ClickGram Alternative: AdTarget vs ClickGram Compared

ClickGram is one of the Telegram attribution tools media buyers evaluate when scaling paid traffic to Telegram channels. It supports multiple ad platforms via S2S postbacks, recently added a conversations inbox, and offers DM tracking.

But ClickGram’s pricing starts at EUR 59/month for just 2,000 subscribers and climbs steeply from there. Its setup requires SDK integration and tracking links. And its DM tracking relies on MTProto — an unofficial method that puts your Telegram account at risk.

This article breaks down ClickGram vs AdTarget across pricing, platform support, DM tracking compliance, attribution quality, and setup. We are straightforward about where each tool stands.

AdTarget is a ClickGram alternative that tracks Telegram conversions across Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat with a single script. It starts at $29/mo with a 7-day free trial (no credit card), uses single-use invite links for fraud-proof attribution, sets up in under 10 minutes with no code, and uses the official Telegram Business API for DM tracking — not MTProto.

Quick Comparison Table

Pricing Breakdown

ClickGram prices by subscriber count. AdTarget prices by conversion events. Here is how the tiers line up:

At the entry level, AdTarget costs less than half of ClickGram. At growth scale, the gap becomes dramatic: $149/month vs EUR 599/month. Over a year, that is thousands of dollars that could go back into ad spend.

AdTarget also offers more granular tiers. Instead of jumping from EUR 59 to EUR 149 when you outgrow the starter plan, you move from $29 to $49. You pay for what you use, not for the next subscriber bracket.

7-day free trial, no credit card required. Test AdTarget on live campaigns before committing. You get full access to every feature during the trial period.

Platform Support: Meta + TikTok + Snapchat

Both tools support Meta and TikTok. The differences are in the edges.

AdTarget supports Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat with a single tracking script. One installation covers all three platforms. When a visitor arrives from any of these platforms, AdTarget captures the platform-specific click ID (fbclid, ttclid, ScCid), creates a session, generates a single-use invite link, and sends the conversion event back to the correct platform via its Conversions API.

Snapchat CAPI support is exclusive to AdTarget. No other Telegram attribution tool on the market sends conversion events to Snapchat today.

ClickGram supports Meta, TikTok, and Google Ads via S2S postbacks. Google Ads is listed as a differentiator, but in practice it is rarely relevant for Telegram growth campaigns. Google Search and Display CPCs are significantly higher than Meta or TikTok for this use case, and the targeting options are less suited to Telegram channel promotion. Very few media buyers run meaningful Telegram growth budget on Google.

If Google Ads is critical to your Telegram campaigns, ClickGram covers it. For everyone else — and especially for media buyers testing Snapchat as a new channel — AdTarget’s platform coverage is broader where it matters.

DM Tracking: Compliance Matters

Both AdTarget and ClickGram offer DM conversion tracking — detecting when a tracked subscriber sends a direct message to your personal Telegram account and firing a conversion event back to your ad platform. Both produce the same CAPI events with the same attribution quality. The difference is how they access those messages.

How AdTarget Does It: Telegram Business API (Official)

AdTarget uses the official Telegram Business API, launched by Telegram in March 2024. You connect your bot through Telegram’s own settings interface in three clicks. When a tracked lead DMs you, Telegram delivers the message to your bot via an official business_message webhook. No phone numbers shared. No credentials exposed. No sessions to manage.

How ClickGram Does It: MTProto (Unofficial)

ClickGram uses MTProto client automation — Telegram’s low-level transport protocol. This creates a full client session using your phone number and authentication code, effectively running a second instance of your Telegram account on ClickGram’s servers. The session monitors incoming messages and triggers conversion events.

DM Tracking Compliance Comparison

The critical point: both methods produce the exact same conversion events with the exact same attribution quality. Same click IDs. Same IP and user agent data. Same Event Match Quality. Same ad optimization signal.

The only difference is the risk you accept. MTProto adds account ban risk, session instability, credential exposure, and TOS violations — in exchange for nothing. Zero additional benefit. More risk, same result.

If your Telegram account gets banned:

• All DM tracking stops immediately
• Your channels may lose their admin
• Subscribers cannot message you
• Your ads keep spending budget with no conversion signal
• Recovery depends on Telegram’s appeal process with no guaranteed timeline

For the full technical analysis, read our Telegram Business API vs MTProto comparison. For a complete guide to DM tracking setup, see Telegram DM Conversion Tracking.

Attribution Approach: Single-Use vs Shared Links

The two tools take fundamentally different approaches to invite link generation, and this has direct implications for data quality and fraud prevention.

AdTarget generates single-use invite links. When a visitor arrives on your landing page, AdTarget captures their click data, creates a visitor session, and generates a unique Telegram invite link for that specific person. The link works once, then expires. When the user joins your channel, the webhook fires, and AdTarget sends the conversion event back to the ad platform.

This approach has a meaningful anti-fraud benefit: invite links cannot be shared, reused, or farmed. Every conversion in your data maps to exactly one real visitor. For media buyers spending serious budgets, data integrity directly affects optimization decisions. You cannot accidentally attribute the same join to multiple visitors, and click farms cannot reuse a single link to inflate your numbers.

