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Vivaldi

Vivaldi Reviews

By Daniel C. Daniel C. Verified by Inês P. Inês P. Last updated: October 1, 2024User reviews (13)
Overall
4/5
(4)
Features
(4)
Customer service
Vivaldi logo
Pros
  • Extensive customization options
  • User-friendly
  • Good privacy controls
  • Fast
  • Supports Chrome extensions
Cons
  • Not available on iOS
Table of contents

Vivaldi was created in 2016 by the former CEO of Opera with the objective of giving full control to the user. It provides one of the highest amounts of customization in the browser industry giving you the possibility to arrange everything, from tab positions to gesture mapping – making sure you end up with a browser that feels like your own. In fact, after you go over all the settings and tweak every single detail, Vivaldi won’t even seem like it’s based on Chromium at all. Moreover, it comes with so many features that you won’t need to lose time hunting for extensions as you’ll already be getting a practical browser that’s perfect for multitasking. All of this, while still providing a certain amount of privacy since Vivaldi does not store its users’ browsing history and uses end-to-end encryption when sending browser data between devices through its syncing feature. When it was originally released, Vivaldi was only available for desktop but in 2019 it released a beta version for Android.


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Customization
Vivaldi logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Extensive customization options
User-friendly
Good privacy controls
Fast
Open source
Waterfox logo
Editor's rating:
(4)
Full customization
Private
Fast
Unrestricted extensions

Features and extensions

Features and extensions
Syncing
Translator
Bookmarks
Password manager
Show all

Since Vivaldi is Chromium-based, you can add most of the extensions you can find on the Chrome Web Store. However, you’ll quickly see that there’s a lot that can be done without needing to install any add-ons.

Saving time through the notes feature

Vivaldi lets you quickly add notes and take screenshots while you are browsing the internet, which is perfect when you are doing research and want to save some thoughts for later. The notes feature is pretty neat and thorough; you can create folders that let you aggregate notes by topic, add the web address, add screenshots of the full webpage or the selected area you want, as well as attach images from your computer. This feature will, without a doubt, save you a considerable amount of time since you can do all of this without leaving the browser.

You can also capture print screens to save on your computer or to the clipboard by clicking on the camera button at the bottom of Vivaldi. Although that’s not a new thing, what caught our attention the most is how many settings you can tweak that will save you a lot of time later, especially the option to change the automatic name of the screenshots, where you can add various fields such as timestamp, hostname and page title.

Vivaldi notes

Reading with no interruptions

If you love to read articles on the internet, you’ll love Vivaldi; it comes with a reader view mode that opens webpages presenting only the article’s body. In other words, annoying pop-ups, advertisement, sidebars, among others will completely disappear, and you’ll be able to focus on your reading without any obstructions. Besides the text, Vivaldi will show images within the article but not videos. As always with Vivaldi, you can tweak a ton of features regarding the reader view mode like the font, the theme (dark mode is available), as well as vertical reader mode.

Customization

Customization is one of the most important aspects of using Vivaldi and you can start building your interface by adjusting the tabs layout. There are settings to change the tabs bar position, where you want your new tabs to appear, the minimum width of the active tab, and everything else you can think of. Moreover, you can also use one of the themes that comes with Vivaldi or install your favorite from the Chrome Web Store. Interestingly, Vivaldi comes with a theme scheduler as well where you can make the browser change themes at specific hours. For example, you can have your default theme during the day and the dark one to start automatically at 9 p.m.

On top of that, Vivaldi also has Razer Chroma integration, which will change your browser’s color depending on the website you are visiting, as well as any hardware compatible with the software such as keyboard, mousepad, headphones, etc. For instance, if you have this option enabled and visit Twitter, the color will change to blue; if you visit Reddit, the color changes to orange and so on. However, customization does not end there since you can also change any keyboard shortcuts, quick commands, and mouse gestures so that everything works as you want it to.

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With so many types of customization, you may wonder what happens if you share your computer with someone since you may have a different opinion on how Vivaldi should look and work. Well, Vivaldi offers a profile manager where multiple users can share one Vivaldi installation. Each profile can have a different set of extensions, bookmarks, history, etc. as well as its own look and configuration.

