Viki is a streaming service that specifically caters to fans of Asian movies and TV shows, particularly K-dramas. It has drawn favorable comparisons to DramaFever, the now-defunct platform that Warner Bros. shuttered in 2018.
Libraries differ from market to market and include original and licensed content, all of which is available to view with subtitles in a multitude of languages. Unusually, Viki – which is owned by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten – relies on unpaid volunteers to produce them.
Users can choose between the free tier and paid plans, and some titles are available to rent for an additional fee. If you’re not sure where to start, the fan-made collections are helpful, as is the free playlist.
Viki operates in a multitude of countries around the world, but since some markets take priority over others, to get the most out of the service you’ll want to pair it with a powerful VPN.
How to watch Viki
The basic level of ad-supported Viki is completely free. The only downside is that newcomers are initially locked behind a paywall.
A standard Viki Pass grants access to the entire Viki library, with ad-free streaming limited to one device at a time and 720p video quality.
Viki Pass Plus maxes out at 1080p, up to four devices at once, and lets you download shows for offline viewing.
A Standard subscription costs $7.99/£4.99/CA£9.99/AU$9.99 per month, while Plus costs $11.99/£7.99/CA£13.49/AU$12.99 per month.
Customers based in India and Brazil can take advantage of some of the cheapest Viki passes. In India, a standard subscription costs INR 299 per month (~$3.24); in Brazil, Standard costs BRL 25.99/month (~$4.97) and Plus costs BRL37.99/month (~$7.27).
Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to watch Viki as if you were at home. NordVPN It’s our best pick of the options.
Use a VPN to watch Viki from abroad
Why is a VPN a good option for watching Viki from abroad?
Viki operates in several countries around the world. However, even if you are a paying customer, depending on your subscription plan and the region in which you sign up for the service, you may not be able to watch Viki from abroad.
That’s where a vpn It comes in handy: it not only allows you to access your home streaming services from anywhere, but also protects you from potential online threats.
What devices and platforms are compatible with Viki and NordVPN?
Amazon fire stick
Android (9.0 and above)
android tv (9.0 and above)
AppleTV (tvOS 18.0 and higher)
Chromecast
iOS (18.0 and above)
iPadOS
Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
Although you can’t run NordVPN directly on other devices, such as PlayStation and Xbox consoles, Apple TVs, and various other smart TV systems and virtual reality headsets, a simple solution is to run NordVPN on your smartphone or computer and set up a hotspot.
What is Viki?
Viki is a streaming service that specializes in movies and TV shows from South Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Thailand.
While Netflix took advantage of the broader K craze with Squid Gamewhose great success has led to a series of new commissions, Viki is completely different, as its scope is not limited to prestige titles.
Part of its appeal is its huge selection of reality and variety, light entertainment shows that are too niche for big-name streamers to dabble in.
Which country has the best Viki library?
The United States tends to take priority when it comes to programming, as it is the streaming service’s largest market and Viki is based in California.
Generally, that means you’re likely to find titles in the Viki US library that aren’t available anywhere else, like Chinese fantasy. Legend of the demon cat.
However, since different movies and TV shows are subject to different licensing agreements, that can work the other way around as well.
What are the best Viki programs?
The town barber
Multi-award-winning actor and singer Park Bo-gum runs a barbershop in a remote village, alongside Lee Sang-yi and Kwak Dong-yeon, in this heartwarming South Korean reality series. It’s lovely to watch the trio forge connections with the locals, and Park also knows how to handle a pair of scissors.
What’s wrong with Secretary Kim?
Vice President Lee Young-joon (Park Seo-joon) vows to do whatever it takes to win back his secretary Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) when she resigns and his business empire quickly falls apart. The twist? Mi-so has something with Young-joon’s older brother. The South Korean romantic comedy series won multiple Korea Drama Awards and APAN Star Awards, and has inspired numerous international adaptations.
Yumi’s cells
The first season of the whimsical South Korean romantic comedy-drama was a sensation, even if it hasn’t been able to reach those heights since. It chronicles the daily existence of office worker Kim Yumi (Kim Go-eun) after a breakup leaves her love cells in a coma, all from the perspective of animated personifications of her other bodily functions. It turned out to be a big winner at the Asian Academy Creative Awards and the APAN Star Awards.
lovely runner
The critically acclaimed romantic fantasy transports Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) 15 years back in time to avoid the twin tragedies of her own unfulfilled dreams and the untimely death of swimmer-turned-K-pop idol Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok). The 16-episode series swept the APAN Star Awards, Asia Contents Awards, Global OTT Awards and Asian Academy Creative Awards.
Curator
The 20-episode action-thriller series examines the recent history of South Korea through the story of outlaw Healer (Ji Chang-wook), who makes his way into the life of rookie reporter Chae Young Shin (Park Min Young) at the behest of high-ranking journalist Kim Moon-ho (Yoo Ji-tae), for unknown reasons. The unlikely common thread uniting the trio is an illegal grassroots pro-democracy group formed during the country’s Fifth Republic era.
Marriage chaos
The friction of the 1930s hits a couple of marriages hard in this South Korean remake of a Japanese series Saikou no Rikon. Underachieving Jo Seok-moo (Cha Tae-hyun) has become bitter and resentful toward the calm and optimistic Kang Hwi Roo (Bae Doona) and, with divorce on the horizon, runs into his first love, Jin Yoo-young (Lee El), who is stuck in a rut with womanizer Lee Jang-hyun (Son Suk-ku).
sparkling watermelon
A magical record store sends Ha Eun Gyeol (Ryeoun) back to 1995, where she enters high school with her father Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun Wook) and mother Cheong Ah (Shin Eun Soo), in this time-jumping romantic drama. Since future Yi-chan disapproves of music, Eun-gyeol is surprised to discover that he is in a band. And if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, it turns out that Yi-chan is in love with cellist Se Kyeong (Seol In Ah). Eun-gyeol will have to befriend Yi-chan to set him on the right path, unless he can change things for the better.
Can I join a Viki Watch Party?
Watch Party was a feature that allowed Viki users to virtually attend movie and TV show screenings so they could discuss them via a live chat portal. However, it was discontinued in December 2024.
However, it has inspired a successor of sorts in the form of timed commentary. The feature invites viewers to post comments on scenes, like annotations in a book, which in turn can spark lively discussions and take on a life of their own.
It’s common practice to rewind because the timed comments are too good to ignore.
You can also enjoy…
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Access a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protect your online security and strengthen your online privacy when you are abroad. We do not support or tolerate illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Future Publishing does not endorse or approve the consumption of paid pirated content.
