Telegram Ads vs Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Complete Comparison 2026

Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Telegram Ads are usually compared on price, and that is the least comparable thing about them. This page puts the figures that have a source side by side — our own measurements for Telegram, named benchmark studies for Google and Facebook — and then compares what can be compared directly: targeting, formats, policies and the job each platform does best.

In short: Google captures people who are already searching. Facebook finds people by who they are. Telegram reaches people inside the channels they chose to read. Most advertisers need more than one of the three, and the question is which one leads.

1. How Do Telegram Ads Actually Work?

Telegram Ads shows sponsored messages inside Telegram, which reported over 1 billion monthly active users in March 2025. An ad is up to 160 characters of text and a button, with an optional photo or video, and it appears in public channels, in bots and in search results (Telegram guidelines). Telegram says half of the ad revenue goes to the owners of the channels where ads are shown, and that it does not use private chats or contact lists for targeting (Telegram Ads).

There are three account types. They buy the same sponsored messages and differ in the currency, who can open one and a few features.

	Euro account	TON account	Stars account
Billed in	Euro	TON, the currency Telegram now calls Gram	Telegram Stars
Who can open one	Opened through a partner such as Adsly	Self-serve at ads.telegram.org	Channel and bot owners spending Stars their channel earned
Targeting form	Country, language, topic, device, or specific channels, bots and search	Same form since 22 August 2026	Same form since 22 August 2026
External website links	Yes	No — channels, bots and Mini Apps only	No
Official Telegram Ads gambling account	Yes, through Adsly	No	No
Not served in	—	Russia, Ukraine	No data
Approved after review (our accounts)	95.6%	86.8%	99.9%
CPM (our accounts)	€2.97	0.90 TON	395 Stars
CTR (our accounts)	0.85%	2.18%	3.08%

Approval and price figures are measured on accounts we operate, as of 3 October 2026, and each CPM is in its account’s own currency. How the three differ in detail is in the Stars vs TON vs Euro guide.

What makes Telegram different from Google and Facebook is the buying model: you bid a price per thousand impressions and choose where or to whom the message is shown. There is no keyword auction on web search and no lookalike modelling. Your targeting choice is the strategy.

2. How Does Pricing Compare Across Platforms?

Core Pricing Metrics

Telegram figures are ours. Google and Facebook figures come from the 2026 editions of the WordStream benchmark reports, whose “averages” are medians across US campaigns, and from Triple Whale for the Meta CPM.

Metric	Telegram Ads	Google Ads (Search)	Facebook Ads
What you pay for	Impressions (CPM bid)	Mostly clicks	Impressions or clicks
CPM	€2.97 Euro · 0.90 TON · 395 Stars	Not reported for Search	$15.06 median, Facebook and Instagram, e-commerce brands
Cost per click	€0.34 Euro · 0.040 TON · 12.8 Stars	$5.42	$0.60 traffic · $1.80 leads
CTR	0.85% Euro · 2.18% TON · 3.08% Stars	6.64%	1.93% traffic · 2.70% leads
Conversion rate	No public benchmark	8.18%	8.54% on lead campaigns
Cost per lead	No public benchmark	$66.69	$27.39
Sample	357,827 campaigns, 1.13B impressions, 3 Oct 2026	13,474 US search campaigns, Apr 2025–Mar 2026	1,377 traffic and 452 lead campaigns, US, Apr 2025–Jun 2026

Sources: WordStream Search Advertising Benchmarks, 2026 edition (the sample covers search campaigns on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads); WordStream Facebook Ads Benchmarks, 2026 edition; Triple Whale, more than 40,000 e-commerce brands, August 2025–July 2026; Telegram from our benchmark report.

Google’s cost per click depends heavily on the industry: in the same study it runs from $1.63 in arts and entertainment to $9.87 for attorneys and legal services, and cost per lead from $26.84 to $131.63.

Telegram by Country and Vertical

On Telegram the country moves the price more than the niche does. Euro accounts, single-country campaigns: Uzbekistan €0.20 per thousand impressions, India €0.25, the UAE €1.42, Brazil €2.22, Russia €2.68, Turkey €2.92. Western Europe and the US we have measured only on TON accounts, in TON: Britain and Germany 0.27 TON, the USA 0.39 TON (22 August–3 October 2026).

