Comparison

Telegram Messenger vs True

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Telegram Messenger

A fast, secure, and powerful instant messaging app synced across all devices. It offers unlimited media and file sharing, robust encryption, and extensive group chat capabilities. Enjoy a simple, private, and customizable communication experience.

Highlights
  • Cross-device synchronization
  • Unlimited file and media sharing
  • End-to-end encrypted secret chats
  • Large group chats (up to 200,000 members)
  • Customizable themes and stickers
  • Bots for task automation
  • Photo and video editing tools
Features
Read full description

Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. One of the top 5 most downloaded apps in the world with over 1 billion active users. FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe. SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your phones, tablets and computers at once. Telegram apps are standalone, so you don’t need to keep your phone connected. Start typing on one device and finish the message from another. Never lose your data again. UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it. SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256-bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange. 100% FREE & OPEN: Telegram has a fully documented and free API for developers, open source apps and verifiable builds to prove the app you download is built from the exact same source code that is published. POWERFUL: You can create group chats with up to 200,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOCX, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.) up to 2 GB each, and even set up bots for specific tasks. Telegram is the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork. RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages using as little data as possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections. FUN: Telegram has powerful photo and video editing tools, animated stickers and emoji, fully customizable themes to change the appearance of your app, and an open sticker/GIF platform to cater to all your expressive needs. SIMPLE: While providing an unprecedented array of features, we take great care to keep the interface clean. Telegram is so simple you already know how to use it. PRIVATE: We take your privacy seriously and will never give any third parties access to your data. You can delete any message you ever sent or received for both sides, at any time and without a trace. Telegram will never use your data to show you ads. For those interested in maximum privacy, Telegram offers Secret Chats. Secret Chat messages can be programmed to self-destruct automatically from both participating devices. This way you can send all types of disappearing content — messages, photos, videos, and even files. Secret Chats use End-to-End Encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient. We keep expanding the boundaries of what you can do with a messaging app. Don’t wait years for older messengers to catch up with Telegram — join the revolution today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

True

This app offers a private social networking experience focused on genuine connections with trusted individuals. It prioritizes user privacy by avoiding targeted advertising and data selling, creating a safe and positive space for sharing.

Highlights
  • Private by default sharing
  • No ads or tracking
  • User data ownership
  • Focus on real friends
  • Safe and positive environment
Features
Read full description

Focused on people you really know, we’re making social a safe, happy place again without targeted advertising. • It’s the quality of relationships, not quantity, that make us happier. We’re building new ways to tell your story and strengthen your community • We don’t spy on you, read your cookies or follow you around the internet. You own your data, forever, and we’ll never sell or share it with anyone It’s time to try an honest solution. We’re thrilled to get you back to things that matter. • Private by default – photos, and updates only with people you trust. • No ads. No tracking. Ever. – we never sell your data. • Real friends, real life – original content from people you actually know, not influencers or brands. • Safe and positive – a drama-free space designed to make social a happy place again. The True Story True was founded in a lovely little mountain town filled with giant redwoods, beautiful valleys and neighbors who look after each other. It’s this real-life Happy Valley that inspired us to build a company that gets back to things that matter. Real friends and real life without commercial interruption. It’s the quality of our relationships, not the quantity, that make us happier. It’s the joy of making new friends and connecting with old ones that strengthen our sense of community. Somehow, in a rush for growth and profit, these feelings have been lost. Social today no longer feels like a Happy Valley, it’s more like we’re all living in a big creepy commercial. Big social companies are in the middle of our relationships. They’re taking our best intentions and selling them to the highest bidder. Well, we’re just not going to do that anymore. Why Should I Trust You Guys? There’s a lot of talk about privacy. Every few weeks, another big company gets caught in a new scandal. But there is never anything really done about it and we go on accepting the problem. The crazy thing is, this is never going to stop. As long as these companies make money by selling our personal information, they will always find ways to collect it. But we never signed up for this. We didn’t post our lives, families and personal relationships for sale. We did not agree to let these companies make money from being in the middle of our friendships. We believe you should be free to share your life without big brands competing for your attention. You should own your information and decide what you want to do with it. 3rd parties should never have access to your data. You should not be the product. We believe your privacy matters. We take it into consideration with every decision we make. You should believe we respect your privacy and trust we’ll do the right thing with your information. What’s Different About It? We just don’t think you can be yourself in a world of perfect pictures awash in a sea of influencers. Old-school social is for blasting your life to people you don’t really know, measured by standards you will never achieve. So we’ve built a new kind of threaded sharing that is private by default. Until now, no one has tried this before. It gives you control over things you want to share and who you want to share them with. By combining beautiful, edge-to-edge storytelling with private messaging, it’s the best of both worlds. What do we all love? Updates from real friends. But original thoughts and stories have gone missing in big social. Sadly, most content today is created by companies with an agenda. We share an endless stream of news and ideas pushed by these companies and no longer share our real lives. So we built a platform that only allows original content. There are no political arguments here. You come to True to see real updates from friends. Content they created themselves, not clickbait designed to hold your attention and manipulate opinion. True lets you… be you. Real sharing from real friends, we’re making social a safe, happy place again.

