What Are Telegram Stars
Telegram Stars are Telegram's internal currency for paying for digital goods and services in Mini Apps. Attendees buy Stars through Telegram's built-in purchase system (Apple Pay, Google Pay, card) and then use them to pay for tickets.
Benefits for organizers:
- One-click payment inside Telegram without switching to external pages
- Attendees don't need to enter card details — Stars are already on their balance
- Convenient for audiences accustomed to the Telegram ecosystem
Where Stars Payment Works
Telegram Stars are available only in the tikento Telegram Mini App (https://t.me/tikento_bot/app). On other platforms, this payment method is not displayed:
| Platform | Stars Available |
|---|---|
| Telegram Mini App | Yes |
| PWA (app.tikento.com) | No |
| Embed widget | No |
Setup
Enabling Stars for an Event
- Open the event → "Tickets" tab.
- Select the ticket you want to accept Stars for.
- In the "Payment methods" section, enable the "Telegram Stars" toggle.
- Set the price in Stars or leave automatic conversion from rubles.
Automatic Price Conversion
If you set the ticket price in rubles, tikento will automatically convert it to Stars at the current rate. The rate is updated daily. You can fix the price in Stars manually so it doesn't change with rate fluctuations.
Organization Settings
For withdrawing funds from Stars payments:
- Open Settings → Payments → Telegram Stars.
- Make sure the tikento bot (
@tikento_bot) is connected to your organization. - Specify withdrawal details (via Fragment or to a Telegram wallet).
How an Attendee Pays with Stars
- The attendee opens the tikento Mini App in Telegram or follows a deep link (
https://t.me/tikento_bot/app?startapp=...). - Selects the event and ticket.
- On the payment screen, sees the price in Stars and a "Pay N Stars" button.
- Telegram shows a system purchase confirmation dialog.
- Stars are deducted from the attendee's balance.
- tikento receives confirmation from Telegram and registers the attendee.
The entire process takes a few seconds and requires no navigation to external payment pages.
Conversion and Fund Withdrawal
Stars received for tickets accumulate on the bot's balance. To convert to fiat currency:
- Go to bot settings via Fragment or BotFather.
- Select fund withdrawal — Stars are converted to TON (Toncoin) or another available currency.
- Convert TON to rubles through exchanges or converters.
Telegram deducts a commission on withdrawal. Current terms are in the Telegram documentation.
Limitations
- Stars are available only in Telegram Mini App — not on the website or in the widget
- Minimum purchase amount: 1 Star
- Maximum amount per transaction is set by Telegram (current limit — in Telegram documentation)
- Stars refunds are initiated from tikento but processed by Telegram (up to 5 days)
- Stars to fiat conversion rate is floating and depends on Telegram's terms
Commissions
When paying with Stars, the tikento commission is charged the same as for card payments — the percentage of the ticket price depends on your plan. The commission is calculated from the ruble equivalent of the ticket price.
Additionally, Telegram deducts its own commission when withdrawing Stars from the bot.
More about tikento commissions — Commissions and Calculations.