I’m trying to figure out how to retrieve the total number of members in a Telegram group, but I don’t want to use the official bot API for this task. I’m wondering if there are alternative methods or approaches that could work.
Another thing I’m curious about is whether it’s possible to get member counts from groups where I’m just a regular member and not an administrator. I’ve been searching for solutions but haven’t found anything that works yet.
Has anyone managed to do this before? What tools or methods did you use? Any suggestions would be really helpful since I’m stuck on this problem right now.
If you can’t use the official API, you might want to explore web scraping or using third-party clients. Personally, I’ve found success with Telethon in Python, which operates using the MTProto protocol. It allows access to group details, including member counts, even if you’re just a regular member. However, you will need to authenticate your account with your phone number. Do be cautious of Telegram’s rate limits, and remember that many groups restrict member count visibility from non-admins, which could limit your access.
yeah, telegram-cli can help out, but it’s a bit tricky to set up and you’ll have to deal with auth too. just so u know, some groups don’t show member counts even if you’re in them, so it might not work everywhere.
I’ve used Pyrogram for Telegram data extraction - it’s worth trying since it handles some group types better than Telethon. But here’s the thing: Telegram’s been locking down member count visibility over the past year. Most groups now hide this info from regular members for privacy reasons. I’ve found older groups are usually more restrictive than newer ones. Don’t expect consistent results across different groups, and always check the privacy settings first - some groups disable member count visibility completely no matter what method you use.