Opera VPN Pro Review 2024: Is It Safe to Use?

Opera VPN Pro is a very basic VPN service. It encrypts your traffic, has decent speeds, comes with a no-logs policy, and supports torrenting.

But it has many issues that prevent it from becoming a top pick — it lacks a kill switch, it doesn’t come with any advanced security features like perfect forward secrecy, and there are no extras like split-tunneling. On top of that, the VPN doesn’t work with some popular streaming sites like BBC iPlayer (confirmed by my UK colleague), its customer support isn’t helpful, and its 3,000+ servers are spread across only 30+ countries.

Opera VPN Pro offers 3 paid plans (monthly, semi-annual, and annual), all of which come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. There’s also a free version that offers unlimited connections and bandwidth, but it’s more of a secure proxy than a fully-fledged VPN. I recommend checking out ExpressVPN instead — it’s very fast, has servers in 105 countries, provides great streaming and torrenting support, and offers advanced security and privacy.

Opera VPN Pro Full Review

I spent several weeks testing Opera VPN Pro to see how it stacks up against the top VPNs in 2024. Overall, it’s a good VPN for general browsing, but there are many other VPNs that are much better.

While Opera VPN Pro comes with military-grade 256-bit AES encryption, a no-logs policy, and supports P2P traffic, I don’t like how it lacks some essential security features, including a kill switch, and doesn’t have any advanced security tools or extras. Finally, it only works with some streaming sites like Netflix.

Opera VPN Pro Features

Opera VPN doesn’t offer a lot of options, but it has the following security features:

• 256-bit AES encryption. Opera VPN encrypts your entire browning traffic with military-grade encryption.
• No-logs policy. Both the free Opera VPN and the paid Opera VPN Pro version have a strict no-logs policy, which means they don’t monitor or keep any data about your online activities.

Opera VPN Pro lets you choose between 2 secure VPN protocols on Android: OpenVPN and IKEv2, which is good, but I wish it had WireGuard, which offers faster speeds. It’s a shame there’s no option to pick a VPN protocol on desktop — Opera VPN Pro picks it for you.

The biggest letdown is that Opera VPN Pro doesn’t have a kill switch, a feature that disconnects you from the internet when it loses connection to the VPN server. This is a basic VPN security feature that prevents your IP address from leaking if your connection fails without your knowledge.

Opera VPN Pro lacks advanced security features, such as perfect forward secrecy (changes the encryption key for each session to minimize the amount of data hackers could access in the case of a breach) and RAM-only servers, which deletes all data with every reboot. It doesn’t have built-in leak protection either, but there’s an option to manually enable WebRTC protection in Opera’s settings.

Similarly, there are no extras like an ad, tracker, or malicious site blocker included in the VPN app. However, the Opera browser offers these features and does a decent job of preventing annoying ads from loading. I’d rather use Private Internet Access’s ad blocker since it’s the best one on the market and is available on most operating systems and browsers.

The VPN includes split-tunneling, which allows you to choose which traffic is routed through the VPN and which is routed through your local network. It’s a tool that provides convenience and can help boost speeds. On Android, you can split-tunnel your VPN traffic but it’s only available in private tabs, and on desktop it lets you exclude sites from routing through the VPN. If you’re looking for a VPN with really good split-tunneling, check out Surfshark, which lets you exclude apps and websites on Android and Windows.

Opera VPN Pro Privacy & Security

Opera VPN Pro has a no-logs policy, which states that the VPN doesn’t log any data about the websites you visit or the links you click on while connected to one of its VPN servers.

But that’s pretty much everything that Opera VPN Pro promises not to collect. According to the policy, the VPN service is provided by a third-party provider that owns, operates, and maintains the infrastructure that provides the service. I asked a live chat rep about this and they refused to reveal the company behind the infrastructure — this isn’t the type of transparency I expect from a VPN.

The privacy policy states that Opera will share any information with this third-party service provider, with the exception of your email, name, and other personal data. It also notes that there’s no guarantee “the service is absolutely secure” and that “criminals or other bad actors may still be able to access your data.”

The free Opera VPN has undergone a security audit by Cure53, but only its infrastructure (and not its no-logs policy). Plus, it’s headquartered in Norway, which is a member of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliances (a group of countries that share security data).

Overall, it’s good that Opera VPN Pro has a no-logs policy, but I wish it was more transparent. Plus, I’d really like to see its no-logs policy audited, like that of many top VPNs like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN.

Opera VPN Pro Speed & Performance

I ran speed tests while connected to all 30+ countries where Opera VPN has servers. I had reasonable speeds on nearby servers, but there was a significant drop in speed when connected to distant servers in countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia.

To get a baseline for my speeds, I first ran a speed test without connecting to the VPN. Next, I connected to a nearby server in the US:

And here are the speeds I got when I ran the speed tests on a distant server in the UK:

When I connected to a server in the US, my speeds dropped by 42%. Still, sites loaded instantly, but there was minor buffering when I tried to load 4K videos.

My speed dropped by a whopping 77% when I connected to a distant server in the UK, which caused websites and videos to take up to 4–5 seconds to load. I also experienced slight buffering when skipping through YouTube videos in HD and some lag when playing online games.

Overall, I wasn’t impressed with Opera VPN’s speeds. Honestly, there are much faster VPN options on the market.

Opera VPN Pro Servers & IP Addresses

Opera VPN Pro has 3,000+ servers across 30+ countries, which is way fewer than what you get with top VPNs like ExpressVPN and CyberGhost VPN, which have servers in 100+ countries.

Opera VPN Pro’s coverage in America and Europe is decent, but there’s almost no server locations in Asia and 0 servers in Africa, so you’ll probably have to deal with slow speeds if you live or travel to any of these regions.

