LINE Out vs Viber Out
Two of the small number of messengers that will also dial an ordinary telephone number. Both sell credit inside the app; the terms attached to that credit are where they separate.
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Both can call landlines and mobiles, which already puts them ahead of WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram for this purpose. Both are paid, credit-based features bolted onto a free messenger, and both bill per minute.
The difference to weigh is what happens to credit you do not spend: LINE Out's call credit expires, and LINE also sells 30-day call plans, while Viber's research record shows no expiry on Viber Out credit. Viber states there are no connection fees; LINE publishes no answer on that. Viber Out rounds each call up to the next whole minute. LINE is dominant in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand and marginal elsewhere, which for most people decides it before any of the above.
Side by side
Pick what you care about and the differences reorder.
4 of 8 fields differ; 3 are the same.
How to read this comparison
Work down in this order and most comparisons resolve in under a minute. First, can it reach the number you actually need — a service that only calls its own users is not a cheaper version of one that dials a landline, it is a different thing. Second, what are the billing terms: the unit a call is measured in, and whether a fixed fee is added to each one. Third, what happens to money you do not spend.
The per-minute rate is deliberately not the first question here, and it is the only question most comparisons ask. At the same advertised rate, a service that rounds every call up to a whole minute and adds a per-call fee can cost close to double another on the short calls that make up most people's actual usage. The rate is the number that gets compared because it is the number that gets published.
Where they actually differ
Billing unit
LINE Out bills per minute; Viber Out bills rounded up. At an identical per-minute rate those produce different bills, and the gap is widest exactly where most people call. Rounding a 35-second call up to a whole minute is a surcharge of roughly seventy per cent on that call, and it appears in no rate comparison anywhere, because the rate has not changed.
Connection fee
LINE Out: Not published. Viber Out: None. A connection fee is a fixed amount added to every call regardless of length, which makes it proportionally largest on the short calls a per-minute comparison makes look cheapest. Ten one-minute calls with a five-cent fee cost fifty cents more than the headline implies; one ten-minute call costs five.
Credit expiry
LINE Out: Expires. Viber Out: Never. Expiring credit is a cost that appears in no rate table, and it matters in proportion to how much you top up at once and how irregularly you call. A balance bought for emergencies and left unused is precisely the balance an inactivity rule takes.
Platforms
LINE Out runs on iOS, Android. Viber Out runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. This decides more comparisons than it ought to: a service that is excellent and unavailable on the device in your hand is not a candidate at all, and a desktop client matters more than it sounds when the alternative is holding a phone against your ear for an hour.
Where they are the same
- Calls a phone number: both dials real phone numbers.
- Subscription: both offers a subscription.
- Account required: both account required.
What each one is
LINE Out
LINE Out is a paid calling feature of the LINE messaging app that allows users to make VoIP calls from the app to mobile phones and landlines worldwide using call credit or 30‑day plans.
Viber Out
Viber Out is a paid VoIP feature within the Rakuten Viber app that lets users call mobile and landline numbers worldwide from the app using prepaid credit or subscriptions.
How each one bills you
As published by LINE Out
- per minute (limits such as 5‑minute free calls on some routes apply).
- 30‑Day Plans are valid for 30 days; Call Credit balances may have validity rules but these are detailed in LINE’s terms rather than the brief marketing page.
- Small call‑credit top‑ups (amount varies by region).
As published by Viber Out
- per minute (rounded up to the next minute).
- None (no connection fees or hidden costs stated for Viber Out).
- Viber Out credit is advertised as prepaid 'World Credit'; official documentation describes balance consumption and auto‑recharge but does not state a fixed expiry date.
What each one asks of you
As published by LINE Out
Users must have a verified LINE account with a phone number to use LINE Out; verification is required through SMS or call.
As published by Viber Out
Users register Viber with a mobile phone number and then can purchase Viber Out credit or plans linked to that account.
Plans, where each one sells them
As published by LINE Out
Offers Call Credit (pay‑as‑you‑go) and 30‑Day Plans for selected destinations (country‑specific bundles); some routes have limited daily free minutes under 'LINE Out Free'.
As published by Viber Out
Offers World Credit (pay‑as‑you‑go credit), World Unlimited Plan for unlimited calls to 60 countries, Unlimited Country Plans for unlimited calls to a single country, and Minutes Country Plans with monthly minute bundles.
Published rates
The corridor prices each provider published at the time of the research. An empty list means the provider does not publish its rates outside its own app, which is itself worth knowing before you top up.
LINE Out
LINE Out publishes no per-country rates outside its own app.
Source, as recorded: LINE Out product page; per‑country rates and free‑minute eligibility are shown inside the app and web rate lookup.
Viber Out
- United States, landline: $0.019/min (approximate per‑minute rate; VAT/tax not specified).
- United States, mobile: $0.019/min (approximate per‑minute rate; VAT/tax not specified).
- United Kingdom, landline: $0.019/min (approximate per‑minute rate; VAT/tax not specified).
