Opera VPN Review 2025: Is This Free Service Any Good?

Opera is a well-known company that dates back to 1995 and is mainly known for its Opera Browser. Admit it – you’ve used Opera at least once and, perhaps, changed to Chrome or Mozilla or kept using it. However, the browser aside, it is known for many other products.

For example, did you know that Opera offers a gaming browser called Opera GX? Or perhaps Game Maker, a full-fledged game-making software? No doubt, the Norwegian company decided to extend its tentacles into other branches of the industry, one of which is cyber security. Thus, a few years back, they launched their free VPN which became an integral part of the Opera Browser. Having garnered a bit of attention, we felt obligated to give you our opinion about it in this Opera VPN review for 2025.

Bear in mind that this is a completely FREE service and, above all, an in-browser feature that encrypts your browser traffic and routes it through a proxy. The free version of Opera VPN is essentially a proxy service, not a VPN, despite its name.

Let’s see if Opera VPN is, in fact, a really good free Virtual Private Network despite this. Before using it, we strongly recommend staying with us until the end. Because, after reading this review, you’ll know exactly what and what not to expect from it.

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Opera VPN User Experience & Device Support

Regardless of the VPN that you’re using, the first contact with each provider is through its application. Opera is no different, offering its web browser with a VPN enabled for several platforms, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

With that in mind, let’s review Opera VPN in terms of its applications and overall user experience.

Desktop and Mobile Apps

Once you visit Opera’s website, you’ll see that it puts focus on desktop AND mobile platforms. When it comes to the VPN, Opera supports all of the aforementioned platforms. But for the sake of clarity, we’ll mention them again in bullet points:

• Windows, macOS, and Linux computers and laptops
• Android and iOS phones and tablets

Keep in mind that Opera Browser can be installed on every desktop platform, and the Virtual Private Network support CAN be enabled on all of them, which is excellent for additional security and privacy wherever you go.

So how’s the user experience? Well, having in mind that the VPN is buried inside the browser settings, it’s most likely not going to be great at first. Although, we must admit that Opera Browser really looks nice and is quick enough in terms of browsing.

To find Opera VPN, you need to open the Settings menu, scroll down quite a bit, and find the option called VPN. Here, you need to toggle the option on and you’re all set and done. After you do this, the VPN icon will appear next to the search bar, indicating that this functionality is activated.

From here, using Opera VPN is a breeze. You just click on the icon, turn ON the service, and your traffic inside the browser will be routed through a server. Remember that we said “inside the browser” because this is a proxy, not a full-fledged VPN.

On mobile, Opera VPN is pretty much the same. Once again, you’ll need to visit the Settings menu, turn it on, and connect to a server to protect your browser traffic. Additionally, Opera offers more settings that you can tweak but we’ll leave that discussion for now.

All in all, the VPN itself is fairly easy to use, and server switching is pretty quick. Opera VPN did a good job in terms of user experience, despite its very limited features and a bit cluttered Settings menu that makes finding the VPN a bit hard at first.

TV Apps

If you’re into streaming, watching sports, or enjoying Netflix, we have some bad news for you in this review for 2025. Namely, Opera VPN isn’t great for streaming, except if you pay for its Pro version, which unlocks streaming, torrenting, and more features through a dedicated app.

Not being a full-fledged VPN, many limits of Opera will arise. One of them is the lack of a VPN app which does limit your possibilities a bit. However, Opera has a VPN for Android (available within the Opera browser), which is great for Android TV users.

Opera for Android and its built-in VPN have also undergone an independent security audit by Leviathan Security Group. This audit was finished in January 2025 with great success, as Leviathan Security Group expectedly confirmed the safety and security of the app.

This means that Android TV users can go on Google Play on their TV and download it right away safely. As said earlier in the Opera VPN review, the browser has a native app for Android that also supports the VPN functionality.

So, if you choose to download Opera on your TV, you’ll also be able to take advantage of this and use it as you’d do on your phone. Albeit, Opera will NOT work on other TV systems like Tizen or WebOS, so only those who use Philips or Xiaomi, for instance, will be satisfied.

