Which Telegram Bot Library Should You Use? (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

Which Telegram Bot Library Should You Use? (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

Telegram bots are everywhere now—automation, e-commerce, customer support, and even AI assistants. But new developers often struggle to pick between:

• Raw Telegram Bot API
• python-telegram-bot
• telebot (PyTelegramBotAPI)

Here’s a simple, beginner-friendly breakdown based on real experience.

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If You Are a Beginner → Use Telebot

Telebot is the easiest and fastest way to start.

Why it's perfect for beginners:

• Zero setup
• Readable decorators
• Simple message handlers
• Worked by millions of developers

Example:

import telebot
bot = telebot.TeleBot("TOKEN")

@bot.message_handler(commands=['start'])
def start(message):
    bot.reply_to(message, "Hello!")

bot.infinity_polling()

Done. Your bot works.

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If You Want Power → Use **python-telegram-bot

This is the most advanced library.

Why it's great:

• Async support
• Best for production
• Large modular architecture
• Cleaner webhook support

Example:

from telegram.ext import ApplicationBuilder, CommandHandler

async def start(update, context):
    await update.message.reply_text("Hello!")

app = ApplicationBuilder().token("TOKEN").build()
app.add_handler(CommandHandler("start", start))
app.run_polling()

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If You Want Full Control → Use Raw Telegram API

Use when:

• Building custom frameworks
• Integrating with unusual infrastructure

Example:

import requests

requests.post(
  f"https://api.telegram.org/botTOKEN/sendMessage",
  json={"chat_id": "ID", "text": "Hello!"}
)

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Summary — Which Should You Choose?

Goal	Best Choice
Learn quickly	Telebot
Build production bot	python-telegram-bot
Build custom system	Raw API

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Final Advice

If you're new to Telegram bots:

✔ Start with Telebot
✔ Move to python-telegram-bot when you're ready
✔ Use Raw API only when necessary

Source Code + Extra Examples

All sample code and detailed comparison tables are available on GitHub:

👉 GitHub Repository:
https://github.com/ibrahimpelumi6142/telegram-bot-api-vs-telebot

About the Author

Lasisi Ibrahim Pelumi
Full-stack Engineer • Automation Developer • Bot Specialist
Building AI-driven automation tools using WhatsApp, Telegram, Node.js, Python, and FastAPI.