If you want an AI assistant that lives inside Telegram — not another app or browser tab — 2026 gives you a handful of real options. They differ a lot: some are shared bots, some are your own; some are no-code, some you host yourself; prices run from free to $21 a month. Here's an honest comparison of the main ones, and how to pick.
This is about assistants that act — they remember you, run tasks and connect to your tools — not general chatbots you open in a browser.
VELA — personal assistant, lowest price
VELA is a personal AI assistant you run as your own Telegram bot. You create it through @BotFather in about five minutes, with no code and no server, and it runs on Claude from Anthropic — Sonnet 4.6 for complex tasks, Haiku 4.5 for fast ones.
It's built for active people, specialists and entrepreneurs who want a daily assistant. Out of the box on the free Basic plan: weather, currency, crypto, stock, index and precious-metal rates, reminders, web search, photo and document analysis, a morning digest, a places guide, and long-term memory — up to 15 messages a day, no card. Pro ($9 a month, or $7 billed yearly) removes the limit and adds flight search, price alerts, advanced cryptocurrency search, image generation, reading Telegram channels, Google Workspace and Notion.
Key traits: your own private bot (not shared), proactive notifications, multilingual, paid by card or Telegram Stars. Among the paid options it's the cheapest, at $9 a month.
Mira — shared assistant for everyone
Mira is an AI assistant for all Telegram users, with long-term memory, proactive notifications and a no-code setup. It runs across several models (MiniMax, Qwen, GPT-5 Mini, Claude, GPT-5.5) and is paid with Telegram Stars from $21 a month, with a free plan available. Unlike VELA it isn't your own private bot — it's a shared assistant. Full breakdown in VELA vs Mira.
TeleClaw — for teams and groups
TeleClaw is a hosted agent bot aimed at teams and communities, working inside Telegram group chats with long-term memory and a no-code setup. It runs on Opus 4.6 / Sonnet 4.6 / GPT 5.2 and is paid with Telegram Stars or TON from $19 a month, with a free plan. It's group-first rather than a personal bot, and doesn't send proactive notifications. More in VELA vs TeleClaw.
OpenClaw — open-source, self-hosted
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant for Telegram aimed at developers and technical users. It's free and runs on any model you connect — but you host it yourself, so it needs code and a server, unlike the no-code options above. Best if you want full control and don't mind the setup. Details in VELA vs OpenClaw.
How they compare
Cheapest paid plan: VELA at $9 a month, then TeleClaw at $19, then Mira at $21. OpenClaw is free but self-hosted.
Your own private bot: VELA and OpenClaw. Mira and TeleClaw are shared or group bots.
No code or server: VELA, Mira and TeleClaw. OpenClaw you host yourself.
Proactive notifications: VELA and Mira send them; TeleClaw and OpenClaw don't.
All four keep long-term memory and work in many languages.
How to choose the best one for you
The right pick depends on what you are:
An individual who wants a personal daily assistant, cheaply — VELA: your own bot, lowest price, no setup.
Someone who wants a ready shared assistant and doesn't mind paying more — Mira.
A team running things in a group chat — TeleClaw.
A developer who wants full control and self-hosting — OpenClaw.
Whatever you lean toward, the rule is the same: start on a free plan and use it for a week. If it embeds into your routine, it pays for itself. We go deeper in how to choose an AI assistant, and how to make a Telegram AI bot without code walks through the VELA setup.
FAQ
What's the best AI assistant for Telegram in 2026? It depends on what you need. For a cheap personal assistant that's your own bot, VELA ($9 a month, with a free Basic plan). For a ready shared assistant, Mira. For teams in group chats, TeleClaw. For self-hosting with full control, the open-source OpenClaw.
What's the cheapest AI assistant in Telegram? Among paid plans, VELA at $9 a month is the lowest, ahead of TeleClaw ($19) and Mira ($21). OpenClaw is free but you host it yourself.
Is there a free AI assistant in Telegram? Yes. VELA's Basic plan is free with no card (up to 15 messages a day), Mira and TeleClaw have free plans too, and OpenClaw is fully free but self-hosted.
Do I need to code to set one up? Not with VELA, Mira or TeleClaw — they're no-code. OpenClaw is self-hosted and does require setup. VELA takes about five minutes: get a token from @BotFather, paste it, and start chatting.