1How we picked (and one honest disclaimer)
Every bot in this list is alive and maintained in 2026 — we checked release channels, repos and pricing pages, and threw out the walking dead (RIP GroupButler, unmaintained since 2021). Each entry earns its place with a distinct angle: there is no point ranking seven near-identical keyword filters, so we picked the best tool for seven different kinds of admin.
Full disclosure: this blog belongs to Telm, and Telm is #1 on this list. We've kept the comparison honest — every competitor entry names what it genuinely does better than us, and the facts are sourced from official docs and pricing pages. Judge for yourself.
2Telm — best AI moderation (that's us)
Telm's angle is understanding meaning, not matching patterns. Every message passes layered checks — blocklists, 150+ rules, then AI that reads intent, including text inside images and transcribed voice notes. A personal ML model learns how your specific community talks and vetoes false alarms. Two things nobody else in this list offers: monitoring mode (the bot shows every decision it would make before it's allowed to touch anyone) and an AI appeal arbiter that reviews bans and restores wrongly punished members automatically.
Where competitors are genuinely stronger: Combot's analytics history is deeper, Rose is free and more battle-tested at extreme scale. Telm's Free plan covers core protection; Pro is $29/mo per group.
- Best for: admins who want spam gone without false bans — and receipts for every action
- Free plan; Pro $29/mo; full pricing
- Web dashboard, 25 languages, appeals, monetization built in
- Add it in monitoring mode and it deletes nothing until you approve
3Rose — best free all-rounder, the industry standard
Rose (@MissRose_bot) is what most big groups already run: bans, mutes, warns, federations (shared ban networks), locks for dozens of content types, four captcha modes and lookalike blocklists that catch «b0t» and «вot». It's completely free, donation-funded, translated into 30+ languages, and fast at enormous scale.
The trade-offs are structural: everything is configured through hundreds of chat commands (the website is a command manual — there is no dashboard), there is no analytics, no AI, no appeal flow, and blocklists filter spam after it has already appeared in the chat. Rose's own support notes the default button captcha is easy for bots to circumvent — switch to text2 mode if you keep it. Our detailed comparison: Telm vs Rose.
4Combot — best analytics + moderation combo
Combot has built group analytics since 2016 and it still shows: exportable activity reports, member heatmaps and trend charts that sponsor-facing communities rely on. On the protection side it runs pattern filters plus CAS — the shared spammer database used far beyond Combot itself (Telm checks CAS too). Recent releases added a Mini App captcha and an API v5.
Know two things before committing. Pricing is not public — quotes depend on group size, and the free tier was cut from 1,000 to 200 members. And CAS bans are officially «permanent and non-negotiable», even for hacked accounts — there is no appeal path. Details: Telm vs Combot.
5Group Help — best free all-in-one with a generous tier
Group Help (@GroupHelpBot) packs an unusual amount into its free tier: join captcha, anti-spam and anti-flood, NSFW filter, night mode, welcome flows, custom commands — even a clone bot with your own name and avatar, free. Paid tiers are the cheapest in the niche: Pro is a one-time 150 Telegram Stars for five groups. The interface speaks 10 languages.
Limits to expect: configuration lives in multi-level inline menus inside the chat (patience required for big setups), there is no web dashboard, no AI detection and only basic stats. For a zero-budget admin who wants breadth over depth, it's the strongest free package after Rose.
6ChatKeeper — best for power admins who want a dashboard
ChatKeeper (chatkeeper.app) is the tinkerer's choice: 32 content filters including regex, five verification types, trigger automations its docs claim «can fully replace admins», reputation ranks and achievements for members, plus 11 analytics charts — all managed from a real web cabinet, not chat commands.
The catch: the interface ships in English and Russian only, AI features and full analytics sit behind paid plans (Starter $4.99/mo, Advanced $11.99/mo, Ultimate with a branded bot at $39.99/mo), and the sheer depth is overkill for a simple community. If you enjoy configuring things, this is your bot.
7Safeguard — best for crypto communities under raid pressure
Safeguard (@Safeguard) is the de-facto standard in token communities: a verification portal screens users before they ever enter the group, three anti-raid modes and four flood-control levels handle coordinated attacks, and an /aiban similarity system auto-removes messages matching spam an admin has flagged. Crypto extras (buy bots, trending network) come with the territory.
Honest caveats: it's built for crypto — in a regular community it feels foreign; pricing is not published anywhere (for group admins it is effectively free, monetized elsewhere); and its brand is so popular that scammers run fake «Safeguard verification» portals spreading malware — teach your members that the real bot is @Safeguard and it never asks anyone to run commands on their computer.
8Shieldy — best minimalist: one captcha, zero setup
Shieldy (@shieldy_bot) does exactly one thing: a captcha on join — button, math problem or a custom question — and kicks whoever fails. Open source (MIT), self-hostable, famously acquired by 1inch Network for $329,000 back when it served 20M+ users. Add it, forget it.
That single-mindedness is also the limit: once a spammer is inside (real humans do solve captchas for hire), Shieldy has no filters, no blocklists, no AI to catch what they post. Development since the acquisition is maintenance-level. Pair it with something that watches the actual messages — or pick a bot from higher up this list that does both jobs.
9Honorable mention, one warning, and how to choose
Honorable mention: DrWebBot — the official Dr.Web antivirus bot that scans files and links posted in your group for malware. It's not a moderator (no bans, no captcha), but it's a unique companion to any bot above. And one warning: GroupButler still answers commands in old groups, but the project has been unmaintained since 2021 — migrate off it.
Choosing is simpler than it looks. Zero budget and command-line patience: Rose or Group Help. Sponsor reports: Combot. Crypto raids: Safeguard. Just a door check: Shieldy. Deep manual control with a dashboard: ChatKeeper. Spam handled by AI with no false-ban drama — add Telm to your group in monitoring mode and watch it work before it touches anyone.