ClickGram uses tracking links. Traffic flows through ClickGram’s tracking infrastructure, which maps clicks to conversions and fires S2S postbacks. This is a proven model, but shared tracking links do not offer the same per-visitor isolation that single-use invite links provide.

Learn more about how attribution works in our CAPI events documentation.

Setup and Integration

AdTarget: No code, under 10 minutes.

You add a small JavaScript snippet to your landing page — identical to adding a Meta Pixel or Google Analytics tag. The script captures click IDs, creates visitor sessions, and generates invite links automatically. There are dedicated setup guides for WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Wix, Framer, and custom HTML sites. No SDK, no backend changes, no tracking link configuration.

Most media buyers have their first conversions tracking within 15 minutes of starting setup.

ClickGram: SDK + tracking links.

ClickGram requires integrating their SDK into your setup and routing traffic through tracking links that handle attribution via S2S postbacks. This gives ClickGram control over the attribution chain, but it means more integration work, more moving parts, and more potential points of failure.

The practical impact: if you are running a landing page on WordPress or Webflow that funnels visitors into a Telegram channel, AdTarget’s script-based approach gets you live in minutes. ClickGram’s SDK approach takes longer to set up and introduces complexity that most media buyers do not need.

Where AdTarget Wins

Three-platform support with one script. Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat — all from a single tracking script installation. No separate integrations per platform. Snapchat support is exclusive to AdTarget.

Significantly lower price at every tier. $29/mo vs EUR 59/mo at entry. $149/mo vs EUR 599/mo at scale. Seven granular tiers vs four. You pay for the volume you actually use.

7-day free trial, no credit card. Test on real campaigns with full feature access before committing a dollar.

Compliant DM tracking. The official Telegram Business API produces identical conversion events to MTProto — without the account ban risk, credential exposure, session failures, or TOS violations.

Single-use invite links. Every visitor gets a unique link that works once. Fraud-proof attribution by design. No shared links, no duplicate attributions, no phantom conversions.

No-code setup on any platform. Copy a script tag, paste it into your site builder, done. Six platform-specific guides walk you through each step. No SDK, no backend work.

Multi-language platform. Full localization in six languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian), including all documentation.

Live chat support. Real-time help when you need it — not a help center you search through during a campaign launch.

Where ClickGram Has an Edge

Google Ads support. If you run meaningful Telegram growth budget on Google Ads, ClickGram covers it. In practice, very few media buyers use Google for Telegram channel promotion due to high CPCs and less relevant targeting, but the integration exists.

The Bottom Line

For the majority of media buyers running paid traffic to Telegram, AdTarget delivers more platform coverage (Meta + TikTok + Snapchat), safer DM tracking (official Business API), cleaner attribution (single-use invite links), simpler setup (no-code script), and lower pricing ($29/mo vs EUR 59/mo) — all in one tool.

ClickGram’s only remaining differentiator is Google Ads support. If that is not critical to your campaigns — and for most Telegram media buyers it is not — AdTarget is the clear choice.

Common Questions About Switching

Can I run ClickGram and AdTarget at the same time?

Yes. The two tools use independent tracking methods, so running them in parallel on the same landing page does not cause conflicts. Many media buyers run both side by side for a week to compare data before committing. Install both tracking scripts and let them run independently.

Will I lose my historical data when I switch?

AdTarget does not import data from ClickGram, but you will not lose anything. Export your conversion reports from ClickGram before deactivating it. Your ad platform (Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager, Snapchat Ads Manager) retains all historical CAPI events regardless of which tool sent them, so your ad-level performance history stays intact.

How long does the full setup take?

Under 10 minutes per site. You install the AdTarget tracking script on your landing page, connect your ad platform pixel(s) and access token(s), and add a Telegram bot to your channel. If you are on WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Wix, or Framer, there are platform-specific guides that walk through each step.

Should I worry about DM tracking compliance if I switch?

If you are currently using ClickGram’s DM tracking (MTProto-based), switching to AdTarget eliminates your account ban risk entirely. AdTarget uses the official Telegram Business API — three clicks in your Telegram settings to connect, and you get the exact same conversion events with zero compliance risk. See our full Business API vs MTProto comparison for the technical details.

Do I need to change my Telegram bot when switching?

No. You can use the same Telegram bot with AdTarget that you used with ClickGram. Add the bot token in your AdTarget dashboard and connect it to your channel. AdTarget configures the webhooks automatically during setup.

What about Snapchat campaigns?

AdTarget is currently the only Telegram attribution tool that supports Snapchat Conversions API. If you are testing or scaling Snapchat traffic to Telegram, this is not available with ClickGram or any other competitor.

Getting Started

Start your free 7-day trial at adtarget.io  — no credit card required. Install the tracking script, connect your Telegram bot, and start seeing attributed conversions across Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat within minutes.

For background on how Telegram attribution works, our guide on tracking Telegram conversions from Meta Ads covers the full flow. For DM tracking setup, see Telegram DM Conversion Tracking.