(Reuters) – Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the messaging app Telegram would launch a monthly paid subscription for its users on Friday.

Telegram Premium subscribers will receive a larger limit of chats, files, and media uploads. Durov explained this in a blogpost.

“The only way we can let our most demanding fan get more and keep our existing features free, is to make those higher limits a pay option,” he stated.

Following privacy concerns about WhatsApp, a larger rival, both Signal and Telegram have experienced an increase of users. According to Telegram’s website, the app is currently used by 500 million people per month and it ranks among the top 10 most downloaded in the world.

Durov explained that Telegram’s decision to allow paid subscribers was done to protect its primary source of funding, which is users rather than advertisers.