About the project

tgsonar.com is a directory of Telegram channels and bots in which the rating comes out of measured data, not editorial judgement or paid placement.

What we do

Every day we query Telegram for each object in the catalogue and store what comes back: whether the object still exists, whether the bot answers, how many views the channel's posts collect, who links to it. The score is built out of those measurements.

The catalogue currently holds 10880 objects: 608 bots and 10272 channels. Another 551 entries are objects that no longer exist on Telegram. We do not delete them, because links to those names still travel through other people's lists.

What makes this different

We check that the object exists. Telegram returns no error for a handle nobody ever took — the page simply opens, and dead links survive in directories for years. Objects like that are marked on the card itself.

We measure instead of asking. Bots have no public user count: only the owner knows that figure. So in place of self-reported data we count what can be observed from the outside — availability, response speed, mention reach.

We publish the formula. The methodology is open, and the breakdown of the score sits on every card. A rating nobody can verify is worth nothing.

Where the data comes from

Public sources only: t.me pages any visitor can open without signing in, and open listings. We do not collect subscriber lists, do not read private channels and do not process personal data of users.

What the rating leaves out

Paid promotion, owner-reported figures and user votes. Not one component of the score can be steered by an object's owner — otherwise this would turn into a ranking of marketing budgets.