Whatsapp vs Viber
In the world of instant messaging apps, there are a lot of fierce competitions. Two of the more popular apps are Whatsapp and Viber. Both apps do the same thing, but each of them has different features. Which app is better for you? In this comparison, we will test five areas to see where these apps shine and which one is the better one.
Cost
Viber is free to use for instant messaging while Whatsapp is free for the first year. There is a .99 subscription fee on Whatsapp after the introductory year. Viber also gives you free VOIP calls to other Viber users, but charges 1.9 cents a minute for landline or cellphone calls. Whatsapp does not yet offer VOIP services, but plan to introduce this feature soon. It is unknown what they would charge for landline/mobile calling. Point for Viber.
Accessibility
Both Viber and Whatsapp are available on most if not all mobile platforms. Furthermore, Viber is also available on Mac and PC. Currently, Whatsapp has no official support for desktop environments. There are ways to get Whatsapp to work on Windows or Mac, but this is unsupported and in some cases can get your account banned.
Features
These two IM apps do come with a plethora of cool features. Whatsapp and Viber both excel at sending text messages, but they also can send pictures and short video clips. The one thing that Whatsapp can do that Viber does not is sending short audio clips, but that is trumped by Viber’s ability to send and receive VOIP calls. Until Whatsapp includes VOIP services, Viber is a clear winner when it comes to features.
Security
Both Viber and Whatsapp identify their users by their mobile phone number. Whatsapp only allows one device with a mobile number to be registered at a time. When you switch to a new device, your old device no longer works on your account. Another area that Whatsapp trumps Viber on is encryption. Viber does not encrypt everything, and they recently begun to encrypt video and audio streams. On Whatsapp’s platform, everything is encrypted. Whatsapp is the clear winner when it comes to security.
Viber has a slight edge over Whatsapp. This is only because Viber offers VOIP calling. Once Whatsapp can offer this feature, they will reign as king of the messaging apps. Whatsapp is a serious contender against all the established communication apps. Even though Whatsapp is a new comer, they are gaining ground very quickly. They have well over 500 million active users, and this number is growing. In fact, they are such a threat to all the bigger communication apps Facebook decided to buy them out for 19 billion dollars.