These TV devices, as you know, come with Android systems.

Gaming Apps

Associating Opera with gaming sounds a bit ludicrous but there are some connections between the company and the gaming world. As we mentioned, the company offers this Opera GX browser for gamers that looks insanely good – not gonna lie!

It has all the fancy features for gamers, including customization options, easy access to Discord and Twitch, and many more. However, the browser also has a free VPN included, which functions exactly the same as the one we’re talking about.

To me, it has no point for gaming, except if you’re not playing games within the browser. Besides, Opera VPN protects only your in-browser traffic, so if you’re playing, let’s say CS: GO or Fortnite, you have no benefits of a VPN regarding your gaming session.

But if you use cloud gaming services that take advantage of your browser, that’s another story. More about cloud gaming performance later on in the Opera VPN review.

Router Support

Finally, we’ve come to router support in this test and review of Opera VPN. Does it support routers? Sadly, no. You won’t find a single mention of a router on Opera’s website, indicating that this device isn’t even close to being supported.

As some of you know, VPNs and routers work hand-in-hand to protect your entire house from online threats. So if you need this functionality, it’s better to look for premium and full-fledged providers like NordVPN or ExpressVPN.

Besides, using a Virtual Private Network on a router kinda increases the number of devices you can protect at the same time. Here, it’s not needed, as Opera VPN technically offers unlimited simultaneous connections for one simple reason.

It doesn’t require you to sign up to use it! This means that you can download it on as many devices as you want and use it with no problems.

Is Opera VPN Safe & Secure? All Security Features Examined!

The service is safe and secure, and that much is certain. However, there are some issues we’d like to point out. We’ve already discussed some of them in this Opera VPN test for 2025, but we’ll cover more in this section of the review.

Let’s examine its security features and see what this proxy (because the free version isn’t really a VPN) has to offer:

256-bit Encryption

If you check out Opera VPN’s website, you’ll see nothing regarding its features. All it says is mundane stuff like anonymity, browsing privately, and everything we’ve heard millions of times. But in this case, we can’t say it’s true.

By contacting customer support, we were able to find some information, though. For example, I found that Opera VPN uses 256-bit AES encryption to secure your connection, which is great. I mean, this is the highest level of encryption that a user can get.

Even the US government and military use this type of encryption to protect important and confidential data. Although we’re sure they use a whole lot more, the same way we’re sure that Opera VPN uses nothing more.

Being a browser-based service, it doesn’t pair encryption with a protocol. This means that you can’t choose from OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard, etc, etc. Not to mention that a kill switch doesn’t back up this encryption.

For me, this is a major flaw that completely ruins its security. If for some reason, you encounter a connection issue and lose a VPN connection, a kill switch isn’t there to shut down your internet connection and prevent the IP leak.

As such, you never know when you’re going to expose your IP accidentally, so you’re always kept on the edge. The good news is the inclusion of DNS leak protection. At least you know your DNS isn’t going to leak and that’s a major step for your privacy.

Split Tunneling (Sort Of)

Before writing this Opera VPN review for 2025, we used the service a few times years back. Looking at it now, it did update some of its features, one of which is split tunneling.

It lets you enable default search engines and intranet sites by bypassing a VPN. On top of that, you can manage additional bypass rules. By doing so, you can make Opera disable the VPN for certain websites if you don’t need protection.

Adding rules is pretty simple, although it seems ineffective at first. You just click on Add and start typing in the rule. You can name the rule however you want and it’ll still appear on the list. But to make it work, you need to type in the website address instead.

Otherwise, what are you going to apply the rule to?

Privacy Protection

Privacy Protection in Opera Browser allows you to block ads and trackers, as well as keep “acceptable” ads that are usually non-intrusive and don’t interfere with the content you’re trying to use. We actually found this feature quite unique and handy.

Both ad-blocking and tracker-blocking are very useful for obvious reasons.

