Selar and Memberlet both do Telegram group automation. Someone pays, the bot adds them. They stop paying, the bot removes them. For a creator choosing between them, the Telegram question is basically settled. The split is about WhatsApp and what else you sell.
If you run a paid WhatsApp group, Selar cannot help with that. Memberlet can.
If you sell ebooks, courses, or other digital products and want purchases to also give Telegram group access, Selar handles both on one platform.
For a broader view of community and membership platforms available to Nigerian creators, see best membership platforms for Nigerian creators.
What Selar is
Selar is a digital products marketplace. Creators upload products, set prices, and sell to buyers anywhere in the world.
What you can sell on Selar: ebooks, PDFs, video courses, templates and toolkits, event tickets, coaching session bookings, and subscription memberships. Selar handles delivery automatically after payment. The marketplace gives creators access to 40,000+ affiliates who can promote products in exchange for a commission, which is useful for reaching buyers beyond your own following.
Selar has a free starter plan and paid tiers (Pro, Turbo, TurboPlus, Enterprise) with lower transaction fees as the monthly cost goes up. It supports payments in 8 currencies including naira.
In 2025, Selar added Telegram group integration. The setup: add Selar's bot (@tryselarbot) to your Telegram group as an admin, then link the group to any product in your store. When a buyer pays, they receive a unique invite link. When a subscription expires or a payment fails, the bot removes them automatically. It works across every product type: a ₦15,000 course, a ₦5,000 ebook, a ₦8,000/month subscription can all be tied to the same Telegram group or separate ones.
Selar does not have WhatsApp group integration. The Telegram bot is the only group automation on the platform.
What Memberlet is
Memberlet is built specifically for paid community memberships on Telegram and WhatsApp. No digital product store, no course builder, no affiliate marketplace.
A creator builds a membership page with a monthly price and connects their Telegram or WhatsApp group. When someone pays, Memberlet adds them automatically. When a subscription lapses, they are removed. No action from the creator either way.
On Telegram, Memberlet runs a bot with admin permissions in the group, the same bot pattern as Selar. On WhatsApp, Memberlet uses a dedicated system phone number added as admin to the group, which manages invite links and removals.
WhatsApp automation is the part no other Nigerian creator platform currently offers. A creator running a ₦10,000/month WhatsApp fitness coaching group with 80 members has no automated option on Selar, Mainstack, or any other local platform. On Memberlet, payments, group access, renewals, and removals run without manual involvement.
For the setup specifics, how to set up a paid Telegram community and how to set up a paid WhatsApp community cover each platform in full.
Side by side
| Memberlet | Selar | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid Telegram group (automated) | Yes | Yes |
| Paid WhatsApp group (automated) | Yes | No |
| Digital product sales / ebooks | No | Yes |
| Video courses | No | Yes |
| Event tickets | No | Yes |
| Affiliate marketplace | No | Yes (40,000+ affiliates) |
| Multi-currency | Naira | 8 currencies including naira |
| Free to start | Yes | Yes (free plan) |
| Paid tiers | No monthly fee | Pro, Turbo, TurboPlus, Enterprise |
| Payout | Nigerian bank | Nigerian bank + international |
When Selar makes more sense
If you are selling a course or ebook and want buyers to automatically land in a Telegram group after purchase, Selar handles both in one checkout flow. A buyer pays for the course, gets the files, and receives an invite link for the group. When the subscription lapses, they leave the group. No second platform required.
The affiliate network is worth factoring in. Selar's marketplace has 40,000+ affiliates who can promote your products for a commission. If you are launching something and need distribution beyond your existing audience, that is built in.
For creators with international buyers, Selar's 8-currency support also fits better than a naira-only setup.
When Memberlet makes more sense
The clearest case for Memberlet is a paid WhatsApp group. Selar has no WhatsApp integration. If your community runs on WhatsApp, Memberlet is the only platform that automates access control.
Memberlet also makes more sense when the community itself is the entire product. A signals group charging ₦12,000/month is not selling an ebook. People are paying for the group: the daily analysis, the live discussion, the ability to ask follow-up questions. Memberlet is built around this model. There is no marketplace, no product catalogue, no one-time sale flow.
For creators who want to focus on running a paid community without configuring a full digital store, Memberlet is faster to set up. Selar has more options because it covers more product types.
Real creator scenarios
A business consultant sells a ₦20,000 PDF bundle and runs a ₦8,000/month private Telegram group for ongoing Q&A. Selar handles both without needing a second platform. The buyer pays for the PDF, then subscribes separately to the group. One checkout flow, one platform.
A fitness coach runs a ₦7,500/month WhatsApp coaching group where members post daily check-ins and get form feedback. Selar cannot automate this. Memberlet can. The coach connects the WhatsApp group, publishes a membership page, and the platform handles who is in and who is out.
A trading signals creator runs a ₦15,000/month Telegram group and sells a ₦3,000 beginner ebook. Selar can handle both, or they could use Memberlet for the group and Selar for the ebook. Either works for the Telegram side. If they also run a WhatsApp group, that part needs Memberlet.
Using both
A lot of creators end up on both platforms without planning it that way. It usually starts with one product type and grows.
A fitness coach builds a WhatsApp community on Memberlet, gets requests for a workout programme, puts it on Selar. A course creator sells a ₦30,000 course on Selar, opens a private Telegram group for students to ask questions, eventually charges separately for the group on Memberlet. The community and the product start feeding each other.
The two platforms do not conflict because they cover genuinely different things. Selar is for products people buy once or subscribe to for content access. Memberlet is for communities people subscribe to because the group itself is the value.
Once both exist in the same creator business, the usual pattern is that the course or ebook brings in new buyers, and some of them convert to the ongoing community. The community becomes the retention layer for the product, and the product becomes the acquisition channel for the community. Most creators who end up on both did not plan it that way — they followed what their audience was asking for.
Which one
Selar if you are selling ebooks, courses, event tickets, or any product with a clear delivery endpoint, and especially if you want those purchases to give Telegram group access automatically.
Memberlet if you run a paid WhatsApp group, or if your entire model is a recurring community subscription with no separate digital products to sell.
Both if you have products and a community. They do not conflict.
For context on how platforms outside Nigeria compare, the Memberlet vs Patreon comparison covers the payout issues that make most international platforms impractical for Nigerian creators.
