately, scammers are everywhere and Telegram is no exception to the rule. Fraud evolves and takes on new forms, so be vigilant and don’t let yourself be fooled. Just as you don’t try to fool others, it’s better to direct your resources to developing a truly useful product with our help.

The Avivi team is always ready to help you implement your business ideas. If you are interested in investment areas in Telegram or perhaps you have your own idea, we are ready to communicate and will make every effort to implement it in practice.