By vertical, on self-service Euro accounts with all countries blended (3 October 2026):

Vertical	CPM	CTR	Cost per click	Impressions
Binary options	€1.41	0.38%	€0.374	1.35M
Forex	€1.88	1.89%	€0.102	418k
Crypto	€1.91	0.53%	€0.358	821k
VPN	€2.61	1.06%	€0.246	203k

We publish no figure for eCommerce, SaaS, education or news, because we cannot separate those verticals reliably in our data.

Why There Is No “N Times Cheaper” Line Here

An earlier version of this page said Telegram was several times cheaper than Facebook in every niche. Those tables had no source and are gone. The three columns above cannot be divided by each other:

• Different countries. The WordStream samples are US campaigns. Our Euro average is mostly Russia.
• Different currencies. Euro, dollars, TON and Stars, and we do not convert TON or Stars into money.
• Different purchases. A Google click comes from someone who typed a query. A Telegram impression sits in a channel. A Facebook traffic click goes to a website.
• Different statistics. WordStream and Triple Whale report medians across advertisers; ours are totals across all campaigns.

What the figures do support is narrower and still useful: Telegram impressions are cheap in absolute terms in the countries we measured, a Google Search click is the most expensive of the three and carries the most intent, and Facebook sits between them with the widest set of formats.

3. Which Platform Has Better Targeting?

Google and Facebook build audiences from what they know about each user. Telegram targets by context and says it does not use private chats or contact lists for it.

Targeting type	Telegram Ads	Google Ads	Facebook Ads
Search keywords	Search inside Telegram only	The core method on Search	Not a search platform
Location	Country (229 options)	Countries, areas within a country, radius	Country, state, city, postcode
Age and gender	Not available	Yes	Yes
Interests	41 topics	Affinity and in-market segments	Detailed targeting by interests and behaviours
Language	71 languages	Yes	Yes
Device	Yes	Yes	Yes
Specific placements	Specific channels and bots, or subscribers of channels you name	Depends on campaign type	Placement choice across Meta’s apps
Your own customer data	Not available	Your data segments, Customer Match	Custom audiences from lists, Pixel, app
Lookalikes	Not available	Lookalike segments in Demand Gen	Lookalike audiences

Sources: Telegram’s targeting form as of 22 August 2026; Google Ads Help on location, demographics, audience segments, language and device targeting; Meta Business Help Center.

Why Telegram’s Simpler Targeting Can Be an Advantage

On paper Telegram’s list is the shortest. In practice, naming the channels gives you something the other two approximate: you know exactly what the reader was reading when the ad appeared. An interest category on Facebook is a guess about a person; a channel subscription is something the person did.

Targeting verdict: Google wins on search intent. Facebook wins on demographics, behaviour and your own customer data. Telegram wins when your audience is defined by the communities it reads. Pick by how your buyers can be described: by what they search for, by who they are, or by what they follow.

4. Where Does Each Platform Win?

Use case	Leads	Why
Crypto exchanges, wallets, Web3	Telegram	Google certifies exchanges and wallets country by country and allows no ICO or DeFi trading ads; Meta requires written permission and a licence. Telegram’s guidelines do not list crypto as prohibited.
Growing a Telegram channel or bot	Telegram	One tap from ad to subscription. A click to a channel cost €0.355 on our Euro accounts (September 2026).
Mini Apps and the TON ecosystem	Telegram	The destination opens inside the app the user is already in.
Local services	Google	People search for them, and location targeting goes down to a radius.
B2B and SaaS, bottom of funnel	Google	Search intent: the buyer is already comparing solutions.
eCommerce with visual products	Facebook	Carousel and collection formats, custom audiences and lookalikes.
App installs	Google	Dedicated App campaigns across its channels; Telegram ads lead to channels, bots, Mini Apps or, on Euro accounts, a website.
Retargeting	Facebook or Google	Pixel audiences and data segments; Telegram has no equivalent.
Reach in India and Uzbekistan	Telegram	€0.20–0.25 per thousand impressions on our Euro accounts.
Licensed betting and gambling	Google or Facebook	Both run certification for licensed operators. Telegram’s guidelines prohibit gambling — see the gambling policy guide.

Policy sources: Google Ads on cryptocurrencies and gambling; Meta on cryptocurrency and gambling; Telegram guidelines.

