Vivaldi

Vivaldi is a free desktop browser built in Oslo by Vivaldi Technologies, a company founded by former Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner. It is made for people who find mainstream browsers too rigid: almost everything in Vivaldi, from where the tabs sit to what mouse gestures do, can be rearranged, themed or switched off.

The feature list is long before you install a single extension. Tabs can be stacked into groups, tiled side by side, hibernated to save memory, and shown in a second row if you want them all visible. A side panel holds bookmarks, history, downloads, notes and any website you pin to it. Mail, calendar and an RSS feed reader are built into the browser itself, so a separate client is optional. Mouse gestures, custom keyboard shortcuts, command chains and quick commands let heavy users drive most of the interface without touching a menu.

Privacy is handled with a light touch: Vivaldi does not track what you browse or sell usage data, and a built-in blocker strips ads and trackers with two strength levels. Sync covers bookmarks, passwords, settings, notes and open tabs across Windows, macOS, Linux and the Android and iOS apps, encrypted end to end with your own password. A Proton VPN integration sits in the toolbar for quick private sessions.

Underneath it all is Chromium, so site compatibility matches Chrome and the entire Chrome Web Store catalog installs without issue. Vivaldi's own interface layer is closed source, which is the main objection some users raise: the engine is open, the chrome around it is not. Updates arrive on a steady rhythm, with a public snapshot channel where new features are tested in the open before they reach stable. The community around the browser is unusually active, and feature requests from Vivaldi's own forum regularly make it into releases.

The downsides follow from the ambition. The settings are a maze by design, and new users regularly lose an hour just deciding where the tab bar should live. Performance is good but not class-leading; with very heavy tab counts it uses more memory than plain Chrome. The built-in mail client is competent but not a replacement for a dedicated power tool, and the mobile apps, while solid, are simpler than the desktop.

For tinkerers, researchers and anyone who keeps forty tabs open as a lifestyle, Vivaldi is the most accommodating browser you can download. If you want a browser that stays out of the way and asks nothing, it will feel like too much.