Of course, the more customization you throw in, the heavier the browser will become. However, Vivaldi gives options such as tab hibernation and lazy loading to use as few computer resources as possible, making it a fast and reliable browser.

Privacy and security

Privacy and security
Adblocker
Private browsing
Antitracking
Antiphishing
Show all

When companies have such simple and easy-to-read privacy policies as Vivaldi does, it usually means that they care about your privacy and want to make sure you know what kind of data is being sent to their browsers. Typically, it also means that they don’t take much personal information, and Vivaldi is an example of that.

The only thing Vivaldi does is phone home daily where it will receive your user ID, CPU architecture, screen resolution, and time since the last message. Moreover, your IP will be disguised since Vivaldi removes the last octet of the IP address. Your browsing information such as visited URLs, typed search keywords, and downloaded content is stored in your client profile, and Vivaldi has no access to it. On top of that, the syncing feature uses end-to-end encryption, making sure nobody can get access to your data while your user data is going from one device to another.

However, just because Vivaldi does not store your browsing data doesn’t mean other third parties won’t. Vivaldi uses several Google features that are enabled by default, such as auto-fill, search suggestions, and safe browsing, which send your user data to Google. Although you can easily disable this in the settings, we feel that tweaking those settings should be a part of the first steps of the welcoming screen. Vivaldi does not offer an anti-tracking option and although you’re able to enable a setting that will ask websites not to track you, following this request is entirely up to the websites themselves.

Vivaldi privacy settings

As stated before, Vivaldi uses Google Safe Browsing, which will protect you from malware and phishing websites. Moreover, it uses sandbox software which isolates webpages you are visiting so that malware, virus, and other nefarious software are not able to infect other applications in your computer.

When you’re accessing a website over an unsecure HTTP connection, Vivaldi alerts you by showing a warning sign as well as text stating “not secure” in the left side of the address bar. However, it does not enforce websites to use HTTPS.

Platforms

Platform support
Web app
Mobile optimized
macOS
Linux
Show all

Customization is what makes Vivaldi one of the most fun browsers to use on the market. On desktop, you can tweak all the settings you want on Windows (7 and later), macOS (OS X 10.10 onwards), and Linux. On mobile though, you can only use it on Android through its beta version.

Although the Vivaldi mobile version is an excellent browser app that presents a clean and user-friendly interface as well as providing most of Vivaldi’s desktop features, it does not offer the same level of customization. However, that’s no surprise since the desktop version of Vivaldi lets you practically build your personal browser with your favorite layout.

Vivaldi mobile dark theme

Customer service

Customer support
24/7
Live chat
Email
Phone
Show all

Like most other popular browsers, Vivaldi does not have a live chat or 24/7 customer support. However, you can find solutions to your issues on a decent variety of channels. The FAQ is always a reliable place to start where you can view entries about the various features Vivaldi has to offer, different how-to guides, and information about customization, recovering your account, among many others. If you can’t find what you are looking for, you also have the community forum, which has more than 20,000 topics dedicated to the browser. On top of that, you can get in touch with Vivaldi’s team through email or social media, via Twitter and Facebook.

Bottom line

If you love customization and organizing everything in your own way, Vivaldi is, without a doubt, the browser you should be using. Not only you can change the layout altogether, but you can also modify mouse gestures and keyboard shortcuts to whatever you prefer. If you’re spending a lot of time researching and taking notes from websites then Vivaldi has your back, making it extremely easy and straightforward to multitask. However, it does not offer the best privacy settings by default since it uses several features that send information to Google and it does not have the option to block websites from tracking you entirely. Nevertheless, it’s a well-rounded browser that will look exactly as you want.