By blocking annoying ads, you’ll speed up page-loading times, while blocking trackers protects your privacy. We’ve used these features extensively during this Opera VPN review, and both worked fine, blocking most of the ads and trackers we encountered.

Still, we found it slightly underwhelming compared to ad blockers from Surfshark or NordVPN. Some ads do slip through the cracks, which is a bit annoying and makes the entire experience lacking in quality. But hey, this is a free proxy, and considering you’ll spend nothing on it, Opera, and by extension its VPN tool, works amazingly.

Opera VPN IP and DNS Leak Test: No IP/DNS Leaks Found

Having in mind its lackluster security, let’s talk about whether or not Opera VPN will leak your IP and DNS address to the public eye. While doing this Opera VPN test, we found that it uses the IPv6 connection, which was a bit concerning.

That’s because some providers don’t offer IPv6 leak protection, resulting in potential leaks that could compromise your privacy. To make sure that’s not the case, we tested it by using two sites, one of which is ipleak.net.

As you can see above, while using Opera VPN, we had no leaks whatsoever, which is great news! But that’s only while doing the test inside the browser. Outside the browser, you’ll see that your IP and DNS are indeed leaking, implying that only the in-browser traffic is protected.

Nevertheless, we also used the browserleaks.com website. And once again, we got the same results inside Opera Browser and the same result outside of it. It’s good that it displays no leaks while using it but beware of the traffic outside of it.

Because of the way it works, Opera VPN can represent a serious security liability, so saying it’s 100% secure would be a lie. Instead, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are much better options with guaranteed 100% security.

As you already know, these are “real” VPNs, which means they’ll protect every bit of traffic, not only in-browser traffic. As such, they’ll conceal your real IP/DNS addresses even when gaming, torrenting, streaming, or doing anything else, regardless of the browser you’re using.

Does It Have a No-Logging Policy?

If you know a thing or two about free Virtual Private Networks, you know that privacy isn’t their focus. Whenever something is free, know that you’re the product and you’re paying through other means – not your money.

In other words, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Well, maybe there is – in your grandma’s house. We admit we approach some providers with prejudice and while this was the case with this one, our prejudices were quickly shot down by this tenacious VPN.

Namely, Opera, and by extension the VPN is from Norway, which, at first, means nothing. However, Norway is a member of the EEA, whose recent adoption of GDPR made it that much more privacy-friendly. Opera abides by Norwegian and European regulations on personal data protection.

All of this means you’ll not get a treatment akin to 5/9/14 Eyes countries known for surveillance, data collection, and privacy-infringing practices. Neither will Opera, as a company, given its meticulous personal data management and respect for privacy.

Opera VPN Privacy Policy Analysis

One thing we like about Opera VPN is its short privacy policy, which promptly explains everything you need to know without fluff. We’ll try to do the same.

Opera VPN does not store any logs of your private information. By private information, we refer to:

• Your originating IP address
• Browsing history
• DNS requests
• Geolocation, and more…

How can we confirm the claim? Well, we don’t have to. Deloitte, a Big Four auditor, which also audited Surfshark, NordVPN, and Private Internet Access, did that for us. Opera completed a large audit on August 10th, 2024, which consisted of:

• Inspection of its IT systems and infrastructure
• Server configuration and deployment process review
• Privacy Statement examination
• Review of Opera policies, system descriptions, and documentation
• Inquiries with Opera employees

Deloitte was pretty clear and confirmed that the assertion virtually confirmed Opera’s claims, leaving no reason for not trusting the company. Besides, Opera has a regular transparency report for data requests from authorities, none of which resulted in data provision to them.

There’s also Opera VPN Pro, which we’ll address later in the review. This is a paid version of Opera VPN, which is also equipped with a no-log policy.

Interestingly, Opera Pro’s servers are provided in collaboration with Nord, which, as you know, is already a renowned no-log VPN service. So far, so good; Opera VPN’s free AND paid versions are without a trace of logging, with a major Deloitte audit. Nicely done.