The pattern: Telegram leads where the product lives in Telegram or where the other two demand licences the advertiser does not hold. Google leads when purchase intent already exists. Facebook leads when the creative is visual and the audience has to be found by profile.

5. What About Ad Formats and Creatives?

Format	Telegram Ads	Google Ads	Facebook Ads
Text	160 characters and a button	Responsive search ads: up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90	Primary text of 50–150 characters and a 27-character headline recommended for a feed image ad
Image	Optional photo with the text	Display campaigns	Image ads
Video	Optional photo or video with the text, on every account type	Video campaigns on YouTube	Video ads, Stories, Reels
Carousel or catalogue	Not available	Depends on campaign type	Carousel and collection
Where it runs	Channels, bots, search inside Telegram	Search, Display, YouTube, apps; Performance Max across all of them	Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network

Sources: Telegram guidelines; Google Ads Help on responsive search ads and campaign types; Meta Ads Guide.

Telegram’s Format Advantage

• One sentence and a button is a complete ad, so production costs almost nothing.

• The ad reads like a message in the channel, not like a banner.

• Twenty variants are an afternoon of writing, and most are reviewed within three hours.

• AI text generation in Adsly Pro Panel drafts variants for you.

Telegram’s Format Limitation

• One photo or one video per ad, no carousel and no catalogue.

• 160 characters force a single idea.

• Telegram’s guidelines decline gimmicky capitals, emoji and unsupported superlatives.

• A product that has to be seen in several shots is better served by Facebook or YouTube.

6. How Easy Is It to Get Started?

Factor	Telegram Ads	Google Ads	Facebook Ads
Opening an account	TON: self-serve. Euro: through a partner — with Adsly, 48 hours as standard	Self-serve	Self-serve
Entry budget	0.1 TON minimum CPM on TON; €500 ad budget for a Euro account through Adsly	You set your own daily budget	Minimum set by Ads Manager per objective and currency
Ad review	Over 98% of 13,199 campaigns decided within three hours (our accounts, September 2026)	“Most ads are reviewed within one business day"	"Most ads are reviewed within 24 hours”
Automation	CPM bids you set; rules and Auto CPM through Adsly Pro Panel	Performance Max and automated bidding	Advantage+
Measurement	Views, clicks, channel joins, bot starts, conversion events	Conversion tracking	Meta Pixel

Sources: Google Ads Help on ad review; Meta Business Help Center on ad review and minimum budgets; Telegram.

Google and Facebook have far more documentation, courses and certified specialists. Telegram is simpler to operate and harder to find help for. The three things newcomers to Telegram Ads get wrong most often:

• Targeting too broadly. Start with channels you can name, or their subscribers, before opening up to a whole topic.

• Writing like a banner. The guidelines decline capitals, emoji stunts and superlatives. On our accounts 95.6% of reviewed Euro ads and 86.8% of TON ads end up approved; the declined ads guide lists the rules.

• Leaving bids alone. There is no algorithm adjusting your CPM for you. Either you do it or automation rules do.

7. Can You Use Multiple Platforms Together?

Yes, and most advertisers with more than one goal should. Each platform fits a different stage.

The Multi-Channel Framework

Awareness. Telegram Ads for niche communities and for building a channel audience you keep. Facebook Ads for broad consumer reach with visual formats.

Consideration. Google Search for people researching the category. Your own Telegram channel for the subscribers you already gained: posting to them costs nothing.

Conversion. Google Search for branded and high-intent queries. Facebook retargeting for site visitors and customer lists. A Telegram bot to qualify and close the people who came through the channel.

Which Platform Leads, by Business Type

This table is our working judgement, not measured data. Test it against your own numbers.

Business type	Leads	Supports
Crypto or Web3 project	Telegram	Google where you hold the licences it certifies
B2B SaaS	Google	Telegram for niche communities, Facebook for retargeting
eCommerce with visual products	Facebook	Google for product searches
Media, content, Telegram channels	Telegram	Facebook for broad reach
Local services	Google	Facebook for the local audience

The principle: put the largest share of budget where your buyers show intent, and the next share where you can reach them most precisely. For a product that lives in Telegram, both of those are Telegram.

