Loklok started as a small aggregator and grew into a broad movies-and-dramas app popular across Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. It works, but the cracks show once you use it daily. Titles disappear without warning when licensing shifts, the ad load between short-drama episodes climbs steadily, and users in certain countries hit hard geoblocks with no clear notice inside the app. If any of that has pushed you to shop around, the seven Loklok alternatives below cover the exit paths that actually solve the problem: bigger licensed catalogues, faster subtitle turnaround, cleaner free tiers, and dedicated short-form drama apps.
None of these apps replace Loklok for every viewer. Each one wins on a specific dimension, so pick by what breaks first for you.
Which app should you choose?
- WeTV if you want the broadest licensed Asian catalogue with same-day C-drama and K-drama drops.
- Viki if the subtitle language you need is anything other than English or Chinese and you want a proper free ad tier.
- Viu if K-drama and Korean variety are the whole point and you want fast next-day subs.
- iQIYI if the C-drama and Chinese variety catalogue matters most and you want originals you cannot get elsewhere.
- HiTV if you refuse to pay and can live with an ad-supported grey-market catalogue.
- Vidio if you watch from Indonesia and want Liga 1, sinetron and local originals alongside Asian drama.
- DramaBox if short-form vertical drama is what actually keeps you scrolling in Loklok.
Stay on Loklok if the offline download queue, its rating system, and the specific mixed catalogue you already curated matter more than any single upgrade below.
Comparison table
| App | Best for | Free tier | Paid starts at | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WeTV | Broad licensed C/K-drama | Yes, ad-supported | Modest monthly VIP | Same-day C-drama drops |
| Viki | Community-subtitled Asian TV | Yes, ad-supported | Modest Standard tier | 200+ subtitle languages |
| Viu | K-drama and Korean variety | Yes, ad-supported | Modest Premium tier | Fast next-day English subs |
| iQIYI | Original C-drama and variety | Yes, ad-supported | Modest VIP tier | Deep Chinese originals catalogue |
| HiTV | Free ad-supported catalogue | Yes, ad-heavy | Free | Big library at zero cost |
| Vidio | Indonesian local + Asian mix | Yes, ad-supported | Modest Diamond tier | Liga 1, sinetron, Champions League |
| DramaBox | Vertical short-form drama | Free episodes with unlock | Coin bundles | Hundreds of finished mini-series |
1. WeTV -- the closest like-for-like Loklok replacement
WeTV is Tencent’s international streaming app and the most direct upgrade for anyone who watches Loklok mainly for Asian dramas. The library covers Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Southeast Asian series, and Tencent’s own productions land on WeTV the same day they release in China. The Southeast Asian language coverage is where WeTV separates itself: subtitles ship for Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic on most flagship titles.
Loklok vs WeTV comes down to catalogue depth and legal footing. Loklok’s grey-market curation catches trending titles fast, but WeTV holds actual licences, which means fewer disappearing episodes and no risk of a title vanishing mid-binge. The free tier is generous, the ad breaks between C-drama episodes are shorter than most competitors, and VIP unlocks early access to serialised drops.
Where it falls short: The recommendation engine leans hard on Chinese hits, so K-drama-only viewers find themselves scrolling past a lot of C-content. Regional pricing varies more than most streamers.
Pricing:
- Free: full app with ads and delayed episode access
- Paid: VIP subscription with early episodes, 4K, and no ads
- vs Loklok: a paid tier where Loklok is free, but the catalogue is licensed and the app is ad-lighter
Migrating from Loklok: No importer. Rebuild your watchlist by title in WeTV’s search. Continue-watching state does not carry across apps.
Bottom line: WeTV is the safest Loklok swap for regular drama watchers who want a licensed catalogue and don’t mind a paid tier for early access.
2. Viki -- best for community subtitles across dozens of languages
Viki (owned by Rakuten) is the go-to for viewers who need dramas subtitled in a language their national streamers ignore. Community translators subtitle new episodes within hours in more than 200 languages, and the timing tools built into Viki’s translator interface produce cleaner subs than most machine translations. The catalogue covers Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese dramas plus a growing Thai and Filipino slate.
Loklok vs Viki is really about who translates the show. Loklok leans on a mix of official and unofficial subs that sometimes lag or vanish. Viki’s community model is faster for less-common languages and produces more idiomatic translations, which matters for K-drama humour and Chinese wuxia terminology that machine translation flattens.
