TGStat
TGStat is a web-based analytics tool for Telegram that monitors active channels and provides profile analytics and statistics. It tracks channel subscribers’ growth rate, reach, and citation index.
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TGStat is a web-based analytics tool for Telegram that monitors active channels and provides profile analytics and statistics. It tracks channel subscribers’ growth rate, reach, and citation index.
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Was this helpful?
TGStat is a Russia-based social media analytics platform that offers comprehensive statistics and insights for Telegram channels and groups. According to its website, it provides detailed information on popular Telegram channels and members, including engagement metrics, growth trends, and audience demographics.
For Telegram channels, TGStat covers statistics for:
- Subscriber numbers
- Average post reach
- Daily views
- Share count
- Mentions
- Posting frequency
For Telegram groups, TGStat also provides analytics focusing on various aspects such as:
-Member Growth
-Engagement Metrics
-User Activity
-Member Demographics
-Content Analysis
-Administrator Insights
What problem does it solve?
TGStat solves a discovery and time management issue. Telegram’s search function lacks advanced features and filters, making it difficult for unfamiliar users to find specific information. Success often relies on knowing local terminology and search nuances. However, TGStat can assist through advanced search filters, comparison, and analytics.
It assists researchers in finding relevant channels to follow on specific topics. Some features are:
Filter by country: On TGStat, users can filter channels by country. The list of countries available in the search filters are: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, China, India, and Ethiopia.
However, users can also find other public channels or open groups not covered by the countries listed in the catalog.
Filter by theme/region: When researching Telegram channels in Russia, channels are grouped by region and by theme/topics. For the other countries, channels can be filtered by theme but not by region.
Filter by rating: TGStat also has a rating system for channels, groups, and posts. This in turn, is a valuable indicator of channel popularity and audience engagement.
Channels rating (Global): According to the tool website, the top 100 Telegram channels (both public and private) are rated by the most number of subscribers, by growth, by reach, and by citation. Users can filter the growth metrics by daily growth, growth the previous day, weekly growth, and monthly growth. It also rates public channels by reach and citations. (how many times, a particular channel is mentioned by other channels). Users can filter channels by country or view global rankings. TGStat also rates the top 100 channels according to the topic and similarly rates them according to the most number of subscribers, growth, reach, and citation.
Groups rating (Global): Groups (public and private) are rated according to the most number of participants, by growth, by messages (number of messages in a group in the last 7 days), and by active participants (“MAU’s”- Monthly Active Users - which TGStat describes as “the number of unique users who have written at least one message in a group in the last 30 days”).
This tool also solves the problem of visualizing posts' reach and their relationship with other user accounts, channels, and content. TGstat can pull up a specific channel's analytics and show the relationship between accounts through the “citation” section. This section shows who cites whom.
Users can use this feature during the preplanning stage to find other channels that might give them more information for their research. It can also show users what the channel tries to achieve and why.
Another way to see the relationship between channels is through the "Similar channels" and “Related channels” sections of the profile in question.
In addition, users can see a channel or group's popularity over time.
Analytics: TGStat assists in analyzing content and reach. It provides insight into the channel or group’s performance, such as subscriber numbers, subscribers acquired over time, or those acquired based on the popularity of posts, reach, views per post, and engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares) per individual posts. This enables the user to understand what content resonates with a particular audience.
TGStat has both free and paid versions. However, the most important features of the tool are available for free.
