what are your strongest technically accurate arguments against using Opera in 2026?
Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
1–10 of 15 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#2Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#3It's a Chrome fork. If you want to use Chrome... just use Chrome.
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#4It's a Chrome fork. If you want to use Chrome... just use Chrome.
opera includes several built-in native features that chrome does not offer by default, doesn't that make it a valid choice to use it instead of chrome?
Tab islands just encourages people to have too many tabs open.
Who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other AI? I think in 2026 the only way to communicate that your product is different is to reject AI.
Free VPN? Aren't those all scams?
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#5It's a Chrome fork. If you want to use Chrome... just use Chrome.
opera includes several built-in native features that chrome does not offer by default, doesn't that make it a valid choice to use it instead of chrome?
The question is not "Is Opera a valid choice instead of Chrome?"
The question is actually "Is Chrome, or anything that's based on it, a valid choice?" and the answer is "no."
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
opera includes several built-in native features that chrome does not offer by default, doesn't that make it a valid choice to use it instead of chrome?
Personally, I'm diametrically opposed to the idea of letting Google dictate how web browsers must function, which is what happens if everyone uses Chrome (or a fork) and web developers start targeting features that are only supported by Chrome (and its forks). The question is not "Is Opera a valid choice instead of Chrome?" The question is actually "Is Chrome, or anything that's based on it, a valid choice?" and the…
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
opera includes several built-in native features that chrome does not offer by default, doesn't that make it a valid choice to use it instead of chrome?
Like what? Tab islands just encourages people to have too many tabs open. Who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other AI? I think in 2026 the only way to communicate that your product is different is to reject AI. Free VPN? Aren't those all scams?
i think they exist because people already open tons of tabs. instead of encouraging overload this helps manage it by grouping related pages into clusters. that is actually useful in my opinion. you can see this feature making it into other browsers as well, like firefox, for example.
> who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other AI? I think in 2026 the only way to communicate that your product is different is to reject AI.
i do not like this aspect myself, but all browsers make use of AI to some extent. don't you think this might be a way to survive the competitive browser market?
> Free VPN? Aren't those all scams?
some definitely are, yes, i agree. but i would argue opera's VPN is a browser level privacy tool, it is not meant to replace a full security VPN. i would guess it is mainly used to hide your IP address for websites. does it not do that? you should not view it as a hardcore anonymity solution, i do not think.
---
these are not the technically accurate arguments i was looking for, your arguments are true for many browsers.
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
opera includes several built-in native features that chrome does not offer by default, doesn't that make it a valid choice to use it instead of chrome?
Personally, I'm diametrically opposed to the idea of letting Google dictate how web browsers must function, which is what happens if everyone uses Chrome (or a fork) and web developers start targeting features that are only supported by Chrome (and its forks). The question is not "Is Opera a valid choice instead of Chrome?" The question is actually "Is Chrome, or anything that's based on it, a valid choice?" and the…
yes! and this is what i am interested in. why is the answer "no.", please try to convince me in more detail. i am not interested in "no.", but why is your answer "no"? :-)
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like what? Tab islands just encourages people to have too many tabs open. Who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other AI? I think in 2026 the only way to communicate that your product is different is to reject AI. Free VPN? Aren't those all scams?
> Tab islands just encourages people to have too many tabs open. i think they exist because people already open tons of tabs. instead of encouraging overload this helps manage it by grouping related pages into clusters. that is actually useful in my opinion. you can see this feature making it into other browsers as well, like firefox, for example. > who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other…
Re: Ask HN: Why do so many people dislike the Opera browser?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Tab islands just encourages people to have too many tabs open. i think they exist because people already open tons of tabs. instead of encouraging overload this helps manage it by grouping related pages into clusters. that is actually useful in my opinion. you can see this feature making it into other browsers as well, like firefox, for example. > who wants to chat with Opera AI when you can chat with so many other…
It’s a reason why I have very little interest in alternative browsers, mostly they subtract value instead of adding it, I mean if you are just a skin around Chrome what can you do?