Telegram’s native analytics show you how many people subscribed to your channel or how many views a post got. But that’s it. No history. No comparisons. No idea who’s actually driving the conversation. If you’re running a news channel or managing a community group on Telegram, those numbers don’t tell you anything useful. You need to know: Which channels are sharing your stories? Who are the most active members in your group? Is your engagement going up or down over time? And most importantly - are you reaching the right audience, or just the loudest ones?
That’s where Combot and TGStat come in. They don’t just show you numbers. They turn Telegram from a broadcast tool into a measurable news ecosystem.
What Telegram’s Built-In Analytics Miss
Telegram’s native stats are basic by design. You see:
- Total subscribers
- Total views per post
- How many people clicked your link
That’s it. No trends. No breakdowns. No way to compare yourself to other news channels. A post with 10,000 views sounds impressive - until you realize 8,000 of those views came from the same 200 people refreshing the page. Telegram doesn’t tell you that. It doesn’t even know the difference.
Newsrooms need more than vanity metrics. They need to understand influence. They need to track how their content moves through the network. They need to know if their audience is growing organically or just because they bought fake subscribers. Telegram doesn’t give them that. Combot and TGStat do.
TGStat: The News Ecosystem Map
TGStat is like a radar for Telegram’s public news channels. It scans over 30,000 channels and builds a living map of who’s talking to whom. It doesn’t just count views - it tracks citations. That means it records when one news channel shares or reposts another’s content. That’s gold for journalists.
Imagine you’re covering a breaking story. You post a report. TGStat tells you:
- Which 10 other channels shared your post within 24 hours
- How many total views those shares generated across their audiences
- Which of those channels have the most influence in your region or language group
This is called the citation index. It’s unique to TGStat. No other tool does this. It shows you your real reach - not just your own numbers, but how far your story travels through the network. Bellingcat, the investigative journalism group, uses TGStat to track disinformation networks. They don’t just monitor content - they map relationships between channels. That’s how they found fake news farms spreading false claims during elections.
TGStat also shows subscriber growth trends. Not just today’s count - but how you’ve grown over the last week, month, or year. You can see if your audience is growing steadily or if a single viral post created a spike that faded fast. You can compare your growth to similar news channels in your country or language. If your competitor’s channel grew 15% last month and yours only grew 3%, TGStat tells you that - and shows you what their top-performing posts were.
But there’s a catch. TGStat updates data once every 24 hours. During a fast-moving crisis - say, a political protest or natural disaster - that delay matters. You can’t rely on it for real-time decisions. And it only tracks public channels. Private groups, encrypted chats, and direct messages? Invisible.
Combot: The Group Health Monitor
If TGStat is about channels, Combot is about communities. Most news organizations don’t just broadcast. They build communities. They run Telegram groups where readers discuss stories, share tips, and even break news themselves. But how do you know if that group is healthy?
Combot tracks:
- How many messages are sent each hour
- Which users post the most
- When the group is most active (early morning? late night?)
- How long messages are - are people having deep conversations or just spamming emojis?
One media outlet in Ukraine used Combot to identify their top 10 community members. These weren’t the loudest people - they were the ones who consistently shared verified facts, asked thoughtful questions, and helped moderate discussions. The outlet started featuring their insights in daily newsletters. Engagement in the group jumped 40% in two months.
Combot’s Engagement Quality Scoring, added in September 2023, helps filter out bots and trolls. It doesn’t just count activity - it measures whether that activity adds value. A user who sends 50 messages a day full of memes and links? Low score. A user who posts one well-researched article each day that sparks a 30-comment thread? High score.
Combot’s biggest strength? It’s dead simple to use. Just add the @Combot to your group. Type /stats. Get your numbers. No dashboard. No login. Just instant insights inside Telegram. That’s why smaller newsrooms and independent journalists love it. But it doesn’t track channels. If you’re only using Telegram to push out news - not to build a community - Combot won’t help you much.
How They Compare: TGStat vs Combot
They’re not rivals. They’re teammates. Here’s what each does best:
| Feature | TGStat | Combot |
|---|---|---|
| Tracks Public Channels | Yes | No |
| Tracks Private Groups | No | Yes |
| Citation Index (Who Shares Your Content) | Yes | No |
| Subscriber Growth Trends | Yes | No |
| User Activity in Groups | No | Yes |
| Engagement Quality Scoring | No | Yes |
| Real-Time Updates | No (24-hour delay) | Yes |
| Competitor Benchmarking | Yes | No |
News organizations that treat Telegram as both a broadcast channel and a community hub use both tools. One major European news outlet runs a public channel for breaking news (tracked with TGStat) and a private group for subscribers to discuss stories (tracked with Combot). They use TGStat to see which of their articles get picked up by other outlets. They use Combot to see which readers are turning into loyal contributors. Together, they get a full picture.
