Cheap Telegram bot hosting
JustRunMy.App runs Telegram bots in always-on containers with no idle sleep. A minimal allocation of 0.15 vCPU, 0.15 GB RAM, and 0 GB disk costs about $0.58 for a full month. Your bot may need more resources depending on its code and dependencies.
A good fit for: Personal assistants, notification bots, community tools, and lightweight customer support bots.
Polling or webhooks: what should you host?
Long polling is a straightforward choice for a background bot: the process requests updates from Telegram and does not need a public web endpoint. Webhooks send updates to your application over HTTPS. Choose one update method for a bot token; Telegram does not deliver updates through both at once.
JustRunMy.App supports background processes and public HTTPS endpoints. For a webhook deployment, make your app listen on its configured container port and register the public callback URL with Telegram. For polling, remove any existing webhook before starting the worker.
Keep the hosting bill small as your bot grows
Choose CPU, RAM, and disk for the work your bot actually performs. A text notification worker and a bot that downloads videos have very different requirements. Keep downloaded files short lived and avoid storing an unlimited history of every update.
Allocated resources are billed per minute even while the bot is waiting for messages. A quiet chat does not make allocated RAM free. Review the calculator below before increasing resources, and track external AI or database charges separately.
What to check before moving off your laptop
Use environment variables for TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN and any other credentials. Attach persistent storage if your bot keeps a local database or user settings. Start one polling worker for the token unless your application explicitly coordinates multiple workers.
Send a real message after deployment, check the logs, and restart the application once to confirm that saved settings survive. Automatic container restarts help after a crash; your code still needs to handle failed requests and avoid sending duplicate notifications.
Deployment checklist
Prepare your project
Use your existing aiogram, python-telegram-bot, Telegraf, grammY, or other container-compatible bot project. Include its dependency files and startup command.
Deploy with Zip, Git, or Docker
Create an application in the panel and choose the deployment method that fits your workflow. Set an initial resource allocation.
Configure the token and update method
Add TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN as an environment variable. Start polling, or configure a public HTTPS endpoint for webhooks.
Test a conversation
Check application logs, send a command to the bot, and verify any persistent files before relying on it.
Example resource allocations
Monthly USD rates: $1.90 per vCPU, $1.95 per GB RAM, and $0.25 per GB disk. All allocated resources are billed per minute across applications, including idle allocations.
Measure memory after loading your bot library and during message bursts. Media processing, large caches, and AI integrations can need more resources than a simple text bot.
| Example | vCPU | RAM (GB) | Disk | Monthly estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimal allocation example | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0 GB | $0.58 |
| Lightweight worker example | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.3 GB | $1.04 |
| More memory for dependencies | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 GB | $1.70 |
| Larger worker example | 0.5 | 1 | 1 GB | $3.15 |