The versions are: Free, Premium Analytics, Premium Search (see website for pricing)
Free vs. Premium Analytics
Below are some of the different features available in a free account vis a vis a Premium Analytics subscription. (List is not exhaustive but focuses on main features that may be helpful for open source researchers)
Free
Premium Analytics
“View Analysis” section
Last 5 posts available for analysis
Unlimited
“Advertising Effectiveness” section
Latest 5 activities available for analysis
Unlimited
“Attracting Subscribers” section
Last 6 months available for analysis
Unlimited
“Invitation Links” section
Last 10 invitation links available for analysis
Unlimited
“Top Posts” section
Not available
Unlimited time period, customized view, and available for export of data to Excel
Citation
Not available
Available
Similar Channels/ Related Channels
Not available
Available
Free v. Premium Search
Below are some of the different features available in a free account vis a vis a Premium Search subscription. The number of channels users can search, and the number of requests for advanced search is limited. (List is not exhaustive but focuses on main features that may be helpful for open source researchers)
Free
Premium Search
Number of channels per day
10
Unlimited
Number of channels per month
200
Unlimited
Number of channel search requests per day
30
Unlimited
Number of channel search requests per month
500
Unlimited
Search through full catalog of posts
Limited
Available
Filter by time period
Limited
Available
Filter by language, country, subject and source type
Available
Filter by channel and group mentions
Not available
Available
Export of search results to Excel
Not Available
Available
The free version of the tool requires:
1. Internet and laptop/mobile device
2. Telegram account
The paid version of the tool requires:
1. Internet and laptop/mobile device
2. Telegram account
3. Paid subscription (the paywall accepts foreign credit cards)
The tool has a few limitations.
Log in is required to access important features.
If not logged in, users can see the channel’s “Summary” analytics.
If not logged in, users cannot access the following features: subscribers, citation index, citation, average post reach, subscriber engagement, post views analysis, attracting subscribers, external traffic, and top posts.
There are not a lot of "How-to" guides in English.
This tool can only search through the channels it covers but does not seem able to search through everything in Telegram.
If you're considering using TGStat, weigh these potential limitations against your needs.
Be mindful of data accuracy/specify data provenance
TGStat relies on data provided by Telegram, so the accuracy of the information it presents depends on Telegram's data. It is advisable to specify data provenance by citing TGstat.
Privacy Concerns
Section 5.2 of the Privacy Policy also specifies that user personal data can be transferred to government bodies of Russia “only on the grounds and in the manner established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.”
TGStat founder addressed privacy concerns about the tool in the same Wired article, saying: “The situation in Russia and the world has no influence on the activities of TGStat.” He confirmed that data can be transferred to Russian authorities but said that “all companies operating in Russia have a similar clause in their policies” and that TGStat had not received any requests from authorities or law enforcement agencies.”
Use cases
Name: Individual entrepreneur Kizhikin Yuriy Aleksandrovich, Russia. e-mail: ceo@tgstat.ru
This tool has not been checked for advertising trackers yet.
This tool uses tracking cookies. Use with caution.
This tool does not appear to use tracking cookies.
Afton
TGStat is helpful for discovery, especially for those monitoring events in Russian-speaking countries, post-Soviet regions, or far-right groups. It analyzes a diverse set of channels and groups. The statistics are constantly being refreshed and updated in .
Posts rating (Global): Posts are rated by the most number of .
"Brands and People" rating (Russian-language channel only): TGSTAT also rates the top 30 based on their number of views and mentions per month. According to the tool, “brands” are companies such as banks, airlines, and media sites. “People,” according to the sites, are categorized as journalists, businessmen, and politicians. However, it seems this ranking is based solely on the posts from Russian-language Telegram channels.
Other paid features are: Access to Stat API (fee comparison here: ), Access to Search API (), Access to Callback API ()
Personal data of its users are collected automatically. According to Section 3.6 of its Privacy Policy (), TGStat complies with “the requirements of current legislation in the field of personal data protection.“ It also states on Section 3.8 that the tool provider retains personal data “for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected or to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.”
In this , concerns about the users' personal data on TGStat were raised. “In its privacy policy, TGStat states clearly that it is obliged by law to hand over data to the “state authorities of the Russian Federation.” Because the company has been archiving publicly available data for years […] security forces could hypothetically go directly to TGStat to obtain a striking amount of information about a user without any direct assistance from Telegram.”, Wired wrote.
This is a guide in Russian provided by TGStat.ru: (Turning on the Auto Translate feature on YouTube gives a usable translation of the guide). This page will be updated if guides in other languages become available.
The tool provider has also launched a paid course on using TGStat for various use cases (primarily marketing). However, the courses are only available in the Russian language.
TGStat has been particularly used in content verification, especially in tracking the spread of disinformation/ misinformation. (See: DFRLab’s lists of research involving misinformation. A good example is the following article from DFRLab:
TGStat was also used to analyze the far reaching influence of Telegram communities on Russian media outlets in the country’s war against Ukraine: .
According to, these are the administrator’s details:
