Opera

So why pick Opera over the browser your computer came with? Because of how much is already in it.

There's an ad blocker. There's a VPN that's free, has no data cap and doesn't ask you to sign up. Opera says it keeps no logs, and it has had Deloitte check that.

Then there's the sidebar. WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Discord and Slack sit down the side, so you can answer a message without leaving the page you're on.

Got forty tabs open? Tab Islands group the related ones, and you can fold a group away until you need it. Think "holiday", "work" and "that sofa you keep looking at".

The AI is free as well, with no login. It can read the page you're on, and ChatGPT and Gemini are one click away in the sidebar.

The free VPN isn't a full VPN. It only covers what you do inside Opera, not the other apps on your device. And you pick from three broad regions, not a country.

Want everything covered? That's VPN Pro, which is paid, and it's for desktop and Android only.

Then there's how Opera pays its way. The start page comes with sponsored tiles, and the address bar can show promoted suggestions. You can switch both off, but they're there on day one.

On a computer, the ad blocker and the VPN are off until you turn them on, going by Opera's help pages. Easy to miss.

The phone app is thinner, too. App Store reviewers grumble about basics missing on iPad and news alerts they had to switch off. Some of that is a few years old, so it may be better now.

The browser is free. Ad blocker, VPN, AI, sidebar, sync, the lot. There's no paid version of Opera itself.

So what can you pay for? VPN Pro. It covers your whole device, on up to six desktop and Android devices at once, with servers in 48 countries.

It starts at $4 a month. Opera sells monthly and yearly plans but doesn't say which one that $4 belongs to, so check the total before you commit.

Do you need it? If you only want to hide your browsing on coffee-shop Wi-Fi, the free one does that. We'd skip Pro unless you want your other apps covered too.

One more thing. Opera Neon, the AI browser at $19.90 a month, is a separate product. So are Opera GX, Air and Mini.

And the Android app's Play Store listing shows in-app purchases from $5.99 to $29.99, without saying what they are.

Opera has 4.7 on the App Store from about 260,000 ratings. That's a big, happy crowd for a browser nobody gets by default.

What do they like? The built-in stuff, mostly. One recent reviewer moved over from Chrome, found the switch easy, and says the whole office has followed.

The grumbles are nearly all about the phone app. Basics missing on iPad, pushy news notifications, and one person who called the AI assistant useless.

Hacker News is cooler on it. Long-time fans there say today's Opera isn't the one they fell for, and a few send people to Vivaldi instead.

It gets some credit there too. As Chrome-based browsers drop older ad blockers, one commenter notes Opera has said it'll keep them working as long as it reasonably can.