Opera vs Waterfox
Opera
opera.com
Waterfox
waterfox.comSide by side
| Figure | Opera | Waterfox |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4/mo | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Web browsers | 9.2 (#5) | 9.3 (#3) |
| Browser engine | chromium | gecko |
| Built-in ad blocking | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-device sync | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 1995 | 2011 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway | Suite 140, 372 Old Street, London, EC1V 9AU, United Kingdom |
| Platforms | Opera offers downloads for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Chromebook. | Downloads are listed for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android; Windows requires Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, and Linux glibc 2.17 or later. |
| Product | Opera is a web browser with built-in tools for browsing, communication, and AI assistance. | Waterfox is a free, open source web browser focused on privacy and customisation. |
| Support | Opera directs users to its Help Center, community forums, and bug report wizard for assistance and issue reports. | Waterfox provides help articles for browsing, privacy and security, customization, troubleshooting and Android. |
Plans
Opera
- Opera browserFree
- VPN Pro — six months$5 a month
- VPN Pro — one month$8 a month
- VPN Pro — one year$48 a year
In their own words
Opera
Opera is a free web browser for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and the web, with extension support and cross-device sync. Tab Islands group related tabs for collapsing or expanding. Built-in tools include an ad blocker that can also block cryptocurrency-mining scripts, plus a free VPN with no data cap and three general locations. Opera AI can use open-tab context, generate images, summarize PDFs, and translate or summarize YouTube videos. ChatGPT and Gemini are available from the sidebar, and Opera says its AI tools do not require sign-up. The sidebar also offers WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Messenger, and Telegram, while Music Player supports Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Deezer. Users can set browsing data—including history, cookies, passwords, and autofill data—to clear on exit. Opera browser costs nothing. VPN Pro is separate: plans cost $4 per month billed $48 yearly, $5 per month billed $30 every six months, or $8 per month billed monthly.
Waterfox
Waterfox is a free, open-source web browser built around privacy and customisation. It uses the Gecko engine and is listed for Android, browser extensions, Linux, macOS and Windows. On desktop, it blocks ads, trackers, pop-ups and overlays by default; filter lists and site exceptions can be adjusted. Private tabs use their own container, and Waterfox removes that container’s site data when the final private tab closes. DNS requests are encrypted and passed through an Oblivious HTTP relay; users can change or disable the default Fastly-operated relay and Cloudflare-operated resolver. Tree tabs nest pages under the page that opened them, with branches that can be collapsed or moved together. Firefox WebExtensions work, but Chrome-only extensions do not transfer automatically. Regular updates incorporate Mozilla security fixes using the Firefox ESR model. Waterfox says telemetry, health reports and crash reports are disabled at build time. Sync is off until Mozilla-account sign-in, and synced data is end-to-end encrypted. The browser plan is free, with no premium tier or required payment.