Where it falls short: The mobile UI has not aged well; category browsing feels dated. The free tier limits some flagship titles to Viki Pass Standard.
Pricing:
- Free: substantial ad-supported catalogue
- Paid: Viki Pass Standard for ad-free viewing, higher tier for exclusives and next-day episodes
- vs Loklok: paid tiers where Loklok is free, but subtitles and licensing are cleaner
Migrating from Loklok: Watchlists rebuild manually. Viki lets you follow specific translation teams, which has no Loklok equivalent.
Bottom line: Viki wins on subtitle language coverage and translation quality. Pick it if the language you need is anything unusual.
3. Viu -- best for fresh K-drama and Korean variety
Viu is a PCCW Media property with a focus on Korean dramas, Korean variety shows, and select regional content across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Africa. The differentiator is turnaround: new K-drama episodes appear on Viu with English and Bahasa subtitles within roughly 24 hours of the Korean broadcast. K-variety fans in particular get shows Loklok often lacks entirely, including running SBS, MBC and KBS variety slates.
Loklok vs Viu splits by content emphasis. Loklok is broader (movies, C-dramas, shorts). Viu is narrower and deeper on Korean output, plus regional Arabic and Filipino originals produced in-house.
Where it falls short: Chinese and Thai drama shelves are thin compared with WeTV or iQIYI. The free tier gates a lot of same-week episodes behind Premium.
Pricing:
- Free: catalogue with ads and a one-week gap on new episodes
- Paid: Viu Premium for same-day episodes, ad-free, download-to-watch
- vs Loklok: paid, but same-day K-drama is a real upgrade
Migrating from Loklok: No importer. Save titles to My List manually. Continue-watching does not transfer.
Bottom line: Pick Viu if K-content is 80% of what you watch and Loklok’s slow K-drama updates frustrate you.
4. iQIYI -- best for deep Chinese originals and variety
iQIYI International is Baidu’s streamer and one of China’s largest content producers by output. The international app carries C-dramas, xianxia and wuxia epics, mainland variety shows, anime and Korean licensed titles. If your Loklok home screen fills with Chinese titles, iQIYI’s originals shelf is where most of the trending ones actually come from.
Loklok vs iQIYI is a licensing story. iQIYI produces the shows in-house, so exclusives like “The Untamed”, “Love Between Fairy and Devil” or the ongoing Original Feature slate appear there first and stay there. Loklok often carries the same titles but with less reliable subtitles and no guarantee they stick around.
Where it falls short: Regional catalogue trims apply. Some titles that stream in Southeast Asia are blocked in Europe or the Americas. The recommendation feed can push a lot of vertical shorts you did not ask for.
Pricing:
- Free: ad-supported catalogue with delayed episodes
- Paid: VIP for early access, 4K, ad-free viewing, and downloads
- vs Loklok: paid but the exclusives and reliable subtitles justify it for C-drama-first viewers
Migrating from Loklok: Manual rebuild. iQIYI’s My List and download queue work well once populated.
Bottom line: iQIYI is the C-drama specialist. Choose it when the show you want is a Chinese original.
5. HiTV -- best free Asian drama catalogue
HiTV is the ad-supported catch-all a lot of viewers install after they get tired of paywalls. It carries a broad selection of Korean, Chinese and Thai dramas plus movies, with English and a rotating set of Southeast Asian subtitles. There is no paid tier, which is the whole pitch.
Loklok vs HiTV is close on paper: both aggregate widely, both lean on advertising, both offer offline downloads. HiTV wins on quantity and on speed of trending titles appearing. Loklok wins on interface polish, rating system, and comment threads.
Where it falls short: The legal footing is less clear than any licensed streamer. Titles rotate off without notice. Ad frequency between episodes is higher than paid apps.
Pricing:
- Free: full catalogue with ads
- Paid: none
- vs Loklok: comparable price (both free), broader catalogue, heavier ads
Migrating from Loklok: No importer. Watchlist rebuilds manually.
Bottom line: HiTV is the free option for viewers who prioritise catalogue breadth over interface polish or paid quality.
