7 Best AI Assistants for Telegram in 2026
Telegram is where a lot of people already talk to their teams, communities and family. It’s also one of the easiest places to put an AI assistant, because Telegram lets anyone create a bot in a minute.
What it doesn’t have is an official ChatGPT or Claude bot. So the choice is between assistants that support Telegram as a channel, open-source agents you run yourself, and a bot you own that’s wired to your real work apps.
The quick answer: Carly is the best AI assistant for Telegram when the message is part of real work. You connect your own Telegram bot, and Carly can answer messages in a chat and send updates from that bot as one step in a bigger job: checking every calendar you have, replying to email from the right account, or updating your CRM. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. If you want an agent you host yourself, OpenClaw and Hermes Agent both run in Telegram.
AI assistants for Telegram compared
| Assistant | How it lives in Telegram | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Your own bot, connected to Carly | Work: email, calendar, CRM, team updates | Free workflows; agents from $35/mo |
| OpenClaw | Self-hosted agent with a Telegram channel | Tinkerers who want full control | Free, open source; you pay for the AI model |
| Hermes Agent | Self-hosted gateway for Telegram and other chat apps | Developers who want an agent that learns | Free, open source; you pay for the AI model |
| Folk | Message it on Telegram, iMessage or WhatsApp | Personal tasks and reminders | Free; Pro $8.33/mo |
| Rene | Message it on Telegram, iMessage or WhatsApp | A “best contact” personal assistant | Not published |
| Comma | Message it on Telegram, Signal or WeChat | Work and life tasks across devices | Free to start, open source |
| Stanley | Message it on Telegram, iMessage or the web | Content creators | Paid plans |
1. Carly
Carly is an AI assistant and agent builder for your email, calendar and the apps your business runs on. Telegram is one of the thousands of apps it connects to, and Carly uses a bot that belongs to you.
What it does in Telegram:
- Answers in the chat. The “Telegram AI chatbot” template has your bot read each message, think, and reply in the conversation.
- Sends from your bot as part of a bigger job. A Carly workflow can post today’s schedule to your team’s Telegram group at 8am, ping you when an important client emails, or confirm a booking.
- Knows the rest of your work. Carly connects all of your Gmail and Outlook accounts and every calendar you have, plus your CRM, so the Telegram message can carry real answers: when you’re actually free, what the client last said, whether the invoice was paid.
Setting it up:
- Open Telegram, message @BotFather, send
/newbot, and copy the token it gives you. - In Carly, go to Integrations, find Telegram, and paste the token.
- To have the bot answer messages, start from the Telegram AI chatbot template in workflows and point your bot at the workflow’s URL once, using Telegram’s setWebhook call, as the template explains.
- Add the bot to a group, or start a chat with it, and send a test message.
You can also text Carly from your phone, email it, or use it on the web and inside ChatGPT and Claude.
- Best for: founders, consultants and small teams who run work through Telegram.
- Pricing: free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
- Limitations: answering messages needs that one-time webhook step. Telegram bots only see chats they’re part of, and in groups they see only messages that mention or reply to them unless you turn off privacy mode in @BotFather.
2. OpenClaw
OpenClaw is a self-hosted, open-source agent that lives in your messaging apps, Telegram included, and can read email, browse the web and run commands. You bring the model: Claude, GPT, Gemini or a local one. More in what is OpenClaw.
- Best for: technical users who want full control over the agent and its data.
- Pricing: free; you pay the AI model provider, and heavy use has produced surprise bills.
- Limitations: you run the server, the updates and the security. See OpenClaw alternatives.
3. Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent from Nous Research runs on your own machine or server, with one gateway serving Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email and the terminal. It’s designed to get better at your work the longer it runs. More in what is Hermes Agent.
- Best for: developers who want an agent that improves at their specific work.
- Pricing: free and open source; you pay for the model and hosting.
- Limitations: you operate the runtime yourself.
4. Folk
Folk is an AI assistant you message on Telegram, iMessage or WhatsApp. It remembers personal context, manages reminders, researches, tracks flights and handles email, running on its own private cloud computer. It launched in beta in May 2026.
- Best for: personal tasks you’d hand to a helpful friend.
- Pricing: free; Pro is $8.33 a month for unlimited background tasks.
- Limitations: built for personal life more than for team work.
5. Rene
Rene pitches itself as your “best contact”: a text-based assistant that turns conversations into tasks, reminders and summaries, and can browse, shop and make slides. It’s available on Telegram, iMessage and WhatsApp.
- Best for: people who want one contact to send everything to.
- Pricing: not published.
- Limitations: few public details on which work apps it connects to.
6. Comma
Comma carries tasks through to completion across your browser, computer and files, and you can reach it remotely on Telegram, Signal or WeChat. It sends daily briefings and flags urgent items.
- Best for: people who want an open-source agent with a messaging front door.
- Pricing: free to start, open source.
- Limitations: works across your own computer, so it’s as reliable as the machine it runs on.
7. Stanley
Stanley is an AI content assistant for creators, available on Telegram, iMessage and the web. It helps you come up with ideas and turn them into posts. See Stanley pricing.
- Best for: creators planning LinkedIn and Instagram content.
- Pricing: paid plans.
- Limitations: a content tool, not a general assistant.
What about ChatGPT and Claude on Telegram?
As of October 2026, neither OpenAI nor Anthropic offers an official Telegram bot. Third-party bots that wrap ChatGPT exist, but they see every message you send them, so check who runs one before you trust it with anything private. Claude can reach Telegram only through a custom connector you set up yourself; see Claude + Telegram. Or add the Carly connector to Claude and let Carly send the Telegram message from your own bot.
How to choose
- Telegram is where your team or clients talk, and the job touches email or calendars: Carly.
- You want to self-host and own everything: OpenClaw or Hermes Agent.
- You want a personal assistant to text: Folk or Rene.
- You’re a creator: Stanley.
Looking for WhatsApp instead? See the best AI assistants for WhatsApp.
FAQ
What is the best AI assistant for Telegram?
For work, Carly: it runs through a Telegram bot you own and connects to your email, calendars and thousands of other apps, so a Telegram message can trigger or report real work. For a self-hosted agent, OpenClaw or Hermes Agent.
Is there an official ChatGPT bot on Telegram?
No. OpenAI doesn’t run an official ChatGPT bot on Telegram. Bots using ChatGPT’s models are made by third parties.
Can Claude work with Telegram?
Only through a custom connector you set up yourself. Anthropic has no official Telegram integration. The Carly connector in Claude is another route: Claude asks Carly, and Carly sends from your Telegram bot.
How do I add an AI assistant to a Telegram group?
Create a bot with @BotFather, connect it to your assistant (in Carly, paste the token under Integrations), then add the bot to the group. By default a bot in a group sees only messages that mention or reply to it; turn off privacy mode in @BotFather if it should read everything.
Can an AI assistant send Telegram messages for me?
Yes, from a bot. With Carly, any workflow can send a Telegram message from your bot, for example a morning schedule to your team group or an alert when a key client emails.
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See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