Opera VPN for Streaming: Netflix & Other Platforms Tested

Let’s say you skipped the security/privacy part of my Opera VPN review for 2025. You simply don’t care and you’d like to use Opera VPN for streaming. In that case, you’re most likely interested in our Opera VPN test on Netflix and other platforms.

Does Opera VPN Work on Netflix?

Well, let us not waste a second more of your time.

Opera VPN does NOT work with Netflix. A free provider is never going to work on Netflix, and that’s always the case, with Opera VPN and many other providers proving this repeatedly. But nonetheless, we did some tests that proved unsuccessful.

Beware that this service offers very few server locations in Europe, America, and Asia. We’re not talking about exact countries, so you don’t know which IP address you’re going to get, although there are some indications.

While using “Americas” we obtained a US IP address and tried to find Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. Trying out this solution, we didn’t find the show despite having a US IP address inside Opera Browser. So Netflix US won’t work.

The server in Europe gives you a Dutch IP (rarely a Swiss one), so in this case, we tried watching Blackbird on Netflix. It’s a movie available only in the Netherlands. That attempt was futile, meaning that Netflix NL doesn’t work.

For us, it was enough to see that Opera VPN won’t work with Netflix at all. But if you want, you can download it for yourself, test out the 3 locations, and see what you get. Most likely nothing!

What About Other Platforms? (Disney+, Hulu…)

As far as other platforms are concerned in this Opera VPN test, you’ll get the same poor results. However, due to its server limitations, you’ll be limited right from the start.

When using a US server, we tried watching Disney+ and Hulu since we were located in Eastern Europe. Our attempts were unsuccessful in both cases, which is expected from a 100% free provider. If you’re looking for a service that works well, check out our list of the best VPNs for Disney+.

Sadly, we couldn’t test Hotstar, BBC iPlayer, and other platforms because Opera VPN doesn’t have servers in the United Kingdom and India. This makes it impossible to fully enjoy streaming, which is further exacerbated by piss-poor speeds.

Speed Tests: Here’s How Fast Opera VPN Really Is

Now that I mentioned speeds, doing an Opera VPN review without a speed test is pointless, right? You wanna know how fast Opera VPN is and you want to know it now. No problem.

We test each service for 3 days, 3 times a day, using several server locations. Instead of 4, we’re using 3 server locations this time because that’s what Opera VPN offers. Our location is in Eastern Europe and our native internet speeds look something like this:

Now, when testing Opera VPN on all 3 locations, we got speed test results that resemble something like this:

Europe:

Americas:

Asia:

As you can see, we got some drastic reductions and increases depending on what you’re looking at. Our ping surely hit the sky, while our download/upload speeds were at an all-time low. This explains why loading times with Opera VPN can be painfully slow on streaming portals.

And it also explains why downloads are going at a snail’s pace. Needless to say, Opera VPN will be exceptionally slow regardless of what server location you’re using. Even “Europe” is very slow and we live on this continent.

For a free VPN, this is nothing strange, which is why we always recommend premium choices. In this case, we’d say NordVPN is your best bet because it’s the fastest service on the market.

Is Opera VPN Good for Gaming?

We touched on gaming a few minutes ago in the Opera VPN review for 2025. Let us elaborate on what we wanted to say. Namely, Opera VPN works only within the browser, so you can’t encrypt and secure your connection outside of it.

If you were to play games this way, you’d notice no difference. Thus, the only way to test Opera VPN for gaming is through the browser or by using cloud gaming platforms like GeForce Now or PS Now.

In all of these cases, Opera VPN showed so bad results that I couldn’t play any of the games properly. You’ll experience constantly high ping, snail-like speeds, and performance issues, so much so that you’ll have issues even playing chess online.

Not to mention fast-paced games that will be a pure mess as a result. Although, if you love playing 8-Ball Pool on Miniclip, that might be a good experience to an extent. As long as you’re not too optimistic.

Can I Use Opera VPN for Torrenting?

