Skype vs Viber

What Skype is

Skype was Microsoft's consumer internet calling, video meeting and messaging service. It is no longer an active product choice: Microsoft retired free and paid Skype on May 5, 2025 and stopped selling paid Skype features to new customers. The replacement path was Microsoft Teams Free using Skype credentials, with eligible contacts and chats transferred. The final Skype Export Portal request deadline was June 15, 2026, and Microsoft warned that deletion of older inactive history began April 1, 2026. Skype for Business was explicitly outside this consumer retirement announcement and must be assessed separately.

What Viber is

Rakuten Viber is a phone-number-based consumer messaging and calling service for mobile, desktop and tablet. Core app-to-app messaging and calling are free, while Viber Out uses purchased credit or automatically renewing monthly plans to call ordinary mobile and landline numbers. One-to-one chats, ordinary groups and one-to-one voice/video calls use end-to-end encryption on current clients. That protection does not extend to Communities, Channels, bot chats, group voice/video calls or paid Viber Out calls, which have different participant and delivery models. Viber also warns that Viber Out connectivity issues may occur in Turkey and several other countries.

What Skype is built to do

Retired messaging

Previously provided consumer chat, file sharing and synchronized conversation history.

Retired calling

Previously supported internet voice/video plus paid calls and numbers for the telephone network.

Teams migration

Microsoft directed consumers to Teams Free using their Skype sign-in.

Historical export

The Skype Export Portal offered chat and media requests only through the now-passed June 2026 window.

What Viber is built to do

Private messaging

Provides one-to-one and group chat with media, calls and current-client end-to-end encryption.

Communities and Channels

Supports large interactive communities and administrator-led broadcasts without end-to-end encryption.

Viber Out

Uses paid credit or renewable plans for internet-originated calls to eligible telephone numbers.

Multi-device access

Links desktop and tablet clients to the primary mobile phone-number account.

Choose Skype if

• Historical product comparisons
• Auditing whether a former Skype account was migrated to Teams Free
• Documenting legacy calling subscriptions or number-porting follow-up

Skip Skype if

• You are choosing a current consumer messaging or meeting platform
• You expect to create a new Skype paid account, Credit balance or calling subscription
• You assume old Skype history is still exportable after the published deadline

Choose Viber if

• Everyday one-to-one or small-group messaging among Viber users
• Communities and brands that accept the public or server-mediated channel model
• Occasional phone-network calling after comparing the exact destination rate and connection quality

Skip Viber if

• Every group call, broadcast, bot interaction and telephone call must be end-to-end encrypted
• Enterprise SSO, managed identities, retention and compliance exports are required
• Turkey-based Viber Out calling is business-critical without a tested fallback

Skype: pros & cons

• The historical service combined chat, voice, video and phone-network calling under a widely recognized identity.
• Microsoft provided a Teams Free migration path using existing Skype credentials.
• Remaining paid users were given Dial Pad access through the Skype web portal and Teams Free during transition.
• A documented export process existed before the final 2026 deadline.
• Consumer Skype has been retired since May 5, 2025 and cannot be selected for a new deployment.
• Paid Skype Credit, calling subscriptions and Skype Numbers are no longer sold to new customers.
• The June 15, 2026 export-request deadline has passed; unavailable or deleted history cannot be assumed recoverable.
• The retirement notice does not cover Skype for Business, so the two products must not be conflated.

Viber: pros & cons

• Current clients apply end-to-end encryption automatically to one-to-one chats, ordinary groups and one-to-one calls.
• Desktop and tablet companions extend a phone-number account across common devices.
• Groups, Communities and Channels cover private conversation, large community and one-way broadcast patterns.
• Viber Out provides a paid route to mobile and landline numbers that do not use Viber.
• Communities, Channels, bots, group calls and Viber Out calls are not end-to-end encrypted.
• Viber Out requires credit or a monthly auto-renewing plan, and country, destination and number-type exclusions apply.
• The vendor specifically warns of possible Viber Out connectivity issues in Turkey.
• Uninstalling, deactivating and cancelling paid plans are separate actions; deactivation can remove data or credit without cancelling a Viber Out subscription.