Telegram vs LINE

Telegram and LINE are both full messaging apps, but they are built for different jobs. LINE is a personal messenger and lifestyle platform that dominates daily chat in a handful of Asian markets, while Telegram is a global, cloud-based messenger whose real strength is public broadcasting through channels and very large groups. If your friends and family are on LINE, keep it for them; if you want to publish to an audience or run a big community, Telegram is usually the better tool.

This guide compares the two honestly, section by section, so you can decide which one fits each part of your life. Many people end up using both, and that is often the right answer.

The short version

If you only have a minute, these are the differences that matter most in practice:

• Who is already there. LINE is the default messenger in a few countries, so it wins on reach in those places. Telegram is spread across many countries, with especially large communities around news, tech, education and crypto.
• Accounts and identity. Both start with a phone number. Telegram lets you hide that number behind a public username; LINE uses friend adding, QR codes and an optional LINE ID.
• Devices. Telegram is designed to run on many devices at once, with your history synced from its cloud. LINE is built around one main phone, with other devices as companions.
• Encryption. LINE encrypts most chats end to end by default with a feature it calls Letter Sealing. Telegram encrypts cloud chats between your device and its servers, and offers end-to-end encryption in opt-in secret chats.
• Broadcasting. Telegram channels can have unlimited subscribers and are free to run. LINE's broadcasting tool for brands, Official Accounts, is built around business messaging plans.
• Communities. Telegram groups can hold up to 200,000 members, with topics, slow mode and bots. LINE's regular groups are smaller, and its open chat rooms are a separate product.

The rest of this article explains each of these and what it means for you.

Before you start: decide what you are comparing for

People compare messengers for very different reasons, and the "better" app changes with the reason. Pick the one that matches you before reading on:

1. Personal chat with people you know. The deciding factor is almost always where your contacts already are.
2. Privacy. The deciding factors are what is end-to-end encrypted by default, what your contacts can see about you, and how much data sits on a company's servers.
3. Publishing to an audience. The deciding factors are reach, cost, discoverability and whether followers actually see what you post.
4. Running a community. The deciding factors are member limits, moderation tools and how well the app handles busy conversations.
5. Business messaging. The deciding factors are customer reach in your market, automation and pricing.

Keep your reason in mind. A feature that is a big advantage for one purpose can be irrelevant for another.

Where each app is used

LINE's home markets

LINE is operated by LY Corporation, a company formed from the merger of LINE and Yahoo Japan. It is the everyday messenger for a large share of people in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, and it has a meaningful presence in some other Asian markets. In those countries, LINE is not just a chat app. People use it for news, stickers, shopping, official notices from businesses and sometimes payments, depending on what the local version offers.

That local depth is LINE's biggest advantage. If you live in one of those countries, your landlord, your child's school, your hairdresser and your favourite café may all be on LINE. No feature list can beat that.

Telegram's spread

Telegram does not have one home market in the same way. It is used across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and its users tend to cluster around topics rather than places. Public channels for news, education, technology, finance, gaming and hobbies are a large part of why people install it.

The practical result is this: LINE is where you find people you already know in its home countries, and Telegram is where you find strangers who share an interest. If you want to see the range, browsing the Telegram channel categories gives a quick sense of what lives on Telegram.

Accounts, identity and adding people

How you sign up

Both apps ask for a phone number when you create an account, and both use it to verify you. After that, they handle identity differently.

On Telegram, you can set a public username. Other people can then find and message you through that username or a t.me link without ever learning your phone number. You can also hide the number entirely from everyone, or show it only to contacts. Our guide on how to hide your phone number on Telegram walks through the exact settings.

On LINE, the number is mainly used for registration and for matching your phone's contacts. To add someone you are not already matched with, you typically scan their QR code, share an invitation, or search for their LINE ID if they have set one and allowed others to find them by it. LINE IDs have traditionally been permanent once chosen, so pick carefully if you create one, and check in the app before assuming you can change it later.

What this means in practice

• Meeting strangers safely. Telegram's username system makes it easy to talk to people from a forum or a community without exposing your number. LINE's QR and ID system also avoids sharing numbers, but it is designed more around people you meet in person.
• Contact matching. Both apps can suggest people from your address book. If you do not want that, turn off contact syncing in each app's settings and remove previously synced contacts.
• Being findable. On Telegram, a username makes you publicly findable by that name. If you do not want that, do not set one, or remove it. On LINE, you control whether others can add you by ID or by phone number in the friend settings.

Example: two ways to share your contact at an event

Example. You meet someone at a meetup and want to keep in touch without giving out your number. On LINE, you would open your QR code and let them scan it. On Telegram, you would either show them your QR code from your profile or tell them your username. In both cases your number stays private, as long as you have set Telegram's phone number visibility to "Nobody" or "My contacts".

