How to earn a free Viki Pass

If you’re a fan of K-dramas, you may already know Viki. If this is your first time hearing about Viki, it’s a streaming website where you can watch thousands of Asian dramas with subtitles, even the latest ones on air. It’s available in the United States, Mexico, and a few other countries/regions.

Although Viki content is not subscription-only, having a Viki Pass will allow you to access all the available shows ad-free. In this post, we’re gonna show you: how to get a Viki Pass for free, if you don’t have one yet, and how to make your subscription cheaper. Read on and don’t miss the deal!

Is Viki free?

You can access the Viki website or its app for free. Unlike many streaming services, Viki doesn’t require a subscription for the audience to view their TV show lists. In fact, you don’t even need an account to watch the free content.

But here are the downsides. You get loads of ads while you watch any show without a Viki Pass. Plus, the free content is quite limited. Sometimes, when you watch the first few free episodes of a show and find it interesting, you may end up getting the Viki Pass anyway.

Note: If you’re wondering what the free shows are on Viki, simply filter for Watch Free when you do a search. The shows that are labeled as Watch Free are completely free, and the ones labeled with Free Episodes will be partly free.

How do I get a Viki Pass for free?

1: Apply to be a Qualified Contributor

2: Sign up for a 7-day free trial

1. Apply to be a Qualified Contributor

Viki provides subtitles for their audience in many languages. Most of the work is done by volunteers in the Viki community, also called the Qualified Contributors (QC). QC members are eligible to get rewards, including a free subscription to Viki, once their QC status reaches the tier. This is how their reward system looks:

	QC Trainee (QT) 1000 Subtitles or Segments	Qualified Contributor (QC) 3000 Subtitles or Segments	Gold QC 20,000 Subtitles or Segments
QC Newsletter	x	x	x
Special video access to titles like Viki Originals	x	x	x
Free Viki Pass Ad-free, HD viewing + Access to Viki Pass exclusive content		x	x
QC-Exclusive Promotions		x
Gold QC-Exclusive Promotions			x

To contribute and gain your reward:

The two main roles you can apply for are segmenters and subtitlers.
Go to the Viki Volunteer Community page, and click Get Started at the top-right corner. You’ll be prompted to log into your Viki account and directed to your Viki Community dashboard. There will be a few guides for you to read.
If you’re interested in contributing a specific drama, go to its Viki page and click the Subtitle team. You can either look for a recruiting notice or send a message to the channel’s manager/moderator for inquiry.
Or, you can use the Project Finder or browse the volunteer discussion forum for open projects.

As shown above, you will need to make some progress before you’re certified as a Qualified Contributor to gain the free Viki pass. I would recommend this method to earn your free Viki pass if you have enough spare time for it, or if you’re interested in subtitling!

2. Sign up for a 7-day free trial

Viki offers a 7-day free trial for all new customers. Note that there are two types of Viki Passes, Standard and Plus, and both of them have free trials. I recommend trying the Viki Pass Plus because you can access all the latest content without waiting.

Steps to get your free trial:

Visit Viki’s official site, and click Create Account at the top-right corner of the webpage.
After you create your account, log in and head back to the homepage.
Click Get Viki Pass at the top-right corner of the page.
Choose Viki Pass Standard or Plus, and click Start 7-day free trial.
You’ll be directed to the checkout page. Fill out the information, and you’re done! Now you can enjoy the dramas and variety shows on Viki!

You won’t be charged until the trial ends. If you wish to cancel the subscription, make sure you cancel it before the trial ends to avoid recurring payments.

If you have an active Viki subscription but wish to spend less money on it, here are a few tricks:

Share your account with family & friends

As for now, Viki does NOT limit the number of devices that one account can be used on. That said, you can share a Viki pass with family or friends and split the bill. You’ll all be able to watch Viki content at the same time, no matter how many devices it’s used on.

Create your Watch Party

Viki has a Watch Party feature, which is sort of like sharing your screen. A Viki pass is not required if you’re watching free shows and every Viki account holder will be able to host or join a watch party. For subscription-only content, only the host needs to own a Viki Pass.

This way, you can also split the cost of a Viki Pass. Plus, it’s definitely more fun to binge some shows together with loved ones!

Steps to create your own Watch Party:

Log in to your Viki account, and choose the show you want to watch with your friends.
Click the popcorn icon.
Name your Watch Party, then click Create Watch Party.
Now you can copy the link and share it with your friends!

Comparison: Viki & Netflix & Viu

As we know, Viki is known for its diverse collection of Asian TV dramas, especially Korean dramas, as well as the delicate translation in multiple languages. The two popular alternatives to Viki are Viu and Netflix.

Viu

Viu is pretty much the Asian version of Viki. It also has a large library of Asian Tv shows, especially Korean content. But it’s only available in some countries and regions in Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa.

Netflix

There’s a growing number of Asian content on Netflix now, with a large proportion of Korean and Japanese dramas and variety shows. Although it doesn’t cover as many shows as Viki does, Netflix is doing a great job by adding the popular ones into its library as well as creating their originals (Viki has originals too).

When it comes to translations, many users seem to prefer Viki. Netflix’s translations seem to be easier to understand, while Viki’s translations can be more accurate, fun, and seem to have some nuance.