Opera vs Vivaldi in 2026

These two share a family history — Vivaldi was founded by people who built the original Opera and disagreed with where it went — and comparing them is a useful way to see what that disagreement was about. Both are Chromium browsers with a lot of features. Only one of them lets you turn the features into your own arrangement.

Where the customisation gap shows

Vivaldi scores 5 for customisability, the joint highest in our directory. Tabs can sit on any edge of the window, stack into groups, tile side by side, or run two levels deep. Keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures can be written for almost any command, and the interface themes down to individual colours. It also folds real applications into the sidebar — an email client, a calendar, an RSS reader and notes — replacing a whole category of open tab.

Opera scores 3 for customisability, and the gap is the point. Opera is feature-rich but the features are Opera's design: a sidebar with WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram pinned, an AI assistant, workspaces, split-screen browsing. You adjust these; you do not rebuild them. For a lot of people that is the correct trade — Opera scores 4 for ease of use against Vivaldi's 3, and it is markedly less intimidating on first launch.

VPN, privacy and ownership

Both include a free VPN, which is unusual and worth noting since most rivals charge. Both ship ad and tracker blocking by default.

Privacy separates them. Vivaldi scores 4, Opera 3. Vivaldi additionally blocks cookie consent banners and, more importantly, is a small Norwegian company with no advertising business and end-to-end encrypted sync. Opera is closed source and owned by a Chinese-backed consortium, which has attracted ongoing scrutiny. Vivaldi's Chromium core is open though its interface layer is not, so neither is fully auditable — but the ownership question is real and it is the strongest argument between them.

Both run on all five major platforms.

Which should you choose?

Choose Opera if you want a well-stocked browser that works immediately, like messaging beside your browsing, and do not intend to spend time in settings.

Choose Vivaldi if you want to shape the browser around how you work, need serious tab management, want mail and calendar built in, or would rather trust a small independent company than a large opaque one. It costs you an evening of setup and pays it back daily.