Key takeaways: 

• The subscription could allow users to upload larger files and gain the early key to new features.
• A Premium subscription should enable the service to mitigate some expenses associated with bumping up.

Telegram will soon begin setting some features behind a paywall. In a post on the platform, founder Pavel Durov reported that the messaging service is launching a paid Telegram Premium subscription after this month, giving users “more features, speed, and resources.”

Durov indicates some features with the subscription, including an early key to new features, the capacity to upload larger files, and Premium-only stickers and reactions.

But Durov also makes it explicit that Telegram’s existing features will stay free and that the paid features won’t impact the experience for free users on the app. Non-subscribers will still get to look at the larger files uploaded by Premium users and will also get to view and interact with Premium stickers and reactions.

As Durov describes, a Premium subscription should help the service mitigate some of the expenses associated with bumping up what Durov calls the “already crazy” limitations on file sizes, chats, and media — something Durov says would be “unwieldy” if offered to all users.