There are three common ways to run a giveaway on Telegram. Telegram's own giveaways hand out Premium subscriptions or Stars to random subscribers. A winner picker bot draws from people who meet your conditions, and the prize can be anything. An invite contest rewards the people who bring the most friends into your channel. The first two reward the audience you already have. The third is the one built to grow it.
Below is how each one works, what it costs you, and who it suits, plus a checklist for rules people will trust.
Three kinds of Telegram giveaway
| Type | Prize | Who wins | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telegram's built-in giveaway | Premium or Stars, plus extra prizes you deliver | Random subscribers picked by Telegram | Thanking subscribers, earning boosts |
| Random winner picker bot | Anything | Random people who met your conditions | Product or sponsor prizes, a public draw |
| Invite contest | Anything | The people who brought the most friends who stayed | Growing the channel |
Telegram's built-in giveaways (Premium and Stars)
Telegram has its own giveaway tool, so you don't always need a bot. According to Telegram's developer docs, "Telegram channel and supergroup administrators with any set of rights may launch giveaways" (Telegram). You start one from your channel's Statistics > Boosts screen. For a group, it's Group Info > Statistics > Boosts (Telegram).
When you set it up, you choose (Telegram):
- the number of winners and when the giveaway ends;
- whether all subscribers can win, or only people who subscribe after the giveaway starts;
- which countries people must be in;
- other channels people must also join.
There's no entry step. Every subscriber who matches your rules is in the draw, and when it ends, Telegram picks the winners at random. Premium winners get a gift code link, which also works as public proof that they won (Telegram).
A few things to know before you pay:
- You buy the prizes up front. Telegram's terms say giveaway purchases are nonrefundable (Telegram).
- Your channel gets boosts. When Telegram launched giveaways, a channel got four boosts for each Premium subscription it gave away (Telegram). Boosts open extra features, like posting stories as the channel.
- You can add your own prizes, such as a product, on top of Premium. You must deliver them yourself, and you're responsible for following your local laws on giveaways (Telegram).
Telegram Premium giveaway bot
People often search for a "Telegram Premium giveaway bot". The official one is @PremiumBot. Telegram says you can use it to create "larger giveaways at a lower cost" than buying through the App Store or Google Play (Telegram). Be careful with other bots that promise free Premium. Premium comes from Telegram, and someone has to pay for it.
Telegram Stars giveaway
Since September 2024, the prize can also be Telegram Stars. The setup is the same, and Telegram sends the Stars to the winners automatically (Telegram). Winners can spend them on paid posts and channel subscriptions, or in games and mini apps (Telegram).
Who this suits: channels that want to thank subscribers with a prize Telegram delivers for you. Where it falls short: the prize has to be Premium or Stars (anything else you deliver yourself), and it doesn't reward anyone for bringing new people.
Random winner picker bots
This is what most people mean by a Telegram channel giveaway bot. The prize can be anything: a product, a course, cash from a sponsor. People open the bot, check that they meet your conditions, and the bot draws winners at random. Two tools worth knowing, as of October 2026:
- TgDraw describes itself as "a Telegram bot for giveaways, polls and quizzes". The organizer adds the channels people must join, TgDraw checks those conditions, and its randomizer "picks one or several winners from participants who match the configured rules" (TgDraw). A paid tier, TgDraw Plus, adds things like editing published giveaways and exporting data. The site doesn't list prices.
- Gleam runs giveaways across many platforms and has a Telegram referral contest template. With a bot you create and connect, it can check that an entrant joined your channel or group (Gleam); check which Gleam plan includes the Telegram integration before you plan around it. Gleam also offers a general random name picker.
Is there a free Telegram giveaway picker?
Yes. General random name pickers are easy to find, and many are free. But a picker that draws from a list of names can't check that the winner is still in your channel or that the account is real. If you use one, check every winner yourself before you announce them.
Invite contests: a giveaway that grows your channel
In an invite contest, each person gets their own invite link. Friends join through it, and the people who brought the most friends win. Done well, it's one of the cleanest ways to grow, because new subscribers arrive through people they know.
Done badly, it fills your channel with fake accounts. Someone creates a batch of accounts, joins them through their own link, wins, and the accounts leave the next day. A fair invite contest needs two rules:
- An invite only counts while the friend stays in the channel. If they leave, the count goes down.
- Membership is checked before winners are announced, not taken from a number someone typed.
Checking membership is why invite contest bots usually ask to be an admin of your channel. Telegram only guarantees that a bot can look up another user's membership "if the bot is an administrator in the chat" (Telegram).
Some tools you may already use count invites too. For example, as of October 2026, Combot can show which invite link brought each member and let members create their own links and compete to invite the most people (Combot). If you can code, you can also build your own contest bot with @BotFather and the Bot API. Plan for invite tracking, membership checks, and a server that stays online for the whole contest.
Running a giveaway with PowerTeleBot
PowerTeleBot is a Telegram mini app that creates bots for channel owners. It has two ready-made giveaway bots.
Invite Contest is a giveaway that grows your channel. People join through the bot and invite their friends. Invites count only while those friends stay in your channel, and the bot checks who actually joined. When the contest ends, you pick the winners. To check membership, the bot has to be an admin of your channel. Before you add it, Power shows you exactly what the bot can and can't do.
Giveaway Wheel is a fair random draw with a wheel spin you can film. Joining your channel is the entry. The winner is drawn at random, and the spin reveals it. Recording the spin and posting it gives your audience a moment to watch, and it shows them the draw was real.
Here's how setup goes:
- Open PowerTeleBot in Telegram and add your channel link.
- Describe your giveaway in plain words. Power points you to the ready-made bot that fits.
- Fill in a few fields. Power creates the bot in Telegram for you, names it and gives it a profile photo. There's no BotFather step and no coding.
- Try it privately. Only you can see it. It's free for 3 days, and you don't pay anything until you go live.
- Pick a plan and go live. Power gives you a post ready to share in your channel.
Giveaways can also earn you money through sponsors. A brand provides or pays for the prize, and you run the contest in your channel. If you do this, say clearly who the sponsor is in the giveaway post.
Fair giveaway rules: a checklist
Write your rules down and pin them before the giveaway starts. People trust a giveaway when they can check it.
- Who can enter. Members of your channel, and any limits on age or country.
- How to enter. Join the channel, or invite friends, or both.
- Start and end time, with the time zone.
- How winners are chosen. A random draw, or the most invites that stayed.
- Number of winners and the exact prizes. Name the sponsor if there is one.
- What disqualifies an entry. Fake or duplicate accounts, or leaving the channel before the end.
- How winners are announced and contacted. Say that you will never ask winners to pay a fee or share a password to receive a prize.
- How long winners have to claim, and what happens to unclaimed prizes.
- Your local laws. Telegram's terms make the admin responsible for following local giveaway rules (Telegram).
After the draw, post the result publicly. If you used a wheel, post the video.
Don't buy members or accept fake entries
Bought members and fake entries look like growth, but they make your channel weaker:
- They don't read, react or buy, so your real engagement rate drops.
- Sponsors who look at your views per post will see the gap.
- If you earn from Telegram's ads or Stars, Telegram's creator terms let it withhold rewards for "invalid or fake impressions, purchases, donations and any other simulated or otherwise non-genuine activity" (Telegram).
- Real participants lose trust when a fake account wins.
A smaller giveaway with real entries does more for your channel than a large one full of bots. For more ideas on growing without shortcuts, see how to grow a Telegram channel.
FAQ
Is there a free Telegram giveaway bot?
Telegram's own giveaway tool costs nothing to use, but you pay for the Premium or Stars prizes. Picker bots vary, so check what each one includes before you start. PowerTeleBot's giveaway bots are free to build and try for 3 days, and running one for your audience needs a plan.
How does Telegram pick giveaway winners?
In a built-in giveaway, Telegram picks the winners at random from the subscribers who match your rules, when the giveaway ends (Telegram).
Can I run a giveaway in a Telegram group?
Yes. Telegram's built-in giveaways work in channels and groups (Telegram), and so does TgDraw, for example (TgDraw).
Do I need to make a giveaway bot an admin?
Only if it has to check who is in your channel, for example to count invites or confirm that winners joined. A bot that just draws names doesn't need admin rights.
What is the best Telegram giveaway bot?
It depends on your goal. To thank subscribers with Premium or Stars, use Telegram's own giveaways. To give away any other prize with a public draw, use a picker bot or a wheel. To grow your channel, use an invite contest that only counts friends who stay.
If you want an invite contest or a wheel draw without building a bot yourself, open PowerTeleBot in Telegram and describe the giveaway you have in mind. If you plan to earn from sponsors, read how to monetize a Telegram channel next.