6. Vidio -- best for Indonesian viewers who want local plus Asian content
Vidio is Emtek’s flagship Indonesian streamer. The pitch to Loklok users is a mix that only Vidio delivers in Indonesia: Liga 1 football, MotoGP and Champions League rights alongside sinetron, Indonesian originals, licensed K-dramas and select C-dramas. For anyone whose Loklok usage sits alongside a separate live-sports app, Vidio consolidates both.
Loklok vs Vidio is really Loklok vs a broader entertainment app that happens to include drama. Vidio’s drama shelf is smaller than WeTV or Viu, but the local content and live sports are where it earns the install.
Where it falls short: Outside Indonesia the app is region-locked; sports and premium content need Diamond. K-drama subtitle turnaround lags Viu.
Pricing:
- Free: ad-supported free-to-air TV and select drama
- Paid: Platinum and Diamond tiers for sports, originals, and premium drama
- vs Loklok: paid at the top tier, but you consolidate sports and drama in one app
Migrating from Loklok: Manual. Vidio’s My List handles favourites cleanly once you rebuild.
Bottom line: Vidio makes sense for Indonesian users who want dramas plus Liga 1 in one place. Skip if you sit outside Indonesia.
7. DramaBox -- best for vertical short-form drama
DramaBox is the app that captures what a lot of Loklok users open Loklok for: bite-sized vertical dramas designed for phone viewing, usually 60 to 90 short episodes running one to two minutes each. The catalogue skews romance, revenge, CEO and reincarnation tropes, all produced for mobile. If half your Loklok time is short-drama scrolling, DramaBox is the specialist that outdoes Loklok on this exact format.
Loklok vs DramaBox is not the same product. Loklok is a broad streamer with short drama as a section. DramaBox is short drama, full stop, with a coin-and-unlock economy tuned for the format.
Where it falls short: No long-form movies or standard-length series. The coin system can add up if you binge without a subscription.
Pricing:
- Free: early episodes free with ads
- Paid: coin bundles or a subscription that unlocks whole series
- vs Loklok: pay-per-unlock model rather than a free-with-ads catalogue
Migrating from Loklok: Not applicable. Different content library.
Bottom line: Install DramaBox alongside a long-form streamer if the short vertical dramas are what keeps you in Loklok.
How to choose
Pick WeTV if you want the closest Loklok swap with a proper licensed catalogue and don’t mind a paid tier for early episodes. Pick Viki if subtitle language coverage is your main pain point. Pick Viu for a K-drama-first collection with the fastest fresh-episode subs. Pick iQIYI if C-drama originals are what you actually watch. Pick HiTV if you refuse to pay and can live with heavier ads. Pick Vidio if you’re in Indonesia and want sports plus drama in one app. Pick DramaBox if the vertical short-form format is what keeps you scrolling on Loklok.
The right combination for most viewers is two apps: one licensed streamer (WeTV, Viu or iQIYI) for reliable long-form content, plus DramaBox for the short-drama fix. That covers the two use cases Loklok tries to do at once, and does each one better.
Stay on Loklok if you value the current continue-watching queue, the rating and comment system, and the specific mixed catalogue Loklok curates. Loklok’s daily-usage polish is real, and no single alternative beats it on every dimension.
FAQ
Is WeTV better than Loklok? For most drama viewers, yes. WeTV has cleaner licensing, deeper C-drama and K-drama libraries, and native Southeast Asian subtitles on flagship titles. Loklok’s polish and free-tier breadth are competitive, but WeTV’s catalogue is more reliable long-term.
Can I import my Loklok watchlist to another app? No. None of the streamers here offer a Loklok importer. You rebuild watchlists manually by searching for titles in the new app.
What is the cheapest Loklok alternative? HiTV is free with no paid tier at all. Viki, WeTV, Viu, iQIYI, and Vidio all have generous free ad-supported tiers if paying is off the table.
Is there a free version of Loklok’s alternatives? Yes. WeTV, Viki, Viu, iQIYI, HiTV, Vidio, and DramaBox each offer a free tier. Only DramaBox uses a coin-unlock model rather than an ad-supported free feed.
Which app has the best Korean drama library? Viu leads on speed and depth of K-drama updates. Viki wins on subtitle language coverage. WeTV has a broad K-drama shelf too, though it leans harder toward Chinese content.
Are Loklok alternatives available outside Southeast Asia? WeTV, Viki, Viu and iQIYI operate across most regions with varying catalogues. HiTV and Vidio are best inside their primary markets. Check the app’s regional page before subscribing.