- United Kingdom, mobile: $0.059/min (approximate per‑minute rate; VAT/tax not specified).
- India, mobile: $0.015/min (approximate per‑minute rate; VAT/tax not specified).
Source, as recorded: Viber Out international call rates index and explanatory article on Viber Out pricing.
What each one does
LINE Out
- Allows VoIP calls from LINE app to mobiles and landlines, even if the recipient does not use LINE.
- Includes LINE Out Free promotional calls up to 5 minutes to selected destinations after watching ads or under specific conditions.
- Supports Call Credit (prepaid) and 30‑Day Plans for frequently called countries.
- Requires phone‑number verification to use.
- Integrates with LINE’s contacts and call history.
- Works over Wi‑Fi or mobile data.
- Available in many countries with region‑specific pricing.
- Part of LINE’s broader messaging platform.
Viber Out
- Lets Viber users call mobile and landline numbers in over 60 countries at per‑minute rates.
- Provides multiple Viber Out products: World Credit, World Unlimited Plan, Unlimited Country Plans, and Minutes Country Plans.
- No connection fees are mentioned; billing is per minute and rounded up.
- Uses the same Viber app used for free Viber‑to‑Viber messaging and calls.
- Supports VoIP calling over Wi‑Fi or mobile data, with rates denominated in USD or EUR depending on phone number region.
- Automatic top‑up can be configured to prevent running out of Viber Out credit.
- Desktop apps for Windows and macOS mirror the mobile account once activated via mobile.
- Supports international SMS at a separate per‑message rate.
What users complain about
LINE Out
- Users have reported that free‑call availability and eligible destinations change over time, causing confusion.
- Complaints include differences between advertised rates and effective cost once taxes or platform fees are applied.
- Some users criticise call quality for certain destinations, especially on mobile data.
Viber Out
- Some reviewers note rate variability between landlines and mobiles, with significantly higher prices for mobiles in certain destinations.
- User feedback on third‑party review sites mentions occasional call quality issues over mobile data compared with Wi‑Fi.
- There are complaints about confusion around available plans and finding the best combination of World Credit vs subscriptions for specific destinations.
About each company
| Founded | 2013 (LINE Out launched as LINE Call/LINE Out around mid‑2010s; exact year not clearly stated on consulted page). | — |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan (LINE Corporation). | Tokyo, Japan (Rakuten Group global HQ; Viber branded as Rakuten Viber). |
| Users | — | Hundreds of millions of monthly active users for Rakuten Viber overall; official about page states 'over a billion people worldwide'. |
| Store rating | — | 4.2 (developer listing aggregate rating for Rakuten Viber Messenger). |
| Minimum purchase | Small call‑credit top‑ups (amount varies by region). | — |
If neither of them fits
Both of the services above bill per minute or cannot dial a phone at all. If what you need is to call an ordinary number and pay only for the seconds you talk, that is what we publish — and the same nine fields are in the table above, in the first row, marked as ours.
Rates from $0.03 a minute across 41 destinations, billed per second with no connection fee and credit that does not expire.
What Telvio does and does not doSources and dates
Every value on this page is quoted from the provider's own published material, gathered in a structured research pass on 2026-03-18. Where a provider published no answer, the page says so rather than estimating. Nothing here is a review: call quality, reliability and support are not assessed, because they cannot be established from published material.
Bottom line
Both dial real telephone numbers from inside a free messenger, and both bill per minute rather than per second.
LINE Out credit expires and LINE sells 30-day plans; Viber Out credit does not expire per its published terms, and Viber states there is no connection fee. Viber rounds each call up to a whole minute.
Geography usually decides this one: LINE has real scale only in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
Can LINE Out call a landline or mobile number?
Yes. LINE Out dials ordinary landline and mobile numbers, so the person you are calling does not need to install anything.
Can Viber Out call a landline or mobile number?
Yes. Viber Out dials ordinary landline and mobile numbers, so the person you are calling does not need to install anything.
Does LINE Out charge a connection fee?
LINE Out publishes no answer. As of the March 2026 research it could not be confirmed either way, which is itself worth knowing before topping up.
Does Viber Out charge a connection fee?
No separate connection fee is published for Viber Out, so the cost of a call is the per-minute rate applied to the billed time.
Does unused credit expire on LINE Out or Viber Out?
Credit on LINE Out expires after a period of inactivity according to its published terms. Credit on Viber Out does not expire according to its published terms. Expiry costs most when you top up in large amounts and call infrequently.
Which is cheaper for short calls, LINE Out or Viber Out?
Neither publishes per-country rates in a form that allows a like-for-like table, so the comparison rests on billing terms. LINE Out bills per minute, Viber Out bills rounded up. On calls of under a minute the billing unit and any per-call fee change the total more than the headline rate does.
Do LINE Out and Viber Out require an account?
LINE Out: Account required. Viber Out: Account required. Every service in this comparison set except one requires you to identify yourself before you can call.
Which devices do LINE Out and Viber Out run on?
LINE Out runs on iOS, Android. Viber Out runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. These are the platforms each provider publishes.