When talking about Virtual Private Networks, one of their main uses is to protect your P2P and torrenting traffic. However, torrent files themselves can be downloaded to your PC and opened by a torrent client that does all the heavy lifting with downloading files.

To rephrase it, this means that the browser has nothing to do with downloading torrents. This means that Opera VPN actually can’t protect your torrenting activities because it doesn’t influence your torrent client.

As such, Opera VPN isn’t torrent-friendly and if you want safe P2P activities, this is the last VPN we’d recommend. Instead, look for full-fledged apps that protect your entire connection, regardless of what you’re doing.

NordVPN is a good choice for torrenting but so is ExpressVPN or CyberGhost – these two even offer excellent P2P servers. Plus, you’ll get at least 10 Gbps speeds with unlimited bandwidth, so you can download torrents as much as you want – and do it anonymously!

Is It Working in China & Other Censored Countries?

Living in China and similar censored countries is pretty hard if internet access is your priority. The Great Firewall of China used in the country already blocks 10,000+ websites, which applies to VPN providers as well.

That’s not to say that a good VPN for China doesn’t exist. In fact, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are two great providers that you can use in China to bypass censorship and enjoy online freedom. Is Opera VPN going to suffice, though?

To find that out, we told our editors in China and several other countries to download and test Opera VPN. After numerous tests in China, the service always ended up blocked by The Great Firewall, preventing our editors from using it.

With no ability to change protocols or do anything, it simply renders Opera VPN unusable in China. Other countries like the UAE, Turkey, or Russia won’t have any problems. In these countries, the VPN is perfectly usable if you’re keen on getting it.

But once again, we strongly advise not using Opera VPN in censored countries. It’s not very secure and on top of that, it’s not going to work in most of the cases, so you’ll end up disappointed. Our suggestion is to get NordVPN as the most affordable pick for this purpose.

Also, NordVPN’s obfuscated servers tend to do a great job in China and Turkey, making it another viable option. We’d also mention Surfshark, a very affordable service with NoBorders Mode, allowing you to obfuscate your VPN traffic and get over censorship with a snap of a finger.

Servers and Server Locations

Earlier in our Opera VPN review, we touched a bit on its server list. Undoubtedly, its server fleet is all but impressive and consists of only a few server locations and 100+ servers. Moreover, we’re not talking about real servers.

As Opera VPN functions akin to a proxy service, these are just virtual locations that you can use to make your traffic appear as if it originates from somewhere else. The server list consists of these 4 choices:

• Optimized
• Europe
• Americas
• Asia

You can see that none of these options give you a specific location like the United States, Germany, Japan, and other countries. Instead, you get only approximate locations in the form of continents and this “Optimized” option.

The latter will just connect you to the closest server based on your location. For us, it was Europe, but if you live in the US, the app will choose the Americas instead. As for the server number, as said, there are around 100+ of them. The paid version has 3,000+.

However, we managed to use only a few, which we found out by checking our IP each time we connected. For Europe, you get the Netherlands or Switzerland, for the Americas, you get the US, and for Asia, it’s Singapore.

Except for the US, these server locations are relatively irrelevant if you’re looking to unblock the most prominent streaming platforms. Not only that but the server list is very small, which produces clutter and network overload.

With many users connected to a small network, slow speeds, connection instability, and high ping are expected. To avoid these problems, we recommend trying NordVPN instead – it has 7,200+ servers in a huge 118 countries globally.

Customer Support: How to Contact Opera VPN for Help?

In this review of Opera VPN, customer support is one of the weakest pillars of this service. I expected no live chat support, and that’s what we got. Instead, Opera VPN mostly relies on its FAQ section of the website, where you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions.

Here, you’ll find Opera Browser help guides for all of the supported platforms.

Click on, let’s say, Opera Browser for Android, and you’ll get bespoke guides and help articles. Another method of help is by reporting a bug directly to Opera. It’s useful if there’s a persistent error, which prevents you from enjoying the browser or a VPN daily.

Finally, if you scroll down – all the way – you’ll find Opera Forums.

