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Rakuten Viber Messenger

Name: Rakuten Viber Messenger
Rating: 4.3 (14000000 reviews)
Author: Viber Media S.a r.l.

4.3

CategoryCommunication

Download1B+

PriceFree

RatedEveryone

RequiresAndroid 6.0+

DeveloperViber Media S.a r.l.

Screenshots

About this app

Ask someone in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, or the Philippines which messenger their family group chat lives on, and the answer is often Viber. Founded in 2010 and bought by Japanese e-commerce group Rakuten in 2014, it built its base on free calls before WhatsApp locked up Western Europe, and in its strongholds across Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of Asia it remains the default way people talk.

Technically the foundations are sound: one-to-one and group chats, calls, and shared media have been end-to-end encrypted by default since 2016, and hidden chats plus disappearing messages cover the sensitive cases. The frustration is commercial. Rakuten monetises through ads scattered around the interface, sticker-pack promotions, branded channels, and shopping tie-ins, giving the app a cluttered feel that its encryption-first core does not deserve.

Keeping up with family in Viber-first countries

If your relatives are in Kyiv, Sofia, Athens, or Manila, this is likely where they already are. Joining the existing network beats persuading a whole family to move, and calls between Viber users cost nothing over data.

Cheap calls to ordinary phone numbers

Viber Out places calls to landlines and mobiles at low per-minute rates, useful for reaching relatives without smartphones or calling businesses abroad. It is a paid add-on, priced competitively with Skype's old niche.

Communities and public channels

Large open communities and one-way channels host news outlets, city groups, and fan communities, particularly in markets where Viber is dominant. Admin tools and unlimited membership make them workable substitutes for forums.

Default end-to-end encryption

Personal chats, group chats, and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default, a step Viber took back in 2016, well before several bigger rivals. Trust can be verified per contact, and compromised contacts are flagged.

Hidden and self-destructing chats

Hidden chats sit behind a PIN and stay out of your main chat list, while disappearing-message timers handle content you want gone automatically. Secret chats add screenshot notifications, giving Viber a sensitive-conversation toolkit most mainstream messengers lack.

Viber Out calling

Credit-based calling reaches any landline or mobile number worldwide, with subscription bundles available for destinations you call often. Rates are generally low, quality over a decent connection is respectable, and the recipient needs no app at all.

Stickers, lenses, and expressive extras

An enormous sticker marketplace, AR lenses, GIFs, and reactions give chats personality. Many sticker packs are free with a catch: some are sponsored, and downloading them can subscribe you to a brand's channel.

Privacy & Data Safety

Encryption is the strong suit: message content in personal and group chats has been end-to-end encrypted by default for years, so Viber's servers cannot read it. The weaker side is everything commercial. The app serves personalised ads, integrates Rakuten's shopping and loyalty ecosystem, and collects contact, device, and usage data to power both. A phone number is mandatory, and the address-book upload that drives contact discovery includes people who never opted in.

Ads in the chat-list screen, after calls, and elsewhere are targeted using collected data unless you dig into settings to limit personalisation.
Registration requires a phone number, and your number is how contacts find you; there is no username system to hide behind.
Message backups to Google Drive are not end-to-end encrypted by default, which re-exposes content the transport encryption protected.
Hidden chats, disappearing messages, and screenshot alerts give the sensitive-conversation toolkit more depth than most mainstream rivals.

Advantages

End-to-end encryption on by default since 2016
The network that matters in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of Asia
Viber Out offers cheap calls to real phone numbers
Hidden chats and disappearing messages built in

Updates

Updates land every couple of weeks on Android, and the pattern is telling: security and encryption work happens quietly while release notes emphasise stickers, lenses, and business features. Rakuten has steadily pushed Viber toward a commerce-and-services platform in its strong markets, so expect new shopping, payment, and channel features to keep arriving alongside routine fixes.

Business messaging, commerce integrations, and Rakuten ecosystem tie-ins
AI features such as message summaries appearing in larger markets
Ongoing call-quality work and incremental group-chat improvements

Editor's Assessment

Our verdict

Viber's engineering deserves a better business layer. The encryption is real and long-standing, the calling features are useful, and in its core markets the network effect is decisive: use it because everyone you need is on it. Elsewhere it is a harder sell, and the ads, sponsored stickers, and Rakuten cross-promotion wear on you in a way WhatsApp and Signal never do. Turn off ad personalisation, skip the Google Drive backup or accept its limits, and it serves its regions well.

What works

End-to-end encryption on by default since 2016
The network that matters in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and parts of Asia
Viber Out offers cheap calls to real phone numbers
Hidden chats and disappearing messages built in

What to know

Ad load is heavy and increasingly hard to ignore
Sticker promotions and shopping features clutter the interface
Cloud backups undermine encryption unless handled carefully
Marginal presence in North America and Western Europe

FAQ

Is Viber encrypted like WhatsApp?

Yes, in the way that matters: one-to-one chats, group chats, and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default, so neither Viber nor Rakuten can read message content. As with WhatsApp, the standard cloud backup sits outside that protection, so decide deliberately whether to enable it.

Why does Viber show so many ads?

Advertising is Rakuten's main way of monetising a free messenger, alongside Viber Out credit and sticker sales. Ads appear on the chat list, after calls, and inside the Explore section. Settings let you limit ad personalisation, but nothing in the free app removes ads entirely.

What is Viber Out and what does it cost?

Viber Out is paid calling from the app to ordinary landline and mobile numbers, no Viber required on the other end. You buy credit or a subscription for specific countries, with per-minute rates that vary by destination. It is aimed at international calls to people who are not app users.