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A shop in Telegram or a website: what a small store should choose in 2026

November 5, 2026 · Command CHBT · Store, Comparison

A small business that sells on social media and in messengers is sooner or later told to build a website. At the same time there is other advice: “everyone buys in Telegram now, make a shop in a bot”. Both pieces of advice are right — for different situations. Here is how a bot storefront differs from a website, which questions to use when choosing and where a shop in a bot has honest limits that are better known in advance.

The main question is where shoppers come from

The choice is almost always decided by one question: where does the shopper first come across your product.

They search Yandex and Google — “buy a handmade candle”, “custom cake in Kazan”. Such a shopper needs a website: pages that can be found by search.
They see it in a Telegram channel, on VK, with a blogger, in a marketplace parcel — they are already in the messenger. Sending them to a website is an extra step; a bot storefront opens right where they read the post.
They come back on their own — regulars of a café, a salon, a neighbourhood shop. It is more convenient for them to order in a chat that already has the history and receives the news.

If most orders come from messengers and social media, starting with a website means investing in a channel your shoppers do not use yet.

What a shop in a bot is

A shop in a CHBT bot is a storefront at chbt.io/s/your-shop. In Telegram it opens right in the chat as a mini app: a product grid with photos, search, variants, a cart, checkout. In MAX — as the bot’s mini app, in VK and in the website chat — as a link.

The shopper chooses a delivery method and pays on delivery or online on your payment provider’s page. The order reaches the seller in the messenger, by email and in the Orders section, and the shopper gets a confirmation and statuses in the same chat. In detail about the order path — in the article on the cart in a Telegram bot.

Comparison step by step

Question	Shop in a bot	Website
Where it opens	inside Telegram and MAX, by link — in a browser	in a browser
Found by search	no, the storefront is closed to indexing	yes, if you promote the website
Launch	products, delivery, payment provider — in the bot account	a website builder or a developer, a domain, hosting
Payment	your YooKassa or CloudPayments, on delivery, stars for digital products in Telegram	any payment system you connect
Contact after the order	order messages in the chat with the bot	emails and SMS, if you set them up
Repeat sales	the shopper is already in the bot: broadcasts, flows, the AI sales assistant	email newsletters, retargeting
Own domain	no, the address is on chbt.io	yes

Where a shop in a bot is stronger

No need to leave the messenger. A channel post → the Shop button → the cart → payment. The fewer transitions, the fewer people are lost along the way.
The shopper stays in your base. Everyone who opened the storefront from the bot is a bot contact. You can send them a broadcast about a new product, remind them of a seasonal item, offer a related one. A website without a subscription does not leave such a contact.
Order messages go to the chat. “Paid”, “shipped”, “ready for pickup” arrive where the shopper talks to you. They can ask “where is my order” in reply.
One tool instead of several. Answers to questions, service requests, the operator, the CRM and the shop live in one account.
A quick start. Products, delivery methods and a payment provider — and the storefront is ready; no need to choose hosting and a template.

Where a website is stronger

Search. A bot storefront is closed to indexing: it cannot be found in Yandex or Google. If your shopper looks for the product by search, you will not get them without a website.
Your own address and brand. A website has your domain and full control over the design. The bot storefront address is on chbt.io, and the design is limited to the shop settings.
A complex assortment. Filters by a dozen attributes, product comparison, order configurators, a personal account with purchase history — these are website tasks.
Ads with analytics. Ad systems work best with a website that has their counters and goals.
Independence from messengers. A website opens for everyone, even for those who do not use Telegram or MAX.

Honest limits of a bot storefront

Better to know them before launch:

there are no promo codes or reviews in the storefront yet;
you set the delivery cost yourself per delivery method — there is no calculation by delivery service tariffs and no parcel tracking;
one currency per shop; online payment only in roubles, shops in tenge and sums accept payment on delivery;
there is no card payment inside Telegram itself — online payment happens on your provider’s page;
digital products in Telegram are sold only for stars, and there is no 54-FZ receipt for stars;
the storefront is not indexed by search and works at a chbt.io address.

If even one of these is critical for your business — for example, your promotion model does not work without promo codes — take it into account when choosing.

How much does it cost

The shop in a bot is included in the Basic plan — 650 ₽ a month per bot, with no extra charge for orders and no percentage of sales. For online payment, your payment provider charges a fee under its own contract. You do not need to pay separately for a domain, hosting and a template.

The cost of a website depends on the approach: a website builder with a subscription, a ready-made online store platform or custom development. Compare not only the monthly fee but also the time: a website has to be filled with content, payment and delivery connected, and then people brought to it. A bot often already has an audience — channel subscribers, community members, buyers from parcel inserts.

What to prepare legally

Selling goods remotely requires the same documents wherever the storefront is. In the CHBT shop settings you enter the seller details — sole proprietor or company, INN, address — a link to the offer, the data processing policy and the return terms. The details are visible to the shopper at the bottom of the storefront, and at checkout they tick the consent to personal data processing.

Online payment needs a payment provider — YooKassa or CloudPayments. 54-FZ receipts are issued by it, if receipts are connected in its account and Send receipt data to the payment provider is turned on in the shop settings.

You can have both

The choice does not have to be “either-or”. A common working setup for a small business:

A website — a brand card for search: about the company, the catalog, contacts, a “Buy in Telegram” button.
A bot — the storefront and ordering for those who came from messengers, social media and the website. You can also put the CHBT chat widget on the website — the same bot will answer the visitor right on the page.
A marketplace — if the product is sold there too: a product in the bot shop can have both its own price and a button to go to Wildberries or Ozon.

This way the website takes care of search, and the bot takes care of sales and repeat purchases.

Three small business examples

A custom cake bakery. Orders come from a VK community and a Telegram channel with cake photos, almost nobody comes from search, and regulars order for every holiday. A shop in a bot: cakes and desserts with weight variants, pickup and courier delivery, online prepayment. A website is not needed yet — a good channel and a Shop button are.
A tool store in a city. Shoppers search Yandex for “buy a hammer drill” and compare specifications. Here the main channel is a website with a catalog and filters. The bot is an add-on: the widget on the website answers questions, and regulars get news about new arrivals.
A clothing seller on Wildberries. Shoppers come from the marketplace, and the parcel insert leads into the bot. The shop in the bot sells repeatedly — a new collection for those who have already bought, without the marketplace fee — while some products keep a button to go to Wildberries.

Note: in all three cases the decision was prompted not by the type of product but by the shopper’s path. A cake and a hammer drill can be sold either way — what matters is where the person starts choosing.

How to decide in five minutes

Answer four questions:

More than half of orders come from messengers and social media? — start with a shop in a bot.
Shoppers find you by search, and it is the main channel? — you need a website, with the bot as an add-on.
The assortment is hundreds of products with complex filters? — a website.
Repeat purchases and regular customers matter? — a bot: the customer base stays with you in the messenger.

If the answers diverge, you most likely need the combination from the previous section.

How to start a shop in a bot

Connect a Telegram bot and, if needed, MAX.
In the Shop section add products with a shop price or set a price for catalog products.
In Delivery add at least one delivery method — for example, pickup.
Fill in the details and connect a payment provider if you need online payment.
Turn on The storefront accepts orders and the “Shop” menu button in Telegram.
Add an Opens the shop button to the bot greeting and pin a post with a link to the bot in the channel.

To know about every order from day one, connect staff in Notifications in messengers — how to do it is explained in the article on order notifications.

Cart in a Telegram bot Order notifications in a bot Website chat A bot for an online store