# Telegram Stars alternative for PPV

Inside a bot or Mini App, Telegram requires Stars for digital goods. Outside that, send a 2fans link in the chat: the buyer pays by card on the web checkout, the creator keeps 85%, and your CRM gets told about the sale.

## Compared

| | Telegram Stars | 2fans link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Where the buyer pays | Inside Telegram | On the 2fans web checkout |
| What comes back | About $0.013 per Star, after a hold of up to 21 days | 85% of the list price, released 14 days after each sale |
| What the buyer needs | Stars bought through Telegram | A card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, and no account |

Sources: Telegram's [Stars docs](https://core.telegram.org/bots/payments-stars) and [developer terms](https://telegram.org/tos/bot-developers).

## Using both

They can sit side by side: Stars for small in-chat purchases, the link for everything bigger.

## How CRMs use it

The chatter sends the link in the conversation, the fan pays on the web checkout, and a `drop.paid` webhook names the fan's reference. [KVIQA](https://kviqa.com), [Telestars](https://telestars.io) and [CRMChat](https://crmchat.ai) integrate this API. The full guide is [Sell on Telegram and in chats](https://2fans.dev/docs/build/telegram.md).

## Do you need your own processing contract?

**Adding pay-per-view for creators to your CRM: no.** Integrate the 2fans API and creators sell through 2fans links, on a checkout already set up for 18+ content. Providers advertise days or weeks for your own contract; in our experience it takes 6 to 12 months. Here you can be selling today, once the ID check and content are approved. Connecting other people's creators also takes an app review, usually a few business days.

**Selling your own products on your own checkout: yes.** 2fans can't take payments for those. Adult billers such as CCBill, Segpay and Verotel are the usual route.

**Want your own contract later?** Start here and you build real sales numbers first, with reports from the API. They aren't processing history on an account of your own, so each provider decides what they count for, but you'll apply knowing what sells.

## Key facts

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **How it works** | Your CRM creates a link and sends it in the chat. The buyer pays on the 2fans checkout and unlocks content hosted on 2fans. |
| **Fee** | 15% of each sale; the creator keeps 85%. No monthly, setup or listing fee. |
| **App commission** | Approved apps earn 5% of every sale made through their links, for life. It’s paid out of our fee, never taken from the creator. |
| **Payouts** | Earnings land in the creator’s 2fans balance and are released 14 days after each sale. From $20, they can request a payout as crypto, a bank transfer or to a card through MassPay, or to Paxum. All of it is included with the API. |
| **What you can sell** | Pay-per-view drops, weekly or monthly subscriptions, and tips, each with its own link you can send in Telegram or any chat. |
| **Prices** | Free, or $5 to $750 per drop, in USD. A drop holds up to 10 items. |
| **Content** | Photos, video, audio, PDFs and other digital media, including 18+ content and declared AI-generated content. |
| **Creator checks** | Creators verify with an ID document, face match and liveness check. Uploads need an approved check. |
| **App access** | For software other people’s creators connect to. A person reviews each application, usually within a few business days. 300 requests a minute and 50,000 a day, per key. |

## Create a pay-per-view link

```bash
curl -X POST "https://www.dropfans.io/api/external/v1/drops" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DROPFANS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "Beach set", "price": 15, "vaultItemIds": ["VAULT_ITEM_A", "VAULT_ITEM_B"] }'
```

Response:

```json
{ "productId": "…", "buyUrl": "https://www.dropfans.io/buy/…", "mediaCount": 2 }
```

2fans was called Dropfans until October 2026, so the API host is still www.dropfans.io and keys still start with dpfn_.

## Links

- [Apply for app access](https://2fans.io/developers/apply)
- [API docs](https://2fans.io/developers)
- [Docs index for LLMs](https://2fans.io/developers/llms.txt)
- [OpenAPI spec](https://2fans.io/developers/openapi.json)

Last updated 2026-11-02. Overview: https://2fans.dev/index.md. All pages: https://2fans.dev/llms.txt.