Questions admins ask before connecting a paid group
KickThemBot is a Telegram bot that sells access to private groups and channels: members pay into your own Stripe or wallet, get in, get reminded before access ends and are removed after it ends. Here are the questions admins ask before they connect a paid group.
Getting started
What is a Telegram membership bot?
A Telegram membership bot helps a paid group or private channel manage plans, payments, invite access, renewal reminders, member status, and removal after expiry or cancellation. With KickThemBot, members pay into your own Stripe account or wallet, or redeem an access code. In new Bouncers each chat has one request-to-join link, and the bot approves only members whose plan includes that chat.
Can an AI agent set up KickThemBot for me?
Yes. Paste one prompt into your AI agent and it pairs with your account through the owner API and creates your Bouncer and plans. You approve the pairing in @KickThemBot, and only you can connect Stripe or confirm a USDT wallet.
How do I know it removes the right person?
You test it before you take real traffic. The free plan exists to run one controlled member through the full cycle — buy, get access, expire, get removed, get recovered — on a private test channel, so you see the removal work before a paying member depends on it.
I already sell access somewhere else. Does it still work?
Access codes exist for exactly that. A sale on your own site, an invoice, a partner deal, or a payment you took manually can be redeemed as a code, so the payment stays where it is and only the access decision moves here.
Can I move my members over from another Telegram bot?
Yes. Export your members from your current tool and send the file to @KickThemBot: a CSV with each member's numeric Telegram ID, plan and end date, or a supported ZIP export. Members stay in your group and keep their end dates, and card subscriptions billed through your own Stripe keep renewing once you connect it. The step-by-step guide is at kickthembot.com/switch/.
Pricing and payments
How much does KickThemBot cost?
Fresh is free for up to 5 active members and 1 channel. Bouncer is $9 a month for 25 members, Boss is $19 for 50 and Empire is $49 for 800+. Yearly billing gets two months free, and there is no percentage fee on your sales.
Does KickThemBot take a percentage of my sales?
No. KickThemBot charges only its flat plan price: Fresh is free, and Bouncer, Boss and Empire cost $9, $19 or $49 a month, or $90, $190 or $490 a year. Card payments go to your own connected Stripe account, where Stripe's own processing fees apply, and USDT payments go straight to your own wallet. KickThemBot never holds your members' money.
Are the plans capped by how much I sell?
No. Plans are limited by active members, Bouncers, channels and access codes, never by revenue, so a bigger month does not move you to a pricier plan. You upgrade only when you need more members or channels: 25 on Bouncer, 50 on Boss, 800+ on Empire. If you already pay, the bot shows your current and new price first, and nothing changes until you tap Confirm change.
Can members pay in crypto?
Yes. Members send crypto directly to your own wallet address. Once you have confirmed the payment, you send them an access code for their plan and they redeem it with the bot. Automated crypto checkout is coming next.
What are access codes used for?
Access codes connect purchases that happen outside the bot, such as website checkout or manual sales, to Telegram access. A buyer receives a code or link and redeems it with the bot, which starts their membership and sends their way into each chat in their plan. A Mini App code works once and expires after 7 days unless you change it, and you can make 20 at a time.
What happens to my members if I stop paying?
Nobody is removed because you stopped paying. Members you already have keep their access, and renewals, reminders and removal after expiry carry on. If you are over the free plan's limits, admitting new members pauses until you upgrade or get back under them. Cancelling stops the next charge, and your plan runs until the end of the period you paid for.
Does every feature work in every Telegram payment scenario?
Payment rules depend on the exact checkout flow, country, product type, and Telegram policy. Public claims should be verified before launch, especially for in-app digital goods. KickThemBot itself takes cards through Stripe's checkout page on your own Stripe account, USDT paid to your own wallet, and access codes for sales made anywhere else. It does not take Telegram Stars.
Members and access
Do members get reminded before their access ends?
Yes. Your bot messages members in Telegram before a fixed-term membership ends, by default three days before the end date, and when a subscription payment is past due. Auto-renewing subscriptions renew on their own, so they get no reminder. On paid plans you write the text and choose the timing.
Can KickThemBot remove expired Telegram members automatically?
Yes. After a member's access ends, or their subscription is cancelled or goes unpaid, KickThemBot removes them from the chats it is connected to with invite and ban rights. With request to join, a later request from them is declined; a one-time link they hold is revoked. Subscriptions get a short grace first, so a renewal can land, and if the bot has lost its rights in a chat, the removal waits and runs once you restore them.
Can a forwarded invite link let someone in for free?
Not with request to join, which new Bouncers start with. Every tap on a chat's link raises a join request, and the bot approves it only for a member whose plan includes that chat. Anyone else is declined, never gets in, and is not banned. If you switch a Bouncer to one-time links, each link holds one member at a time and is revoked when that member's access ends; a one-time link forwarded before its buyer uses it admits whoever taps it first, which is why the bot sends those privately.
Will my members mind talking to a bot?
They use it to get in, and after that it messages them about their own membership: a reminder before a fixed-term membership ends, or a notice when a payment fails. On Empire, supported messages carry no KickThemBot branding line, so what they see is your bot rather than a third-party tool.
Can I remove the Powered by KickThemBot line?
Yes, on Empire, which costs $49 a month or $490 a year. On Fresh, Bouncer and Boss, supported member messages end with one small Powered by KickThemBot line. Empire also changes what a declined stranger sees: on other plans, someone declined at your request-to-join link may get a short note from @KickThemBot naming the bot that sells access; on Empire they get no message.
Trust and control
Can the bot mess with my group?
It asks for two admin rights on the chats you connect, invite and ban, and nothing else. It never asks for the rights to delete messages, pin messages or change your group's settings. It uses invite to let paying members in, and ban to remove people whose access ended and, once people can get access, anyone who joins without it, unless you, your helpers or a chat admin let them in. You, your helpers and the chat's admins are not removed. If it removes someone who joined without access, it tells you (not every time if they keep trying), and you can let them stay in that chat. Anyone removed can come back once they have access.
Does KickThemBot replace a CRM?
KickThemBot acts as the membership source of truth for paid Telegram access. Teams can use the API to look up plans, memberships, access status, and renewal updates where supported. Every plan includes API access, and on Boss and Empire, signed webhooks send membership events, such as a new membership, an update or a status change, to your own systems.
Still unsure? Email support@kickthembot.com, or read how security works.
Moving from another bot? See how your members move over. Still comparing? Read the buyer's guide.
Paid Telegram access, managed automatically.
Open the bot, connect one private group, and let the next renewal batch run without you.
Free plan, no card required. Upgrade or stop whenever you want.
Opens Telegram. Starting the bot does not purchase a plan.