Viki is a streaming service that specifically caters to fans of Asian TV shows and movies, especially K-dramas. It earned favorable comparisons to 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 can be viewed 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 don’t know 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, in order to get the most out of the service you’ll need to pair it with a powerful VPN.
How to watch Viki
The basic ad-supported tier of Viki is completely free. The only problem is that newcomers are initially stuck behind a paywall.
A standard Viki Pass provides access to the full Viki library, with ad-free streaming limited to one device at a time and 720p video quality.
Viki Pass Plus reaches 1080p, up to four devices at once, 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 enjoy some of the cheapest Viki passes. In India, a Standard subscription costs INR 299/month (~$3.24); in Brazil, Standard costs BRL 25.99/month (~$4.97) and Plus costs BRL 37.99/month (~$7.27).
Are you traveling abroad at the moment? You can use a VPN to watch Viki as if you were at home. NordVPN is our top pick among 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.
This is where a VPN is convenient: not only does it allow you to access your home streaming services from anywhere, but 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 above)
Android Television (9.0 and above)
Apple TV (tvOS 18.0 and later)
Chromecast
iOS (18.0 and above)
iPadOS
Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari)
While 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, as well as VR 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 specializing in South Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Thai TV shows and movies.
While Netflix tapped into the broader K craze with Squid gamewhose wild success has led to numerous new orders, Viki is completely different, in that its scope is not limited to prestige titles.
Part of its appeal is its huge selection of reality and variety shows, light entertainment shows that are far too niche for the big streamers to get into.
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 itself is headquartered in California.
In general, this means you’ll likely 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, it can also work the other way around.
What are the best shows on Viki?
The village barber
Multi-award winning actor and singer Park Bo-gum runs a hair salon in a remote village, alongside Lee Sang-yi and Kwak Dong-yeon, in this heartwarming South Korean reality series. It’s nice to see the trio bonding with the locals – and Park also knows his way around a pair of scissors.
What’s wrong with Secretary Kim
Incumbent 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 collapses. The twist? Mi-so has a thing with Young-joon’s older brother. The South Korean romantic comedy series has won several 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, although it hasn’t quite managed to reach those heights since. It chronicles the mundane daily existence of office worker Kim Yumi (Kim Go-eun) after a breakup leaves her love cells comatose – 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 APAN Star Awards.
Nice runner
The critically acclaimed time-hopping romantic fantasy transports Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon) 15 years back to avoid the twin tragedies of her own unrealized dreams and the untimely death of swimmer-turned-K-pop idol Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok). The 16-part series won the APAN Star Awards, Asia Contents Awards, Global OTT Awards and Asian Academy Creative Awards by storm.
Healer
The 20-episode action thriller series traces South Korea’s recent history through the story of outlaw Healer (Ji Chang-wook), who interferes in the life of rookie journalist Chae Young Shin (Park Min Young) at the behest of high-ranking journalist Kim Moon-ho (Yoo Ji-tae), for reasons unknown. The unlikely thread uniting the trio is an illegal grassroots pro-democracy group formed during the era of the country’s Fifth Republic.
Marital chaos
1930s Friction Hits Two Marriages Hard in This South Korean Remake of a Japanese Series Saikou no Rikon. Underachiever Jo Seok-moo (Cha Tae-hyun) has become bitter and resentful toward the laid-back and optimistic Kang Hwi Roo (Bae Doona) and, with divorce on the horizon, meets his first love Jin Yoo-young (Lee El), who is herself stuck in a rut with ladies’ man Lee Jang-hyun (Son Suk-ku).
Glittering Watermelon
A magical record store sends Ha Eun Gyeol (Ryeoun) back to 1995, where he is sent to high 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 disapproves of music, Eun-gyeol is surprised to discover that he is in a band. And as if that wasn’t mind-blowing enough, it turns out that Yi-chan has a crush on 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 screenings of television shows and films, in order to discuss them via a live chat portal. However, it was discontinued in December 2024.
It did, however, inspire a successor of sorts in the form of timed commentary. The feature invites viewers to pin comments on scenes, like annotations in a book, which can themselves spark lively discussions and take on a life of their own.
It’s common to backtrack because scheduled 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. 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 abroad. We do not support or condone illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consumption of paid pirated content is not endorsed or endorsed by Future Publishing.
