The first question when launching Telegram outreach is always the same: how much can we send without getting blocked. The honest answer is inconvenient - there is no exact number, and anyone who quotes one as a guarantee is passing their own statistics off as a platform rule.
Why there is no official number
Telegram does not publish anti-spam thresholds - not in the terms of service and not in the API documentation. The terms state the ban qualitatively: you may not "use our service to send spam or scam users", and a violation "may result in a temporary or a permanent ban".
The reason is obvious: a published limit instantly becomes a manual for spammers. So the threshold is dynamic and is made up of at least four things: the account's age, its activity history, the share of complaints about previous messages and the behaviour of the whole pool the sending comes from.
What is known for certain
- Restrictions are checked through Telegram's official bot @SpamBot: it says whether there is a block and when it lifts.
- At the API level a restriction on messaging strangers arrives as the
PEER_FLOODerror. - Automatic restrictions usually lift on their own in 7-30 days; a message to @SpamBot sometimes shortens that.
- In practice 3-5 complaints from unknown recipients are enough to get a restriction. There is no official confirmation of that figure.
Practical benchmarks
The numbers below are working benchmarks that limits in Meliora are built on, not a promise from the platform.
| Account state | Touches per day | Pause between touches |
|---|---|---|
| New, days 1-3 | 0 | - |
| Warm-up, days 4-10 | 10 → 60 | 60-120 seconds |
| Warmed up, days 11-21 | up to 300 | 40-90 seconds |
| After a lifted block | 10-20, then ramp up again | 90-120 seconds |
The pause matters more than the ceiling. A hundred messages sent as a steady stream in ten minutes will produce more complaints than the same hundred spread across a working day.
How to calculate the load on a pool
Plan from the campaign volume, not from the number of accounts. The formula is simple:
touches per day = number of warmed-up accounts × daily limit per account
An example. You need 3,000 touches a month; with 20 working days that is 150 touches a day. At a conservative limit of 100 touches per warmed-up account, two working accounts are enough, plus one in reserve and one warming up - four in the pool.
The typical mistake is planning at maximum. A pool of two accounts running at their limit will not survive one of them being blocked: the campaign halves. A 30-50% buffer in accounts is cheaper than a stopped campaign.
What counts as a touch
A touch is one message sent to a lead. A three-step sequence for one lead is three touches, not one. Hence a common planning error: a database of 1,000 contacts with three touches is 3,000 sends, and limits have to be calculated against that number.
Unused touches do not roll over to the next day: a missed day does not earn you the right to send double tomorrow.
What matters more than the limit
The sending threshold is the third most important factor. The first two are:
- Relevance of the database. People complain about an inappropriate offer, not about speed. A precise selection lowers the share of complaints more than any limit reduction.
- The first message. A touch that reads as personal and explains why you are writing to this particular person collects far fewer complaints than a template sent to everyone.
Frequently asked questions
How many messages a day can you send in Telegram?
There is no official limit. Practical benchmarks: 10-20 touches a day on a new account and up to 300 on an account after three weeks of warm-up. The real ceiling depends on the share of complaints.
Is there a difference between direct messages and group chats?
Yes. Messages to strangers in direct chats are the anti-spam zone - that is what gets you restricted. Messages in chats you are a member of are governed by that chat's rules and its admins.
What is the PEER_FLOOD error?
It is an API response meaning a restriction on sending messages to strangers. It appears during a spam block. Continuing to send in that state is pointless and harmful: the term of the restriction grows.
Does Telegram Premium raise outreach limits?
No. Premium extends product limits such as file size and the number of folders, but it does not affect anti-spam.
How do I check whether an account is restricted?
Message @SpamBot from that account. It will say whether there are restrictions and when they will be lifted. Checking regularly is far more useful than checking once: a block has to be caught in the first hours, not after a week of a wasted campaign.