Viki is a streaming service that caters specifically to fans of Asian TV shows and films, particularly K-dramas. It’s gained favorable comparisons with DramaFever, the now-defunct platform that was shut down by Warner Bros. in 2018.
Libraries differ from market to market, and include both original and licensed content, all of which is available to watch with subtitles in a multitude of languages. Unusually, Viki – which is owned by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten – relies on unpaid volunteers to produce these.
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-created collections are helpful, as is the free playlist.
Viki operates in a multitude of countries around the world, but seeing as some markets take priority over others, in order to get the most out of the service you’ll want to pair it with a strong VPN.
How to watch Viki
Viki’s ad-supported base tier is completely free. The only catch is that new arrivals are initially locked behind a paywall.
A Standard Viki Pass grants access to the full Viki library, with ad-free streaming limited to one device at a time and 720p video quality.
Viki Pass Plus tops out at 1080p, up to four devices at a time, and lets you download shows to watch offline.
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 INR299/month (~$3.24); in Brazil, Standard is BRL25.99/month (~$4.97), and Plus is BRL37.99/month (~$7.27).
Traveling abroad right now? You can use a VPN to watch Viki as if you were right at home. NordVPN is our top pick of the options.
Use a VPN to watch Viki from abroad
Why is a VPN a good option to watch Viki from abroad?
Viki operates in multiple countries around the world. However, even if you’re a paying customer, depending on your subscription plan and the region in which you register with the service, you might not be able to watch Viki from abroad.
That’s where a VPN comes in handy – not only does it let you tap into your home streaming services from anywhere, it also protects you from potential online threats.
What devices and platforms are supported by Viki and NordVPN?
Amazon Fire Stick
Android (9.0 and up)
Android TV (9.0 and up)
Apple TV (tvOS 18.0 and up)
Chromecast
iOS (18.0 and up)
iPadOS
Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
Although you can’t run NordVPN directly on other devices, such as PlayStation and Xbox consoles, TVs running Apple TV and various other smart TV systems, and VR headsets, an easy workaround is running NordVPN on your smartphone or computer and setting up a hotspot.
What is Viki?
Viki is a streaming service that specialises in South Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Thai TV shows and movies.
While Netflix tapped into the wider K-craze with Squid Game, the wild success of which has prompted a slew of new commissions, Viki is completely different, in that its scope isn’t limited to prestige titles.
A part of its appeal is its enormous reality and variety selection, light entertainment shows that are far too niche for the big-name streamers to dabble in.
Which country has the best Viki library?
The US tends to take priority as far as programming is concerned, as it’s the streaming service’s biggest market, and Viki itself is headquartered in California.
In general, that means you’re likely to find titles in the Viki US library that aren’t available anywhere else, such as Chinese fantasy Legend of the Demon Cat.
However, since different films and TV shows are subject to different licensing agreements, that can work the opposite way too.
What are the best shows on Viki?
The Village Barber
Multi-award winning actor and singer Park Bo-gum run a barber shop in a remote village, alongside Lee Sang-yi and Kwak Dong-yeon, in this heartwarming South Korean reality series. It’s lovely seeing the trio forge connections with the locals – and Park knows his way around a pair of scissors too.
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim
Entitled vice-chairman Lee Young-joon (Park Seo-joon) vows to do whatever it takes to win his secretary Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) back when she quits and his business empire rapidly crumbles. The twist? Mi-so has a thing with Young-joon’s older brother. The South Korean romantic comedy series won multiple Korea Drama Awards and APAN Star Awards accolades, 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 quite been able to reach those heights since. It chronicles the mundane day-to-day existence of office worker Kim Yumi (Kim Go-eun) after a break-up leaves her love cells comatose – all from the perspective of animated personifications of her other bodily functions. It proved a big winner at the Asian Academy Creative Awards and APAN Star Awards.
Lovely Runner
The critically-acclaimed time-hopping romantic fantasy transports Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) 15 years back in time to avert 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-part series took the APAN Star Awards, Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards and Asian Academy Creative Awards by storm.
Healer
The 20-part action-thriller series unpacks recent South Korean history through the story of outlaw Healer (Ji Chang-wook), who inveigles his way into rookie reporter Chae Young Shin’s (Park Min Young) life at the behest of high-ranking journalist Kim Moon-ho (Yoo Ji-tae), for reasons unknown. The unlikely common thread that links the trio is an illegal grass-roots pro-democracy group formed during the era of the country’s Fifth Republic.
Matrimonial Chaos
Thirties friction hits a pair of marriages hard in this South Korean remake of Japanese series Saikou no Rikon. Underachiever Jo Seok-moo (Cha Tae-hyun) has grown bitter and resentful of laid-back, upbeat Kang Hwi Roo (Bae Doona) and, with divorce on the horizon, runs into his first love Jin Yoo-young (Lee El), who herself is stuck in a rut with ladies’ man Lee Jang-hyun (Son Suk-ku).
Twinkling Watermelon
A magical record store sends Ha Eun Gyeol (Ryeoun) hurtling back to 1995, where he’s thrown into secondary school with his father Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun Wook) and mother Cheong Ah (Shin Eun Soo), in this time-hopping romantic drama. Since future Yi-chan is disapproving of music, Eun-gyeol is astonished to find that he’s in a band. And if that wasn’t mind-bending enough, it turns out Yi-chan has a crush on cellist Se Kyeong (Seol In Ah). Eun-gyeol will have to befriend Yi-chan to get him on the right track – 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 TV show and movie screenings, in order to discuss them via a live chat portal. However, it was discontinued in December 2024.
It has, however, inspired a successor of sorts in the form of Timed Comments. The feature invites viewers to pin comments to scenes, like annotations in a book, which themselves can ignite lively discussions and take on a life of their own.
It’s common practice to rewind because the Timed Comments are too good to miss.
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We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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