If you want all three run by one team, Adsly works as a Meta, Google, TikTok and X ads agency for crypto, iGaming, casino, betting and forex advertisers and for regular offers: one plan and one manager across Facebook, Instagram, Google and Telegram, on your budget — Meta, Google, TikTok and X ads agency. What Google and Meta allow crypto projects in 2026 is covered in Google Ads for crypto and Facebook ads for crypto and gambling.

8. What Results Can You Expect?

Benchmarks That Have a Source

• Google Search: an 8.18% conversion rate and $66.69 per lead across 13,474 US campaigns (WordStream, 2026).
• Facebook lead campaigns: an 8.54% conversion rate and $27.39 per lead across 452 US campaigns (WordStream, 2026).
• Meta ads for e-commerce: a median cost per acquisition of $38.99 and a median return on ad spend of 1.88 across more than 40,000 brands, August 2025–July 2026 (Triple Whale).
• Telegram: cost per click by destination on our Euro accounts in September 2026 — €0.355 to a channel, €0.223 to a bot, €0.266 to a website and €0.038 to a Mini App, the last on only six accounts.

Telegram has no public conversion or ROAS benchmark, and we do not publish one. Telegram’s “actions” are channel joins and bot starts; what a subscriber is worth depends on what your channel or bot does next. Measure it with postbacks before you compare it with a Google or Facebook cost per lead.

What We Removed

Earlier versions of this page carried a cost-per-action table and ROAS ranges for all three platforms. None of those numbers had a source, so they are gone. If someone quotes you a “typical ROAS on Telegram”, ask for the sample.

Try Telegram Ads with Adsly

Adsly Pro Panel manages Euro, TON and Stars accounts in one dashboard: hourly analytics, IF/THEN automation rules, Auto CPM, bulk operations and AI text generation. Every account also keeps its own login on ads.telegram.org.

Start a free 3-day Pro trial · Adsly managed service

Stop managing Telegram Ads manually. ADSLY runs Telegram Ads for 200+ advertisers — and every new Euro cabinet is a World account covering every available country. All 3 cabinet types (TON, Euro, Stars). IF/THEN automation. Ad text optimization. Bulk edit 100+ campaigns in one click. Start free — 3-day Pro trial →

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Is Telegram Ads cheaper than Google Ads?

They sell different things, so it depends on what you count. A Google Search click averaged $5.42 across 13,474 US campaigns (WordStream, 2026) and comes from someone who typed a query. On our Euro accounts a Telegram click averaged €0.34 and a thousand impressions €2.97 (3 October 2026), shown to people reading a channel. Telegram is cheap for reach and for building a channel; Google is the one that captures existing demand.

Can Telegram Ads replace Facebook Ads for my business?

Only if your audience can be reached through Telegram channels and you do not depend on demographic targeting or retargeting. Telegram has no age, gender, pixel or lookalike audiences. It suits crypto, Telegram-native products and niche communities; Facebook suits broad consumer products and visual selling. Many advertisers run both.

What is the minimum budget to start advertising on Telegram?

A self-serve TON account has a minimum CPM of 0.1 TON. A Euro account through Adsly starts from a €500 ad budget, crypto and stocks included, and opens in 48 hours as standard. Stars accounts are only for channel and bot owners spending Stars their channel earned. Google lets you set your own daily budget, and Meta sets a minimum in Ads Manager that depends on objective and currency.

Which platform is best for crypto and Web3 projects?

Telegram. Google allows ads for exchanges and wallets only with country-by-country certification and does not allow ICO or DeFi trading protocol ads; Meta requires prior written permission and a regulatory licence. Telegram’s guidelines do not list crypto as a prohibited category, though they do prohibit guaranteed-return offers. On our self-service Euro accounts the crypto vertical measures €1.91 CPM and 0.53% CTR (821k impressions).

How do ad formats compare across Telegram, Google, and Facebook?

Telegram runs a 160-character message with a button and an optional photo or video. Google runs responsive search ads of up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, plus Display, YouTube and app campaigns. Facebook runs image, video, carousel and collection ads across Feed, Stories and Reels. Telegram is the cheapest to produce and the most limited visually.

Should I use Telegram Ads, Google Ads, or Facebook Ads for my SaaS product?

Lead with Google Search for people already looking for your category. Add Telegram to reach niche communities and build a channel audience, and Facebook to retarget site visitors and reach lookalikes of your customers. We publish no cost-per-signup figure for SaaS on Telegram, because we have none that is measured.