There are a variety of reasons to use Telegram, from its convenient multi-device sync to its fun stickers and other chat features. And while Telegram has greatly increased its popularity in recent years, there are some downsides of the app to consider, too.

Let's look at some of the potential reasons you might want to step away from Telegram. Not all of them will apply to everyone, but it's good to know the weaknesses in each app you rely on.

1. Telegram Chats Aren't End-to-End Encrypted by Default

If you're not too familiar with Telegram, you might assume that all your chats are protected with end-to-end encryption by default, like they are on WhatsApp and Signal. But this isn't the case.

Telegram encrypts your messages as they travel between your device and the Telegram server. However, these messages sit on the server so you can access them from multiple devices. A breach of Telegram's servers could thus result in your messages being exposed.

The service offers end-to-end encryption in its secret chats, but you have to start these manually. If you forget to start one, or someone else begins a non-secret chat with you, it doesn't enjoy the same privacy protections.

2. Telegram Collects Your Contact Data

By default, Telegram collects basic data about the contacts on your phone. The company says it does this to notify you when someone you know signs up for Telegram and to show their name in the service. When someone you know joins Telegram, you'll see the name you have saved for the contact, not their Telegram screen name.

While Telegram only stores the first and last names and phone numbers of your contacts, this can still be a bit jarring for an app that's focused on privacy. Getting a notification every time a friend joins the app is a pain, though you can thankfully turn this off.

Telegram also uses phone numbers to figure out which of your contacts know the most Telegram users, as the Telegram Privacy Policy states:

Our automatic algorithms can also use anonymized sets of phone numbers to calculate the approximate number of potential contacts an unregistered phone number may have on Telegram. When you open the "Invite friends" interface, we display the resulting statistics next to your contacts to give you an idea of who could benefit most from joining Telegram.

3. Telegram Has Limited Support

Hopefully, you won't ever have a problem with Telegram that requires you to contact the support team. Telegram offers limited support; the main options are reaching out on X (formerly Twitter), visiting the Telegram Support form, or going to Settings > Ask a Question in the app. This is staffed by volunteers, so while you may get an answer to your query, there's no guarantee. If you can't get an answer by reaching out, you'll have to hope it's in the FAQ.

If you have deeper problems with the app, getting ahold of someone who actually works at the company could be tough. This isn't a huge knock against Telegram, but it could be a concern for some.

4. Your Friends Might Not Use It

A lot of the potential reasons to avoid Telegram are related to usability, privacy, and security. But there's another practical reason that's easy to overlook: if your friends aren't on Telegram, there's not much point in using it.

You might be able to convince a few friends to make an account on Telegram to make a group chat with them, but that only goes so far. Most people won't want to bother downloading a secondary messaging app just to talk to you when WhatsApp, iMessage, SMS, or whatever else they already use works fine for their needs.

Telegram still has some value if you use it alone; check out the best Telegram channels to join to see how. But any messenger is a lot better when you can talk to most of your friends in one place.

5. Ads and a Subscription Plan

Apps like Telegram have to make money somehow, especially as they scale to serve hundreds of millions of users. Most of the time, apps introduce monetization by showing ads, and Telegram is no exception.

In late 2021 and early 2022, Telegram started rolling out ads in its app. These ads do not appear in one-on-one messages or group chats. Instead, they are limited to public channels with more than 1,000 followers, and only appear in certain regions. See the differences between Telegram groups and channels if you aren't familiar.

While these ads are non-intrusive and privacy-conscious, they're still annoying to see in what was once a totally free app.

In June 2022, Telegram introduced Telegram Premium, an optional subscription service that gives you extra goodies. These include doubling the file size upload limit, providing unique stickers, letting you create more folders to organize your chats, and removing ads.

At $5/month, Telegram Premium isn't worth it for most people. But it's annoying that the app locks some handy features behind a paywall, especially compared to other messaging apps that don't include ads or subscriptions.

6. Miscellaneous Telegram Concerns

We've looked at some of the major reasons you might want to step away from Telegram. There are a few other minor considerations to keep in mind, including:

• While this is up to personal preference, some people complain that Telegram's interface isn't visually pleasing. Telegram supports custom themes, though, which should address any problems here.
• You can only sign up with a mobile phone number; there's no option to sign up with just an email address, or something else. This might be a roadblock for you.

It's Up to You Whether to Use Telegram

This isn't a list of reasons to convince you to immediately stop using Telegram. Rather, it's a set of considerations you should keep in mind when you choose to use the service. Some of these points might be non-issues for you, or you can correct them with the right settings.

If you choose to leave Telegram, make sure you stick with a secure messaging app.