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 about $20 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 5.5 for complex tasks, Haiku 5.5 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 ($12 a month, or $9 billed yearly) removes the limit and adds flight search, price alerts, advanced cryptocurrency search, image and video generation, reading Telegram channels, Google Workspace and Notion.
Key traits: your own private bot (not shared), proactive notifications, multilingual, paid by card, Telegram Stars or crypto. Among the subscriptions here it's the cheapest, at $12 a month or $9 a month billed yearly.
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 you pick by hand (Claude Fable 5, GPT 5.6, Seedance and others) and is paid by card, Telegram Stars or crypto from $18 a month billed yearly ($35 monthly), 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 runs coding agents (Claude Code, Codex and Cursor) in the cloud, controlled from Telegram or Slack, with memory of your stack. It offers GPT, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi and more on prepaid credit packs from $10, no subscription, with free features to start. It's built for developers and teams rather than as a personal bot, and its agents can work on a schedule. 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 subscription: VELA at $12 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly, then Mira at $35 a month, or $18 a month billed yearly. TeleClaw has no subscription, only prepaid credit packs from $10. 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, Mira, TeleClaw and OpenClaw all have them: scheduled tasks or actions on a condition.
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.
Developers running coding agents from a 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 ($12 a month, with a free Basic plan). For a ready shared assistant, Mira. For developers running coding agents, TeleClaw. For self-hosting with full control, the open-source OpenClaw.
What's the cheapest AI assistant in Telegram? Among subscriptions, VELA is the lowest: $12 a month, or $9 a month billed yearly, ahead of Mira ($35 a month, or $18 a month billed yearly). TeleClaw has no subscription, its credit packs start at $10. 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.