What a Telegram
Bot Really Costs
No vague "starting at" pricing. We explain how a five-button bot differs from one with payments and inventory, why the quote grows with more than message volume, and how to spot a cheap offer that just skipped half the work.
Why there's no price list
A five-button bot and one with payments are different products.
- The word "bot" describes an interface, not the amount of work
- A five-button menu and a store with payments differ in effort by an order of magnitude
- Most hours go not into the chat itself, but into what's behind it
- A price quoted before the scenario is scoped always pads for the unknown
- A cheap bot usually means the quote skipped the admin panel and integrations
Types and timelines
How long each type takes
The timelines are short not because a bot is simple — it's because our infrastructure is already built: hosting, queues, logging, an admin panel template. You're usually poking at a working first version in your own Telegram by day two or three.
What drives the price
It's not the conversation that costs more. It's what's behind it.
- Integrations. CRM, 1C, inventory, payment provider — just like with websites, this is the most expensive part
- In-chat payments. Needs more than code — a provider agreement and refund handling too
- Conversation state. A bot that remembers context and can step back is more complex than a linear menu
- Admin panel. If you update content and products yourself, the bot needs a separate panel for that
- Load and broadcasts. A thousand users and a hundred thousand call for different architecture and different Telegram rate limits
- Moderation and roles. Multiple managers, lead distribution, access permissions
How to read the quote
It's not the bot that's cheaper. It's the scope of work.
- Whether there's an admin panel — or you'll be going through a developer to change text and products
- Whether hosting and monitoring are included, or the bot lives on someone's personal server
- What happens if it goes down: are there logs, alerts, an auto-restart
- Who owns the bot token and server access after handoff
- Whether testing covers every scenario, including error paths
- What changes cost after launch and how they're billed
Beyond development
Costs that don't go to your contractor
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Why can't you just quote a price right away?
Because "bot" describes an interface, not the amount of work. A five-button menu and a bot with payments, inventory, and CRM export differ in effort by an order of magnitude. A number given before we've scoped the scenario is either padded or turns into extra charges later.
What's the most expensive part of building a bot?
Integrations and payment processing. The dialogue itself is predictable — it's connecting to CRM, syncing inventory with 1C, and handling payments that depend on other people's systems and eat up the most hours.
Is a bot cheaper than a website?
Often, but not always. A simple bot is cheaper than a simple website. A bot with a catalog, payments, and inventory tracking costs about the same as an e-commerce store — the work under the hood is the same, only the shell is different.
Can you accept payment right inside Telegram?
Yes. Payment connects through a payment provider, and the customer pays without leaving the chat. Budget separately for refund handling and reconciling payments with orders.
Who owns the bot after handoff?
You do. The bot token, source code, server, and all access are registered to your company and handed over when the project closes. There's no lock-in to us.
Does a bot need ongoing maintenance?
The server, yes — otherwise the bot simply doesn't run. Everything else is as needed: Telegram changes its API from time to time, and a bot usually needs a small fix about once every year to eighteen months.
Contact
Let's scope
your project.
40 minutes, and you'll know the price, the timeline, and whether it's worth doing at all.
+375 (44) 516-94-93blackpanthersby@bk.ru