Vivaldi website

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User reviews

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    salima salima
    i have been using vivaldi for a umber of years and am very happy with it in every way. i had been keeping firefox because certain financial sites could not work properly but i found out what the problem was and i was able to tweak the settings so that everything and everywhere works fine. that also fixed problems i was having with crashing on certain sites. thanks to vivaldi, goodbye firefox and goodbye google, who needs them.
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    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hello Salima! Thank you for your feedback, and we’re glad that you’re enjoying Vivaldi. As you said, it’s a great browser overall. Would you be so kind as to share the settings you tweaked? It could help other users trying to troubleshoot the same problem. Happy browsing!
    Dayton Livingston Dayton Livingston
    As a person concerned with how much of my information is being sold, I was disheartened with the more mainstream browsers, and went to Firefox a few years ago. And for the most part I think Firefox is an excellent product – it’s still my second-choice. But after finding Vivaldi (by accident) and learning of it’s customization capabilities, I decided to give it a try. I’m one of those guys who customizes his computer extensively, as I believe the computer should work for me, not the other way ’round. Vivaldi let me put my tabs down the left, for starters. Panels are also aa super-cool feature, and I put them on the right with several often-used mobile version links such as Speedtest.net and Google Messages (phone messages/SMS) and so on. the Notes thing is also a Godsend – I used to have to “attach” a note using Notezilla (it can attach sticky-note type notes that pop up when a window/program is focused). Vivaldi notes are far more helpful though, as the can be sync’d and organized. Sync is particularly important to those of us who regularly use multiple computers, and Vivaldi does a splendid job here. I recently discovered the little cloud icon beside the garbage icon on the Tabs pane that allows me to open tabs which I had open on other machines. This is very helpful, as I sometimes forget to forward info to myself when I move from place to place. With all the auto-fill stuff turned off, and DuckDuckGo as my search engine, I’m confident that my privacy is being honored for the most part. I would like to be able to turn on Do Not Track easily, but since the sites that abuse privacy don’t honor that request anyway, it’s not really an issue. And I love the granularity of being able to block ads and trackers globally, yet let specific sites which I’ve vetted use those things when they need to. Finally, a big Thumbs-Up to the Vivaldi devs, who continue to put out both tech/security updates and updates that show they’ve listened to their users’ needs by providing quality-of-life enhancements. Unfortunately, I cannot really rate the Customer Service, as I haven’t used it. But this system requires me to give it a rating, so I’ll call it five-stars. (This is the type of thing that screws up rating systems! But there’s no way I can skip it.)
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    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hello Dayton! Thank you for your comment. Indeed, Vivaldi is the browser with the best combination of privacy and customization on the market. As you said, you can tweak virtually everything and have the browser interface you always wished for. Plus, the end-to-end encrypted sync tool is a great feature for anyone who constantly jumps from one device to another. You also did everything that you should do to guarantee online privacy. Even the most secure browser will send information to Google if you use it as the search engine or Google’s autofill feature. Although websites might not honor ‘Do Not Track’ requests, you can use a VPN to make sure those websites aren’t able to track you. It hides your IP address, and since you’ll be using a server shared with other people, websites won’t be able to pinpoint your online activity. Even so, since Vivaldi removes the last octet of your IP address, it prevents websites from knowing your exact location. Regarding the rating system, thanks for your feedback. We’ll share it with our developers to see if it’s possible to take out the rating requirement for all the categories. Happy browsing!
    JL Hammond JL Hammond
    I love this Vivaldi browser. I’ve tried out several, to replace Edge, and Google. Tried Firefox – nah! Tried three or four others – nah! But Vivaldi! I’m sold. The customization, for one, assures that I will not be using any other one. I’ve lined up my tabs on the left, and the panel allows such easy access tot hem, without taking much room at all. It’s adjustable, and history, bookmarks, downloads, all of that is a little icon next to the panel. One thing that I LOVE, especially, is the ability to copy something from a site, then add it to the Notes feature. Amazingly helpful tool when on the hunt for a certain item and I can’t remember how I searched for it at one point. Or notations on candidates that I can use when deciding who’s getting my vote in 2022. No other browser is as good as this one. It’s a keeper.
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    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hello JL Hammond! Thanks for your thorough comment, and we’re happy that you’re enjoying Vivaldi. As you said, one of the best things about this browser is the amount of customization it offers. You can basically build the interface the way you like the most, which can help a lot when you’re someone who does a lot of research. When it comes to privacy, we recommend going over the Google features that are enabled by default. Even if Vivaldi doesn’t log your information, these features will. So, disable these tools and use other (more private) software for this purpose. For instance, instead of using Google Safe Search, you can use an antivirus add-on like Avast. Additionally, since Vivaldi doesn’t come with built-in anti-tracking, we recommend installing a plugin with these capabilities. Happy browsing!