Devices and how your history is stored

This is one of the most practical differences, and it is the one people notice first when they switch.

Telegram: cloud first, many devices

Normal Telegram chats are "cloud chats". Your messages are stored encrypted on Telegram's servers and synced to every device you log in on. You can use Telegram on two phones, a tablet, a laptop and the web at the same time, and all of them show the same history. If you lose your phone, you log in on a new one and your chats are there.

The trade-off is that Telegram's servers hold your cloud chat history. They are encrypted on the server, but they are not end-to-end encrypted. Secret chats work differently, and we cover them in the encryption section.

LINE: one main phone

LINE is built around a single primary smartphone. You can add a desktop app and, in many cases, a tablet, but the phone remains the anchor. Your chat history is stored mainly on the device, and moving to a new phone means using LINE's backup and transfer process. Depending on your phone, that backup goes to your phone platform's cloud storage, and LINE may ask for a PIN or other confirmation.

This design has a privacy advantage, because less history sits on LINE's servers. It also has a practical cost. People who skip the backup step before changing phones can lose old chats, and moving between an iPhone and an Android phone has historically been more restrictive than moving within the same platform. Check LINE's current transfer instructions before you switch phones.

Which is better for you

• If you work across a computer and a phone all day, Telegram's multi-device sync is hard to beat.
• If you mostly use one phone and like the idea that history lives mainly on it, LINE's model may feel more natural.
• If you change phones often, Telegram is more forgiving. If you stay on LINE, make the backup a habit.

Privacy and encryption

This section matters most for people choosing on privacy, and it is where the two apps are most often misunderstood.

LINE's Letter Sealing

LINE uses an end-to-end encryption feature called Letter Sealing. For supported chat types it is turned on by default, which means the content of those messages is encrypted on your device and can only be decrypted by the recipients' devices. LINE publishes transparency information about this, and some message types or features may not be covered in the same way. If encryption matters to you, check LINE's own privacy settings and help pages for which chats show Letter Sealing as active.

Telegram's two kinds of chat

Telegram splits chats into two types:

• Cloud chats are the default for private chats, groups and channels. They are encrypted between your device and Telegram's servers, and stored encrypted on those servers. This is what allows multi-device sync and large groups.
• Secret chats are end-to-end encrypted, one-to-one, and tied to the two devices that started them. They do not sync to other devices, and they support self-destruct timers.

Groups and channels on Telegram are never end-to-end encrypted. That is a design choice to allow huge audiences and cloud history. Our full explainer on whether Telegram is end-to-end encrypted goes into the details and the trade-offs.

What the default means for you

The honest summary is that LINE gives you end-to-end encryption on more chats by default, while Telegram makes you choose it per conversation. If you want the strongest protection for a sensitive one-to-one conversation on Telegram, you have to start a secret chat on purpose. Most people never do, so most Telegram conversations are cloud chats.

On the other hand, Telegram gives you more control over what others can see about you: your phone number, last seen time, profile photos, who can call you, who can add you to groups, and whether forwarded messages link back to your account. Our Telegram privacy settings checklist covers each of these.

Metadata and data collection

Every messenger needs some metadata to deliver messages: who is talking to whom, and when. End-to-end encryption protects message content, not that metadata. Both companies publish privacy policies explaining what they collect and how long they keep it. Read them yourself rather than relying on summaries, because policies change and differ by country.

Groups and communities

Telegram groups

A Telegram group can hold up to 200,000 members. That is enough for a city-wide community, a large course or a global fan base. Groups come with tools built for scale:

• Topics, which split a large group into separate threads such as "Introductions", "Help" and "Off-topic".
• Slow mode, which limits how often each member can post.
• Granular permissions, so admins can decide who can send media, links, polls or invite others.
• Bots for welcome messages, anti-spam and moderation.
• Public groups with a username that anyone can find, or private groups joined only through invite links.

If you are deciding between a channel and a group for a community, our guide to Telegram channels vs groups explains when each fits.

LINE groups and open chats

LINE's regular groups are designed for people who know each other: family, friends, a class, a team. They are comfortable at that scale and include albums, notes and event scheduling features. LINE also has a separate product for open chat rooms, where people join around an interest and can use a profile that is separate from their main account. This is closer to a public community, but it runs as its own space with its own rules and limits.

Choosing for a community

• For a private group of friends or family, both apps work well. Choose the one your members already use.
• For a community of strangers that might grow large, Telegram is built for it, with better moderation tools and much higher limits.
• For an interest-based community in a LINE-dominant country, LINE's open chat rooms can make sense, because members do not have to install anything new.

Broadcasting: channels vs Official Accounts

This is the comparison that matters most for creators, publishers and brands.

Telegram channels

A Telegram channel is a one-to-many feed. Only admins post, and subscribers receive every post in their chat list, much like a message from a friend. Channels can have unlimited subscribers, cost nothing to create, and can be public with a username or private with an invite link. Features include scheduled posts, silent posts, polls, reactions, comments through a linked discussion group, statistics for larger channels, and stories once the channel has enough boosts.

Because posts land directly in the chat list, there is no algorithm deciding whether subscribers see them. Subscribers can mute a channel, but if they open Telegram they will see the unread badge. That direct delivery is the main reason people choose Telegram for publishing. If you are starting one, how to create a Telegram channel covers the setup step by step.

LINE Official Accounts

LINE's broadcasting tool is the Official Account. Businesses and creators create one, users add it as a friend, and the account can send messages to those friends, run rich menus, coupons and automated replies. It is powerful in LINE's home markets because people are used to receiving updates from shops and services this way.

The key difference is cost structure. LINE Official Accounts are offered under plans that limit or charge for broadcast messages above a certain level, and pricing and plan details vary by country. Check LINE's official business pages for the current plans in your market rather than relying on old figures.

Example: a local bakery in a LINE-first country

Example. A bakery in a city where almost everyone uses LINE wants to tell regulars about daily specials. A LINE Official Account fits perfectly: customers add it at the counter by scanning a QR code, and the bakery sends a short message each morning. Telegram would mean asking customers to install another app. Here LINE wins clearly, even with broadcast costs.

Example: an international newsletter

Example. A writer publishes analysis on a niche topic for readers in many countries. A Telegram channel costs nothing, has no subscriber cap, delivers each post to the chat list, and lets readers share posts with one tap. Readers can discover it through Telegram search, links and directories. Here Telegram fits much better.

Discovery: how people find you

On Telegram, a public channel or group can be found through in-app search by its name or username, shared as a t.me link that opens anywhere, forwarded post by post, or listed in directories. Forwarding is a big growth driver: when a subscriber forwards your post to a friend, the post shows your channel's name and a link to it.

On LINE, people usually find Official Accounts through QR codes at physical locations, links on websites and social media, in-app search within LINE's own surfaces, and LINE's own advertising products. Discovery is strongest when the business already has a physical or local presence.

If you run a Telegram channel and want it found, listing it is free: you can submit your channel to TGDirectory, where every submission is reviewed by a person before it appears. Our guide on how to promote a Telegram channel covers the wider set of options.

Stickers, calls and everyday features

Both apps cover the everyday basics well. The differences are in emphasis.

Stickers and expression

Stickers are central to LINE's identity. Its characters are famous in its home markets, and there is a large store of paid and free sticker sets, including sets from independent creators. If sending expressive stickers to friends is a big part of how you chat, LINE's catalogue is a genuine draw.

Telegram stickers are free to use and free to create. Anyone can make a sticker pack and share it with a link, and Telegram supports animated and video stickers and custom emoji. Some extras, such as certain premium stickers and custom emoji in more places, are tied to Telegram Premium.

Calls

Both apps offer free voice and video calls over the internet. Telegram's one-to-one calls are end-to-end encrypted and show matching emoji on both screens so you can check the connection. Telegram also offers voice chats and live streams in groups and channels. LINE offers group calls and has features for watching or sharing content together, depending on the version in your country.

Message editing and deleting

Telegram lets you edit sent messages and delete messages for everyone in private chats. In groups, deleting for everyone depends on your permissions. LINE lets you unsend a message within a limited time after sending it. Check each app for current rules, because these windows have changed over time.

Files and storage

Telegram is known for handling large files and keeping them in the cloud, which makes it useful for sharing documents, videos and archives. LINE handles photos, videos and files too, but files may expire on the server after a period, so save anything important. For Telegram specifics, see our guide to the Telegram file size limit.

Bots, apps and automation

Telegram has an open bot platform. Anyone can create a bot through @BotFather, and bots can moderate groups, take payments, answer questions, run games or power full Mini Apps inside Telegram. For a community or a channel, this means you can automate welcome messages, anti-spam checks, scheduled posts and much more without paying for a platform.

LINE also has a developer platform, mostly used for Official Accounts: chatbots that answer customers, booking systems and integrations with business software. It is well suited to customer service in LINE's markets, but it is organised around businesses rather than hobbyists.

If you are curious about Telegram's side, what Telegram bots are is a good starting point.

Money: payments, wallets and earning

Both apps have experimented heavily with money features, and the details depend on your country.

LINE has offered payments, wallet-style features and shopping integrations in some of its markets, and the set of services has changed over time. If you rely on a money feature in LINE, check the current status in your region in the app itself.

Telegram has Telegram Stars, a digital currency used to pay for digital goods and services in bots and Mini Apps, to unlock paid posts and to send paid reactions. Creators can receive Stars and, subject to Telegram's rules, convert them. Telegram also has Telegram Ads, and eligible channel owners can share in ad revenue. See Telegram Stars explained and how to make money on Telegram for the details. Nothing here is financial advice, and earnings depend entirely on your audience and content.

Safety and scams on both apps

Both apps are used by scammers, because scammers go where people are. The patterns are similar:

• Fake customer support accounts asking for your login code or password.
• Investment and crypto schemes promising returns.
• Job and "task" offers that pay small amounts first and then ask for deposits.
• Romance scams that move from a dating app into a messenger.

Telegram's open, searchable nature means you are more likely to be contacted by strangers there, especially if your privacy settings are open. LINE's design around known contacts reduces stranger contact, but fake friend requests and hijacked accounts still happen.

The protection is the same on both: never share a login code, turn on two-step verification, check who is messaging you, and be suspicious of anyone who asks for money or a code. Our guide on how to spot Telegram scams lists the common patterns.

Moving between the two apps

Moving contacts and conversations

There is no direct transfer from LINE to Telegram or the other way. You can export chat history as text in some cases, but conversations do not import into the other app. In practice, people keep both apps installed for a while and move contacts one by one.

Moving an audience

If you run a LINE Official Account and want to build a Telegram channel too, do it gradually:

1. Create the Telegram channel and set a clear name, description and username.
2. Tell your LINE friends what will be different on Telegram, such as extra posts, faster updates or a community chat.
3. Share the t.me link and a QR code in your LINE messages and rich menu.
4. Post on both for a period, and watch how many people follow you across.
5. Decide what each channel is for, rather than duplicating everything, so followers have a reason to keep both.

The same thinking works in reverse if you are adding LINE for a local market.

Common mistakes

• Choosing on features alone. For personal chat, the app your contacts use matters more than any feature. A better app with nobody on it is not better.
• Assuming Telegram is end-to-end encrypted by default. Only secret chats and calls are. If you need that protection on Telegram, start a secret chat deliberately.
• Assuming LINE protects everything. Letter Sealing covers supported chats. Check which ones show it, and remember that encryption does not stop a scammer you choose to trust.
• Skipping the LINE backup before changing phones. This is the most common way people lose LINE history.
• Leaving Telegram privacy settings at their defaults. If you join public groups, set your phone number to hidden and limit who can add you to groups.
• Running a broadcast on the wrong app for the market. A Telegram channel aimed at customers who only use LINE will struggle, and the reverse is also true.
• Duplicating every post on both apps. Followers who use both will mute one. Give each channel a reason to exist.

FAQ

Is Telegram or LINE more private?

It depends on what you mean. LINE encrypts more chats end to end by default through Letter Sealing. Telegram gives end-to-end encryption only in secret chats and calls, but offers more control over what others can see, such as your phone number. For a sensitive one-to-one conversation, either a LINE chat with Letter Sealing or a Telegram secret chat is the stronger choice.

Can I use Telegram and LINE on the same phone?

Yes. They are separate apps with separate accounts. Many people use LINE for local friends and family and Telegram for channels, communities and international contacts.

Does LINE have something like Telegram channels?

The closest equivalent is a LINE Official Account, which lets a business or creator message everyone who adds it as a friend. It works differently from a channel, with business plans that limit or charge for broadcast messages. Telegram channels are free and have no subscriber cap.

Can I use Telegram without a phone?

You need a phone number to register, but after that you can use Telegram on a computer or the web at the same time as, or instead of, your phone. LINE is more tied to one main phone. Our guide to Telegram on desktop and web explains the options.

Which app is better for a business?

In a LINE-dominant country, LINE Official Accounts usually reach customers more easily. For an international audience, a creator or a community, Telegram is cheaper and more flexible. Many businesses use both, each for its own market.

Can I move my LINE chats to Telegram?

No. There is no import between the two apps. You can save or export important LINE chats for your own records, but they will not appear inside Telegram.

Summary

LINE is the right choice when the people you want to reach already live on it, which is true for a large share of people in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. It encrypts more chats end to end by default and has a deep local ecosystem of stickers and business accounts. Telegram is the right choice for publishing to an audience, running large communities and using many devices at once, thanks to free channels with unlimited subscribers, groups of up to 200,000 members, bots and cloud sync. For privacy on Telegram, use secret chats for sensitive conversations and tighten your privacy settings. Most people who need both simply keep both.