Frequently asked questions

What MemberPilot costs, whose account the money lands in, how members get in and out of a private Telegram channel, and what happens when something goes wrong.

Getting started

What is MemberPilot?: MemberPilot helps you monetize Telegram channels and groups with paid memberships. You connect your own payment accounts, sell access or digital products, and MemberPilot handles checkout, membership, and secure Telegram joins.
Do I need my own Telegram bot?: No. You use MemberPilot’s shared Telegram bot — you do not create a bot in BotFather or paste an API token. Add the MemberPilot bot as an admin to your private channel or group, create an offer, and share the checkout link. Open it on Telegram: PaidGroupManagerBot.
Do customers need a MemberPilot account?: No. Buyers pay on a public checkout link and join through Telegram. Only creators sign in to MemberPilot to manage offers, payments, and communities.
Can I migrate an existing paid community?: Yes. Connect your private channel or group, then create offers for new and renewing members. Connecting MemberPilot does not automatically remove people who are already in the chat.
What happens if I stop using MemberPilot?: Your payment accounts and Telegram community stay yours. Disconnecting stops MemberPilot automation (joins, approvals, and expirations) and leaves current members in the chat. MemberPilot does not hold a sales balance for you to withdraw.
Why is MemberPilot free for creators?: There is no monthly creator fee. MemberPilot is funded by a transparent 5% service fee that customers pay on top of your price on successful sales. See Pricing.

Payments & fees

How much does MemberPilot cost?: MemberPilot has no monthly fee for creators. Customers pay a transparent 5% MemberPilot service fee on top of the price you set (for example, a $20 plan charges $21). Payment-provider processing fees from Stripe, NOWPayments, or CCPayment are separate. Manage providers in Payments.
Does MemberPilot hold my money?: Your sales settle to your connected Stripe, NOWPayments, or CCPayment account. MemberPilot does not keep a creator sales balance. The 5% service fee is separate from your sales: with Stripe it is collected at checkout; with crypto providers that cannot split fees in the payment, MemberPilot records its fee as a balance you settle later by card or in USDT.
How do I pay MemberPilot's service fee on crypto sales?: Two ways, both in Settings → Billing. Add a card and we charge the accrued balance automatically when it reaches $10 or on the first of the month — that is the only option that clears itself. Or pay the outstanding balance in USDT whenever you like: that opens a CCPayment invoice on MemberPilot's own merchant account, priced in your reporting currency. Paying in USDT is manual and does not repeat, the balance clears once the transfer confirms on chain rather than when the page closes, and like any crypto payment it cannot be reversed.
Which payment methods are supported?: Cards via your own Stripe Connect account, and cryptocurrency via your own NOWPayments or CCPayment account. PayPal, Binance Pay, and Telegram Stars are not available. Connect providers in Payments.
What happens after someone pays?: Access starts only after the payment provider confirms the payment — the checkout success page alone does not grant access. For crypto, a pending or processing status is not enough, and a final success status is checked against the amount actually received. MemberPilot then activates membership and sends a short-lived secure Telegram join link. Renewals, cancellations, and expirations update access from there.
What happens if a payment fails?: For card subscriptions, Stripe controls its own retry behavior and settings — MemberPilot does not define that schedule. MemberPilot controls Telegram access through your membership period and grace settings. Grace defaults to 0 days unless you configure otherwise, so access can end when the paid period ends. Crypto access is prepaid for one period at a time and ends when that period (plus any grace you set) is over.
What if a customer sends more crypto than the price?: It happens — a wallet lets the payer type any amount, unlike a card. They get exactly what they bought: we do not extend the membership, upgrade the offer, or add credit for the extra amount, and recurring-revenue figures stay on the invoice price. The full amount lands in your account, and MemberPilot charges its 5% on the price only, never on the excess. We record both figures so your ledger matches your provider statement, and we message you with the difference. Because crypto cannot be reversed from here, you send the difference back and mark it settled on the transaction.
What if a customer sends less crypto than the price?: They do not get access. We do not turn a short payment into fewer membership days. The transaction is marked underpaid in Transactions with the amount owed, the amount received, and the shortfall. While the provider order is still valid, another deposit on the same order can bring it to paid. After the order expires, later funds may still reach your provider balance but may no longer attach to that checkout — the buyer would need to start again.
Can customers get a refund?: Card refunds are handled in your Stripe account; MemberPilot can record them when Stripe reports a refund. Crypto payments through NOWPayments and CCPayment are not reversible inside MemberPilot the way card charges are — treat crypto as final unless you arrange something manually with the buyer and your crypto provider.

Telegram access

How does Telegram access work after payment?: After payment is confirmed, MemberPilot checks that the buyer has active access, then shares a short-lived private invite that uses Telegram join requests. The bot only approves buyers who still have access. There is no permanent public invite link to forward.
Can a paid member rejoin after leaving?: Yes. If their paid access is still active, they can ask the MemberPilot bot for access again and get a fresh secure join link. They do not need to pay twice for the same active period.
Will MemberPilot remove people already in my group?: No — not by default. Connecting a community does not purge existing members. Members whose paid access has ended are removed when that access expires. You can optionally turn on stricter removal of people who never had paid access; that stays off unless you choose it.
Can one plan unlock multiple Telegram channels or groups?: Yes. One offer can unlock multiple connected private channels and groups, so a single membership can include a VIP channel plus a discussion group.

Subscriptions & trials

What happens when someone cancels or expires?: When someone cancels, they keep access until the end of the period they already paid for. When that period ends — plus any grace days you configured — MemberPilot removes them from the connected Telegram chats. They can subscribe again later from your checkout link.
Can I offer free trials?: Yes. Subscription offers can include a free trial. You can require a card up front with Stripe, or run a short trial without a card that ends on a timer. If the trial ends without a paid period, access is removed.

Crypto

Can I accept crypto?: Yes, after you connect NOWPayments or CCPayment under Payments. Crypto memberships are prepaid for one billing period at a time — MemberPilot does not automatically charge crypto on a schedule. Buyers renew manually before access ends.

Digital products & access codes

Can I sell digital products?: Yes. Create a digital product in Offers, then send or forward the Telegram content (files, photos, videos, or posts) to the MemberPilot bot. After the customer pays, MemberPilot delivers a copy in Telegram, and they can ask the bot to send it again later.
Can I give access without charging?: Yes — use Access Codes for giveaways, offline sales, or complimentary access. Redemption grants Telegram access without inventing a paid sale: codes are $0 and do not count toward revenue or recurring revenue. Manage them from Payments → Access codes.

Security & account

Is MemberPilot secure?: Payment-provider credentials are encrypted at rest. Payments are confirmed on the server using signed provider notifications. Workspaces are isolated from each other, and Telegram joins use short-lived links that only work for people with active access.
Can I export my customer data?: Yes. Workspace owners can download a CSV of customers, Telegram identities, and subscription status from Settings → Export.
What does MemberPilot know about me?: Everything we hold about you personally is listed in Settings → Account: your name, the Telegram username, ID and link date we received when you signed in, your email, and when you joined. Your name is editable there. The rest is shown rather than edited — a Telegram username belongs to Telegram, and the linked account decides where your alerts go. To close the account and have it deleted, email support@memberpilot.bot. See the Privacy Policy for what survives deletion and why.
Is MemberPilot affiliated with Telegram?: No. MemberPilot is an independent service that uses Telegram’s public Bot API to monetize Telegram groups and channels.