TeleCrow vs PuzzleBot: Pricing, Limits and the Ads Question

TeleCrow vs PuzzleBot: Pricing, Limits and Market Fit

PuzzleBot is a well-established Telegram bot and mini-app builder with a strong position in the Russian-speaking market. It also supports MAX, the Russian messenger, which matters a great deal to some users and not at all to others.

Two things separate it from TeleCrow, and both are worth understanding before you commit.

PuzzleBot's pricing

Verified from their tariffs page:

The dollar column is PuzzleBot's published USD price list, not a conversion — the two lists are set independently, which is why no single exchange rate reproduces them. The USD route carries no autopay discount, because autopay is unavailable on the "Foreign card" method. Note also that PuzzleBot's plan cards and its own comparison table lower down quote slightly different USD figures ($13/$21/$36 against $12/$19/$33); we have used the plan cards.

PuzzleBot discounts committed terms — its 3-, 6- and 12-month tabs advertise 10%, 15% and 20% off, though the listed prices work out to roughly 9%, 13% and 16%. Enabling autopay is a separate 10% off the monthly ruble price, and it is unavailable when paying by foreign card. We could not confirm that autopay and term discounts combine: the multi-month tabs show no autopay price at all.

TeleCrow: Free (1 bot, 50 new users/day, ad in bot), then $3.99 (1 bot, 100/day), $6.99 (2 bots, unlimited daily users), $11.99 (4 bots, unlimited).

The two meter capacity on different axes — PuzzleBot by subscriber ceilings per bot and per resource, TeleCrow by new users per day — so per-tier price is not a like-for-like comparison. PuzzleBot's Professional tier buys 8 bots, 12 resources, 20,000 subscribers per bot, 50 administrators and unlimited income against TeleCrow Ultra's 4 bots. They sell different amounts and shapes of capacity, not the same thing at 3× the price.

At monthly billing, PuzzleBot's entry plan ($13) sits just above TeleCrow's top plan ($11.99), and Professional is about 3× it. Commit to a term and that reverses at the entry tier: Creative is $11.00/month on three months, $10.33 on six and $9.75 on twelve — below TeleCrow's top plan. Professional falls to about 2.4× on twelve months. TeleCrow does not offer annual billing, so it has nothing to set against that.

Two caveats on that comparison. Currency is not a differentiator: PuzzleBot publishes both a ruble and a fixed dollar price list on the same page, with a ₽/$ toggle and a "Foreign card" payment method, so a dollar payer sees a fixed dollar figure that does not move with the exchange rate. What the foreign-card route does cost you on PuzzleBot is autopay — it cannot be activated on that method — and it carries an $11 payment-system minimum. And PuzzleBot's plans cover a broader feature set than bot templates alone, including mini-app building.

The free tier, honestly

This is where the platforms differ most sharply, and it is the part worth reading carefully.

PuzzleBot's free tier:

• 1 bot, 2 resources
• Up to 150 subscribers per bot
• ₽3,000/month cap on total income per account
• 50 incoming and 500 outgoing requests per month
• Up to 15 commands, conditions and mini-apps combined
• Advertising shown in your bot (TeleCrow's free tier does the same — see below)

The 150-subscriber ceiling is the most visible constraint, but not the first one a commercial bot hits — a ₽3,000/month income cap (roughly $35) or 50 incoming requests a month will bind well before it. A bot that succeeds even modestly hits it quickly, and at that point you are on a paid plan — which is, reasonably enough, the intent.

On the free tier, PuzzleBot places its own promotional messaging inside the bot your customers interact with. For learning the tool that is a fair trade; for anything customer-facing and commercial it is a reason to be on a paid plan. We are not going to sell you on this as a difference, though, because it is not one — see below.

TeleCrow's free tier does the same thing. Our Free plan shows a small TeleCrow ad inside your bot, removed on every paid plan. So this is not a difference between the two platforms — it is how both fund a free tier, and it is a reason to be on a paid plan on either.

Where PuzzleBot is stronger

MAX support. If your audience uses MAX, PuzzleBot reaches them and TeleCrow does not. For parts of the Russian market this single fact decides it.

Mini-app building. PuzzleBot builds Telegram mini-apps, not only bots. Mini-apps are a meaningfully different surface with different capabilities.

Ruble billing. No currency conversion for Russian customers, and no exchange-rate exposure.

Scale. PuzzleBot reports 67,000 bot developers, chat moderators and channel authors, 83,000 bots earning for their creators daily, and over 6 million Telegram users reached. Its tariffs page notes plans in effect since February 2021.

Where TeleCrow is stronger

Lower monthly price at every paid tier, at monthly billing. On a twelve-month commitment PuzzleBot's entry tier drops to $9.75/month, below TeleCrow's top plan — and TeleCrow has no annual option to answer with.

A free tier metered as a rate, not a ceiling. PuzzleBot's free plan stops dead at 150 subscribers; TeleCrow's allows 50 new users a day with no total cap, so a slow-growing bot can run on it indefinitely.

Dollar billing without conditions. PuzzleBot prices in dollars too, so this is narrower than it sounds — but its foreign-card route gives up the autopay discount and carries an $11 minimum, and TeleCrow's does not.

Faster start for the use cases a template already covers — seven of them: digital product, access control, support, welcome, autofunnels, personal AI and giveaway.

Choose PuzzleBot if

• Your audience is in Russia or the CIS
• You need MAX as well as Telegram
• You want to build mini-apps, not just bots
• You bill and earn in rubles
• Your requirements are complex enough to need its deeper configuration

Choose TeleCrow if

• Your audience is international
• You want the lowest predictable cost
• You want a free tier metered in signups per day (50/day) rather than a hard 150-subscriber ceiling
• Your use case fits a template and you want to launch today

The summary

For most Russian-speaking users PuzzleBot is the stronger choice, with one exception: a single small bot under 150 subscribers with no MAX or mini-app requirement has no reason to pay ₽891 a month. MAX support, ruble billing and mini-apps are advantages TeleCrow cannot match, and they are not small.

Outside that market the calculation narrows: at monthly billing PuzzleBot's entry plan costs more than TeleCrow's top plan, and its free tier stops at 150 subscribers, ₽3,000/month in income and 50 requests. On a twelve-month commitment its entry plan is cheaper than ours. Both platforms advertise inside your bot on the free tier.

Pick by market first, price second.

Prices read 2 September 2026 from PuzzleBot's tariffs page. PuzzleBot publishes fixed ₽ and $ price lists; the USD figures here are theirs, not converted, so they do not move with the exchange rate. Verify current pricing before deciding.