Screenshots

Telegram Messenger4 screens
True4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: True at 77% against Telegram Messenger's 35%. True also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 22) and rating (4.2 vs 4.0). Telegram Messenger's advantage is ratings volume (280K vs 9) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Telegram Messenger sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. True asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

True holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Telegram Messenger has 280K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of Telegram Messenger's written reviews are positive against 77% of True's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Telegram Messenger ships an update weekly, True every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and July 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Telegram Messenger versus True: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTelegram MessengerTrue
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (280K ratings)4.2 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews34.6% of reviews76.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings280K — better9
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#3 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size232 MB102 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperTelegram FZ-LLCHello Mobile Inc.

Customer experience

Telegram Messenger

All ratings279,846 ratings
Positive73.4%
Neutral6.2%
Negative20.4%
Written reviews8,385 reviews
Positive34.6%
Neutral8.9%
Negative56.5%

True

All ratings9 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral4.3%
Negative18.8%

Bugs and requests

Telegram Messenger

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Keyboard issues and cursor placement problems
  • Frequent app crashes, especially in large group chats
  • Inaccurate 'last seen' timestamps
  • Notification issues and duplicate messages
  • Problems with media auto-save and download

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add video calling feature
  • Improve search capabilities
  • Implement a story/status feature
  • Allow more customization options
  • Segregate channels, bots, and individual chats

True

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

19 purchases

Telegram Messenger

Subscriptions2
  • Telegram Premium$4.991 Month
  • Telegram Premium Annual$35.991 Year
One-time17
  • 50 Telegram Stars$0.99
  • 1x Telegram Premium (One Week)$1.19
  • 100 Telegram Stars$1.99
Show 14 more
  • 250 Telegram Stars$5.09
  • 500 Telegram Stars$9.99
  • Telegram Premium (3 Months)$14.99
  • 750 Telegram Stars$14.99
  • Telegram Premium (6 Months)$19.99
  • 1x Premium (6 Months)$19.99
  • 1000 Telegram Stars$19.99
  • 1500 Telegram Stars$29.99
  • Telegram Premium (1 Year)$35.99
  • 1x Premium (1 Year)$35.99
  • 2500 Telegram Stars$50.90
  • 5x Premium (3 Months Each)$74.99
  • 10x Premium (3 Months Each)$149.99
  • 5x Premium (1 Year Each)$179.99
None

True

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Telegram Messenger free?
Telegram Messenger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is True free?
True is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Telegram Messenger or True?
True is rated higher. Telegram Messenger averages 4.0 out of 5 from 280K ratings, while True averages 4.2 from 9 ratings.
Do Telegram Messenger or True have ads?
Neither Telegram Messenger nor True shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Telegram Messenger or True?
Telegram Messenger ships an update weekly, and True every 3 weeks. Most recently, Telegram Messenger was updated on September 25, 2026 and True on July 18, 2026.

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