Vivaldi
Chromium-based desktop and mobile web browser from Vivaldi Technologies, built for heavy customization.
Liked for deep customization1234, built-in Workspaces and tab tiling567, and Chromium compatibility with existing extensions and sites.8910 The most common complaints are losing Manifest V2 extensions like uBlock Origin11121314 and growing feature bloat that some say hurts performance.151617
Why people recommend it
Customization · 3
Commenters call its customization deep and say it makes user choice easy.
“I'm liking vivaldi a lot, user customization is deep”
“I switched to Vivaldi for privacy, but the amount of control and customization was an unexpected surprise!”
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“I absolutely love vivaldi and switched a few years ago”
Tab management · 3
Workspaces, tab tiling and tab handling are a main reason people use it.
“I use Vivaldi because of its Workspaces which have so much better UX than tab groups.”
“Vivaldi has included split view for years (called tiles).”
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“Vivaldi on desktop and mobile. It's still chromium for compatibility, but the tab handling fits me.”
Chromium compatibility · 3
Being Chromium-based means existing plugins and sites that fail elsewhere still work.
“is making me consider Vivaldi. Its still Chromium, so it will support all my plugins”
“Vivaldi is a nice chromium-based browser that I use on Linux for sites that don't work on Firefox.”
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“so I use Vivaldi for work”
Daily driver · 3
Several use it as their main browser and call it a feature-rich workhorse.
“a no-nonsense, fully featured workhorse that I use as my main browser”
“I am using Vivaldi on desktop as daily driver”
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“switch to Vivaldi for daily driver work browser”
Profiles · 3
Separate profiles are useful for isolating identities and testing web apps.
“I really like using Vivaldi/Chrome's separate profiles”
“I have been using profiles for years in Chrome/Vivaldi for similar reasons.”
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“I have just switched from Orion to Vivaldi partially as it seems to use less memory.”
Opera successor · 2
Former Opera fans see it as closer to classic Opera than current Opera.
“These days, Vivaldi is more like Opera than current Opera”
“a no-nonsense, fully featured workhorse that I use as my main browser”
Caveats and dissent
Manifest V2 loss · 3
Updates disabled Manifest V2 extensions such as uBlock Origin, driving some users to downgrade or leave.
“I use Vivaldi and I recently installed an update that disabled my v2 extensions. Had to downgrade and disable update checking.”
“I immediately ditched Vivaldi. I'm sad about it, I think Vivaldi otherwise is a good browser.”
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“I use Vivaldi, sadly it's based on Chromium and has quite a bit of the stinky parts...”
Bloat · 3
Long-time users say added features like mail, notes and games made it bloated and busy.
“The problem for me was the browser got too bloated and buggy.”
“over time it got more and more bloated and performance suffered so now I just use vanilla Safari”
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“it's just a little to busy for me.”
Performance · 2
Some found it laggy on older hardware or slower as it grew.
“Vivaldi is cool (I loved Opera 20 years ago) but very laggy on my machine.”
“over time it got more and more bloated and performance suffered so now I just use vanilla Safari”
Breaking changes · 3
Users report bugs wiping tab groups and a design overhaul that removed the classic look.
“it kept breaking my workflows and would wipe out my meticulously assembled tab groups”
“Looks like that's all gone now and Vivaldi is just yet another generic "flat design" browser. Time to look for something else...”
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“if I have been using something for years and have my setup exactly as I want it, then I do not want any overhauls.”
Default settings · 2
Opinionated defaults and quirks, such as omnibar search behavior, frustrate new users until changed.
“I absolutely love vivaldi and switched a few years ago”
“eventually settled on Vivaldi. It has some annoying quirks, but overall it suits my needs quite nicely.”
Security and openness · 2
Critics note it is closed source and based on extended stable Chromium.
“you switched to Vivaldi, a browser that is based[1] on extended stable Chromium, which is not "recommended for any team where security is a primary concern"[2].”
Often compared with
4 moved from Firefox to Vivaldi
1 moved from Vivaldi to FirefoxChrome11 comments mention both
4 moved from Chrome to Vivaldi
1 moved from Vivaldi to BraveMicrosoft Edge5 comments mention both
2 moved from Microsoft Edge to Vivaldi
1 moved from Vivaldi to Microsoft EdgeSafari5 comments mention both
1 moved from Vivaldi to SafariOpera4 comments mention both
1 moved from Opera to Vivaldi
1 moved from Orion to Vivaldi
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Vivaldi 8.0: our biggest design overhaul 9 mentions
- I switched to Brave 5 mentions
- Hang on to Your Firefox 3 mentions
- Microsoft Edge is about to lock out older ad blockers, just like Chrome did 3 mentions
- Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin 2 mentions
- Firefox Containers Preview 2 mentions
Data: vivaldi.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 42
“I'm liking vivaldi a lot, user customization is deep”
“i too like vivaldi for the same reasons”
“I switched to Vivaldi for privacy, but the amount of control and customization was an unexpected surprise!”
“Vivaldi is closed source.”
“I am using Vivaldi on desktop as daily driver”
“eventually settled on Vivaldi. It has some annoying quirks, but overall it suits my needs quite nicely.”
“is making me consider Vivaldi. Its still Chromium, so it will support all my plugins”
“I absolutely love vivaldi and switched a few years ago”
“a no-nonsense, fully featured workhorse that I use as my main browser”
“Time for a Vivaldi update...”
“Vivaldi is cool (I loved Opera 20 years ago) but very laggy on my machine.”
“switch to Vivaldi for daily driver work browser”
“I switched from chrome to vivaldi in the hopes of they would keep the v2 api alive.”
“desktop (Vivaldi)”
“Vivaldi”
“Vivaldi supports uBlock Origin”
“I use Vivaldi and I recently installed an update that disabled my v2 extensions. Had to downgrade and disable update checking.”
“Vivaldi on desktop and mobile. It's still chromium for compatibility, but the tab handling fits me.”
“I use all of Safari/Vivaldi/Edge with some specific configuration for some specific things.”
“Both with Firefox and Vivaldi.”
“I immediately ditched Vivaldi. I'm sad about it, I think Vivaldi otherwise is a good browser.”
“I love Vivaldi, but it also uses Chromium.”
“Vivaldi has included split view for years (called tiles).”
“I have been using profiles for years in Chrome/Vivaldi for similar reasons.”
“I use Vivaldi, sadly it's based on Chromium and has quite a bit of the stinky parts...”
“I use Vivaldi which is Chromium based and the only choppiness comes from the friction of my sweaty wrist”
“I really like using Vivaldi/Chrome's separate profiles”
“I have just switched from Orion to Vivaldi partially as it seems to use less memory.”
“switched to Vivaldi on Linux and android 8 months ago. Generally quite happy with it - not really missing any features from edge.”
“so I use Vivaldi for work”
“if I have been using something for years and have my setup exactly as I want it, then I do not want any overhauls.”
“In all the years since they have not made one change that has caused me grief or affected my use in the slightest”
“I use Vivaldi because of its Workspaces which have so much better UX than tab groups.”
“Looks like that's all gone now and Vivaldi is just yet another generic "flat design" browser. Time to look for something else...”
“over time it got more and more bloated and performance suffered so now I just use vanilla Safari”
“The problem for me was the browser got too bloated and buggy.”
“it kept breaking my workflows and would wipe out my meticulously assembled tab groups”
“It is the best browser hands down IMO.”
“it's just a little to busy for me.”
“though I use Vivaldi now and then”
“I really love all the extra customization options. It was a very easy switch.”
“Vivaldi is a nice chromium-based browser that I use on Linux for sites that don't work on Firefox.”