Limitations and Real-World Problems
Neither tool is perfect. And both come with trade-offs.
TGStat’s biggest flaw? The 24-hour delay. During the 2022 Ukraine invasion, several newsrooms had to manually track shares and reposts because TGStat was too slow. They’d see a post go viral - but TGStat wouldn’t reflect it until the next day. That’s not useful when you’re trying to respond to misinformation in real time.
Combot’s weakness? It doesn’t tell you how your group compares to others. You can see your top users, but you don’t know if your engagement rate is high or low for a news group of your size. You’re flying blind without benchmarks.
Both tools require you to understand Telegram’s weird metrics. A “view” on Telegram counts every time someone opens the post - even if they’re the same person. So a post with 5,000 views might only have 800 unique readers. Neither tool fixes that - you have to interpret the numbers yourself.
And support? TGStat’s free users get almost no help. Premium subscribers get email replies in under 24 hours. Combot’s support is all through its own Telegram group. You might wait two days for an answer. Neither offers API access or CRM integration. If you’re trying to connect Telegram data to your email list or content management system, you’re stuck copying and pasting.
Who Should Use Which Tool?
Ask yourself these questions:
- Are you using Telegram mainly to broadcast news to the public? → Use TGStat.
- Are you building a community where readers discuss, debate, and contribute? → Use Combot.
- Are you trying to understand your influence in the broader Telegram news network? → Use TGStat.
- Are you trying to grow a loyal, active group of engaged readers? → Use Combot.
- Do you need real-time data during breaking news? → Neither tool is ideal - but Combot’s live stats are better than TGStat’s delay.
Most professional newsrooms use both. If you’re just starting out, pick one. If you’re focused on reach and influence, start with TGStat. If you’re focused on community and conversation, start with Combot.
What’s Next for Telegram Analytics?
The market is growing fast. News organizations saw their Telegram subscribers jump 300-500% between 2020 and 2023. That’s not a trend - it’s a shift. More reporters are using Telegram to source stories. More audiences are getting news through channels and groups.
TGStat is working on cutting its update time to 12 hours. That’s a big deal. Combot is building tools to track how group discussions spill over into Twitter, Reddit, and other platforms. That’s the future: not just measuring Telegram - but measuring how Telegram influences the rest of the web.
But the biggest change won’t be technical. It’ll be cultural. Newsrooms that treat Telegram like a radio station - just pushing out content - will fall behind. The winners will be the ones who treat it like a conversation. And for that, you need more than views. You need insight.
Combot and TGStat don’t make you smarter. But they give you the data to be smarter.
Can I use TGStat and Combot for free?
Yes, both offer free tiers. TGStat’s free plan lets you check up to 5 channels with basic stats and limited history. Combot’s free bot gives you daily activity stats for one group. But if you’re running a news operation, you’ll quickly hit limits. Premium plans unlock historical data, competitor comparisons, and user rankings - essential for serious analytics.
Do these tools work for private Telegram channels?
No. Both TGStat and Combot only track public channels and groups. If your channel is set to private - meaning users need an invite to join - neither tool can access its data. That’s a major blind spot for organizations that rely on private channels for sensitive reporting. There’s no workaround.
Is TGStat safe to use if I’m outside Russia?
Technically, yes. TGStat operates as a cloud service and doesn’t store user data in Russia. But its development team is based there, and geopolitical tensions have made some Western newsrooms hesitant. If data sovereignty is a concern, consider alternatives like Popsters or build your own tracking using Telegram’s API - though that requires technical skills.
How do I know if my Telegram group is actually growing?
Don’t just look at subscriber count. Use Combot to track daily active users. If your group has 1,000 members but only 50 people post or react each day, you’re not growing - you’re stagnant. Look for rising message volume, longer discussions, and more new users joining organically (not through ads). That’s real growth.
Can I automate data export from TGStat or Combot?
Not officially. Neither tool offers API access for automation. You can manually download CSV reports from TGStat’s dashboard, but there’s no way to auto-sync data into Google Sheets or your CMS. If automation is critical, you’ll need to use Telegram’s own API to build custom tracking - but that’s a developer-level project.
Which tool is better for breaking news coverage?
For breaking news, Combot is more useful if you’re managing a live discussion group - you’ll see real-time spikes in activity. But for tracking how your news spreads across other channels, TGStat’s 24-hour delay is a problem. Many newsrooms use both: Combot to monitor their group’s reaction, and manual tracking (like screenshots or third-party tools) to catch viral shares immediately.
