Skype vs Viber Out
This comparison had a clear answer for fifteen years and now has a different one. Consumer Skype has been withdrawn; Viber Out has not.
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Consumer Skype is no longer operating. Microsoft announced the retirement of consumer Skype with an end of service in May 2026, migrating paid calling into Teams and converting subscriptions to credit. Whatever its merits, it is not something to start using now.
Viber Out continues, dialling landlines and mobiles worldwide from inside the Viber messenger on credit. On terms, Viber compares well against what Skype charged: Skype published a connection fee of $0.049 per call to US, UK, India and Mexico landlines and $0.089 to many mobile destinations, plus a 180-day inactivity rule on unused credit. Viber states no connection fees and no credit expiry — but it does round each call up to the next whole minute.
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
Service status
Skype: Withdrawn. Viber Out: Operating. A withdrawn consumer service is not a candidate whatever its merits were: accounts stop being sold, unused credit is converted or lapses, and support ends. If you arrived here because the one you used has closed, the comparison worth making is between the services that are still operating.
Billing unit
Skype 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
Skype: Charged. 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
Skype: 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.
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
Skype
Skype was a VoIP and messaging application that allowed users to make IP-based voice and video calls, send messages, and place debit-based calls to mobile and landline numbers worldwide until its consumer service retirement in May 2025.
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 Skype
- per minute
- $0.049 per call to US/UK/India/Mexico landlines; $0.089 per call to many mobile destinations (Skype Credit, USD, VAT not specified).
- Skype Credit becomes inactive after 180 days without usage but could be reactivated via a dedicated link; Microsoft Q&A notes 180‑day inactivity rule, and users reported expiring balances around the migration to Teams.
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 Skype
Users needed to create or sign in with a Microsoft/Skype account; paid calling required adding Skype Credit or an active subscription.
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 Skype
Offered Skype Credit as pay‑as‑you‑go, and various monthly subscriptions such as country-specific minute bundles and 'Unlimited World' plans for international calls; existing subscriptions are being converted to credit as Skype is retired.
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.
Skype
- United States, landline: $0.023/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- United States, mobile: $0.023/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- United Kingdom, landline: $0.023/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- United Kingdom, mobile: $0.100/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- India, mobile: $0.015/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- Mexico, mobile: $0.035/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- Nigeria, mobile: $0.224/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
- Philippines, mobile: $0.168/min (Skype Credit, VAT/tax not specified).
Source, as recorded: www.skaip.org/call-rates/us; www.skaip.org/call-rates/gb; www.skaip.org/call-rates/mx; www.skaip.org/call-rates/in; Zippcall Skype calling rates overview 2025.
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
Skype
- Offered paid calling from the app to landline and mobile numbers worldwide using Skype Credit or subscriptions.
- Provided free Skype‑to‑Skype voice and video calls over the internet.
- Supported instant messaging, file transfer, and screen sharing alongside calls.
- Available on multiple platforms including mobile apps and desktop clients.
- Offered country‑specific and global flat‑rate subscription plans for frequent international calling.
- Integrated with Microsoft accounts and later migrated paid calling into Microsoft Teams Free with a web dial pad.
- Call rates depended on destination country and number type (mobile vs landline).
- Consumer Skype service is being retired, with end of service set for May 1, 2026, while the dial pad remains via web for paid users.
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
Skype
- User reviews and tech press have long reported dissatisfaction with major UI redesigns of the mobile app, including complaints that the new interface made the app harder to use.
- Criticism over call quality variability, especially on slower or unstable internet connections, appears frequently in third‑party reviews.
- Some users complain about confusion around credit expiry and the 180‑day inactivity rule for Skype Credit.
- Reports of confusion and concern among users about what happens to existing Skype Credit and subscriptions during the announced shutdown and migration to Teams.
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 | 2003 | — |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (historical corporate HQ for Skype Technologies). | Tokyo, Japan (Rakuten Group global HQ; Viber branded as Rakuten Viber). |
| Users | Around 300 million monthly active users across platforms as of 2016–2017 (historical figure). | Hundreds of millions of monthly active users for Rakuten Viber overall; official about page states 'over a billion people worldwide'. |
| Store rating | 4.2 (~700,000+ ratings, aggregated App Store figure). | 4.2 (developer listing aggregate rating for Rakuten Viber Messenger). |
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
Consumer Skype was retired by Microsoft with an end of service in May 2026. It is not a live option.
Viber Out operates, dials real phone numbers, charges no connection fee and does not expire credit — but rounds each call up to a whole minute.
Anyone arriving here to replace Skype should be comparing the services that still exist, not these two.
Frequently asked questions
Can Skype call a landline or mobile number?
Yes. Skype 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 Skype charge a connection fee?
Yes. Skype publishes a charge applied to each call on top of the per-minute rate, which costs proportionally most on short calls.
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 Skype or Viber Out?
Credit on Skype 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, Skype 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. Skype 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 Skype and Viber Out require an account?
Skype: 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 Skype and Viber Out run on?
Skype runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. Viber Out runs on iOS, Android, Web, Windows, macOS. These are the platforms each provider publishes.
Is Skype still available?
No. Skype has been withdrawn as a consumer service, so it is not something to start using now.