    JL Hammond JL Hammond
    Due to the crazy blocking of everybody for the slightest infraction, I am in search of a browser that is not subject to bias against conservatives. I want to find one that can’t be shut off just because somebody doesn’t like their service, due to conservative comments and content. If yours is this way, I will keep it. I love the way it works, and especially the notes. I do quite a lot of researching for private info, like parts for my dryer that just broke, and for real info on world events, so your features far outshine Google, Firefox and Edge. I hope to keep Vivaldi and recommend to others, but I’m testing it. So far, I really like it! Privacy & Customer Service? Haven’t had time to test those features yet.
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    David Geck David Geck
    THE BEST BROWSER I HAVE EVER USED. I do not give such compliments easily or without reason. In fact, I made it my project of the last six months to test different browsers to find the one which is the fastest, the most stable, which blocks ads including Youtube ads, which blocks spyware, which has the most intuitive and logical interface, and which has a bookmarks sidebar (something I like). I tested all the POPULAR browsers – MS Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc. None of them made it to my list of the best browsers. The final list of the very best browsers included Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi. Of these, Vivaldi is the winner — another proof that in many areas of life the best things are not the popular things.
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    gregory anderson gregory anderson
    I’ve been trying to delete history, and cannot do so unless I go one at a time which is so 1985 folks. Really. I also am rejecting the concept that Customer Service means Customers have to assist customers to find help by guessing at what the answers are about the issues customers are having. Boooo I’m about ready just to return to utilizing TOR. If a user doesn’t have a degree in computer science and a ready glossary that defines all the geek-speak terms and phrases it is almost impossible to find assistance with Vivaldi or Brave browsers. Golly gee whiz gang, how can I trust what service providers are doing when I cannot even do basic functions?
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    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hey there Gregory, We’re sorry to hear you’re not enjoying Vivaldi. You can clear the history by selecting the Vivaldi logo at the upper-left of the software, going to ‘Tools’, and selecting ‘Delete Browsing Data’. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Del to open the menu. There, you can select the time period you want to delete your browsing history, check the boxes of the data you want to delete, and press ‘Delete’. The menu indeed looks a bit old-fashioned, especially when compared to the browser’s interface. Regarding customer service, we’re with you. Unfortunately, since browsers are completely free, most companies don’t provide customer support besides a FAQ page. Tor is one of the few exceptions that provide live chat. That being said, you can try reaching Vivaldi’s team through social media, as the company allows users to reach out through Facebook Messenger. Lastly, we agree with you. If you’re looking for privacy, you should definitely go with a browser that you can understand what data is being shared and how everything works. For example, while the browser may not log personal information, it can come with functions that do so. The most usual is Google’s autofill function.
    2. JL Hammond JL Hammond
      For Gregory, regarding deletion of history. At first I had to dig for that feature, but I accidentally found out that if you RIGHT click on the day of your history listing, where it shows LOTS of links, just click the Delete option. You can also individually right click certain ones and delete that way. Right click on a link, then Right Click on a series in order (top link then bottom link of a group), and use the Delete option, as well. I’m a right-click addict, so this was a natural accidental discovery for me.
    Just another Malaysian Just another Malaysian
    The article is a bit outdated so I’m going to add somethings: As of Vivaldi 3.0 there is now an in-built adblocker which you can customize. Even though it’s not as elaborate as uBlock Origin, the fact that I can just add my own filter lists already makes it a +. The Android version has come out of beta and is really good. Even though it does not have much customization capabilities (ad-blocker is still available but I cannot manage sources) it’s still a good browser on par with chrome (I can at least sync my info). It also still doesn’t have an in-built translator which can prove to be pretty annoying for expats like me. Bottom line though it is still a really good browser and has served as my main one for months (it still is my main browser).
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    1. Daniel (Best Reviews Team) Daniel (Best Reviews Team)
      Hello Just Another Malaysian, Thanks so much for your comment. We try to keep our reviews the most updated possible, but with so many pieces of software and updates coming out, sometimes it’s challenging to keep up. We’ll take into consideration your comment when we revise Vivaldi’s review. Regarding the built-in translator, it can be a decision from Vivaldi to protect your privacy. Usually, Chromium-based browsers come with Google’s automatic translator, which is known for logging into its servers what the user is typing.
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