Zalo subscription fees to add little benefit, alienate free account holders

A Zalo icon on a smartphone. Photo by VnExpress/Luu Quy

Vietnamese instant messaging app Zalo would limit friend lists, message requests and other functionalities if users fail to pay monthly subscription fees starting this August.

The new policy, announced in late June and supposedly entering effect Monday, would introduce several changes to accounts belonging to free users of the app. They cannot have more than 1,000 users on their contact list, cannot use usernames, can only respond to up to 40 strangers' messages a month and are limited to five quick messaging templates. If users outside of their contact list search for their phone numbers, their accounts would only show up about 40 times a month.

Previously, a free Zalo user could have up to 3,000 accounts on their friend list and there were no limitations regarding searches using phone numbers or responses to strangers' message requests.

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