This is a forum (good job, Sherlock!) where you’ll find help for all Opera products, including the VPN. The forum is very active and whenever we visit it, the activity log on the right-hand side signifies people responding every hour or so, making this support method superior.

We can’t say Opera’s support is out of this world. It’s “okay”. But given our experience with it in this Opera VPN review, we can’t say we had app-breaking issues. Thus, we had virtually no need to ping the support team or ask other forum users questions.

Opera VPN Pricing: Is It Affordable?

In this Opera VPN review, we clearly stated that this is a FREE Virtual Private Network.

However, you don’t have to have eagle-like eyesight to notice that Opera VPN now has the Pro version, which comes with clear distinctions. They’re displayed below:

We can see that VPN Pro offers dedicated VPN apps, plus, you get 6 simultaneous connections. The VPN also offers 30+ unique locations and 3,000+ servers, as opposed to just 3 general locations and 100+ servers. There’s more to the paid version.

This one offers live chat support, 2FA, and a 7-day free trial paired with a 30-day refund policy.

But how much does it cost? This much:

There’s a phenomenal 1-year plan at 50% off, at only $ 4/month or $48 every year. Notice how there’s no renewal price increase, so every year down the line, you’re charged a speck under $50. The six-month plan at $5/month is also a great deal at 38% off.

The monthly plan is the final one, and at $8/mo, it costs way less than its competitors’ equivalents. For example, CyberGhost’s monthly plan is about $12/month, and Surfshark’s minimal monthly plan price goes above $14/month.

Each plan honors you with a VPN free trial; as you see, it’s a 7-day one. This means you’re not charged right away and can use the VPN for 7 days this way. Once you’re charged, you have 30 days to get a refund if you don’t like it. Everything is so simple.

What We Don’t Like About Opera VPN

So what is it that we don’t like about Opera VPN in this review? To be honest, we already talked about it all in this Opera VPN test. We like how good Opera Browser looks but everything else is a bit underwhelming, at least when compared to “real” VPNs.

Besides, this isn’t a VPN, as explained. It’s a proxy service, with just a few server locations, basic security features, and in-browser protection. This isn’t necessarily something to be sad about because you can turn it into a real VPN by buying the Pro version.

It grants you access to Opera’s VPN apps for all devices, unlimited bandwidth, 3,000+ servers, faster speeds, etc. Though, at a slightly higher price for the annual plan, NordVPN still poses as a superior option that takes everything up a notch or two.

How Do Other People Rate Opera VPN?

Since Opera VPN is a feature of Opera Browser, people online didn’t rate the Virtual Private Network specifically. However, we can take a look at Opera reviews that are subpar, especially on Trustpilot.

Here, Opera has 1.9 out of 5 stars, with tons of critiques about browser bugs and instability.

On Google Play, it has 4.7 stars but that’s expected given its nifty VPN functionality, which enhances privacy in addition to features like ad-blocking and tracker protection.

On the Apple App Store, it has the same 4.7 stars with some decent reviews. Again, Opera VPN is available within the iOS version of the browser, which makes it quite popular for people looking to preserve their privacy and avoid ads.

Conclusion: Safe & Secure But Not Great Overall

So, with everything said and done in this Opera VPN 2025 review, it’s time we conclude everything. If you read our test carefully, you know that Opera VPN is a safe and secure service but one we don’t necessarily recommend using.

Having in mind that it works only inside the browser, the VPN isn’t safe and secure for traffic outside of it. While Opera VPN Pro is there for complete device protection, you have to spend $4/mo or $48/year upfront, which not everyone can afford at the given moment.

To avoid repeating everything we said, the conclusion is that Opera VPN is secure, easy to use, and great for privacy, with advantages like unlimited bandwidth and unlimited simultaneous connections. Other aspects are, unfortunately, lacking in comparison to our favorite VPNs.

We can say that every free provider will follow the same trend as Opera VPN, which is why premium solutions are much better. Thus, feel free to try NordVPN or even ExpressVPN as better alternatives.

Besides, they give you a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can always get a refund after testing them out.