All of this VPN’s servers are virtual, meaning they aren’t physically located in the country you’re connecting to. You’ll still get an IP address that matches that location — plus, virtual servers are just as safe as physical servers.

Opera VPN Pro’s Optimal Location feature is supposed to connect you to the fastest server for your location, which is usually a server in your location or a nearby country. In all of my tests, however, it recommended a distant server in Europe.

The free version comes with 3 server locations — you don’t get to pick a city or a country, but you can choose between a server in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Interestingly, I found that the Europe server had the least impact on my internet connection speed compared to the other two.

Overall, Opera VPN Pro’s server network is decent, but it’s a lot smaller compared to many top VPNs and you’ll have to connect to a distant server if you’re in Asia or South Africa.

Opera VPN Pro Streaming & Torrenting

Opera VPN Pro is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to streaming — I could watch Netflix US, Max, Amazon Prime Video US, and Disney+ US, but my colleagues in the UK said it didn’t work with BBC iPlayer and ITV.

There are better streaming VPNs out there in my opinion — ExpressVPN, for example, consistently works with 100+ streaming sites.

Opera VPN Pro is OK for torrenting — it supports torrenting on all servers and works with the top torrenting clients. That being said, there aren’t any extra features like SOCKS5 proxy servers or port forwarding that help speed up P2P traffic. There are much better VPNs for torrenting out there, such as ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access.

Overall, Opera VPN Pro isn’t good for streaming and torrenting, as it doesn’t work with all popular streaming sites and it only has basic P2P support.

Opera VPN Pro Plans & Pricing

Opera VPN Pro has several affordable plans —  it offers a 1-month ($8.00 / month), 6-month ($6.00 / month), and 12-month ($4.00 / month) plan. The 6-month and 12-month plans come with a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

This VPN also has a free plan that limits you to 3 proxy locations but doesn’t secure your data outside the Opera browser.

Opera VPN Pro comes with 30+ server locations to choose from and 6 simultaneous connections, which is on the lower end of the industry average.

Opera VPN Pro accepts payment via credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, and JCB). I’d like to see Opera VPN Pro add support for PayPal and cryptocurrencies as payment options, as this would provide better security and privacy.

Overall, Opera VPN Pro is affordable, but it doesn’t offer great value for money. I recommend opting for top VPNs like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access as they come with larger server networks, more features, and faster speeds.

Opera VPN Pro Ease of Use: Mobile & Desktop Apps

Opera VPN Pro is available on Windows, macOS, and Android, but it doesn’t come with dedicated apps for these operating systems. Instead, you need the Opera browser and an Opera account to purchase and use it.

On desktop, Opera VPN Pro isn’t hard to use, but it’s tricky without a native app. You still download it to your computer, where it’ll appear as a tray icon. From here, you can Connect/Disconnect the VPN and click on its settings, which takes you directly to the settings in the Opera browser. To choose a server location, you need to go into the Opera browser (it still protects your traffic outside of the Opera browser).

The process is similar on Android where you have to configure the VPN and connect to servers via the Opera browser. Opera VPN Pro comes with a bit more functionality on Android as you get an auto-connect feature, the ability to choose between the OpenVPN or IKEv2 protocols, and the option to use the VPN for private tabs only.

Overall, Opera VPN Pro is easy to use, but I’d prefer it if there was a dedicated app for it so you don’t have to open the Opera browser every time you want to use the VPN. It’s also not available on iOS, but there are plenty of excellent iOS VPNs to choose from.

Opera VPN Pro Customer Support

Opera Pro VPN’s help center is extremely basic, with a few short articles that provide little to no useful information.

I wasn’t impressed with the email support, either. I left an email asking about some of the VPN’s security features, and 22 hours later, I got a response with links to the Opera VPN Pro help center without any answers to my questions.

Opera VPN Pro offers a live chat, too, but it’s only available between 8 am and 4 pm CEST. When I tested it, I got connected to a live chat rep in only a few minutes. However, the live chat reps weren’t very knowledgeable and often linked to articles from the help center, which didn’t answer my questions.

There are no dedicated support options for the free Opera VPN — the only way to get any of your questions answered is via Opera’s very limited knowledge base or forum. I also tried the contact form but didn’t receive any response.

Overall, OperaVPN Pro offers unreliable customer support — I prefer ExpressVPN’s customer support, which includes in-depth guides and articles and excellent 24/7 live chat and email support.

Is Opera VPN Pro Any Good in 2024?

Opera VPN Pro is decent for browsing the web but not much else. It has very basic security features, good speeds, and decent P2P support.

However, the VPN doesn’t have any advanced security or extra features like an ad blocker, it doesn’t work with all top streaming sites, and it only has servers in 30+ countries (there are virtually no servers in South Africa and Asia).

Opera VPN Pro allows 6 unlimited simultaneous connections and has competitive plans. There’s also a free plan that allows you to connect to an unlimited number of devices, but it only lets you connect to 3 locations and only works in the Opera browser. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Opera VPN Pro safe?

Opera VPN Pro has some industry-standard VPN security features. It has 256-bit AES encryption and a no-logs policy, but it doesn’t have a kill switch, which is an essential security feature for VPNs. Opera VPN Pro’s no-logs policy is pretty vague and hasn’t been independently audited.

Does Opera VPN Pro work with Netflix?

Yes, Opera VPN Pro works with Netflix. It worked in my tests with Netflix US and my colleagues in the UK confirmed it worked with Netflix while connected to a local server. It’s also compatible with other popular streaming sites such as Amazon Prime US, Disney+ US, and Max.

Does Opera VPN Pro have an Android app?

No, Opera VPN Pro doesn’t offer dedicated apps for any platform. Instead, you need to download and install the Opera browser to use the VPN on Android and Windows.

Is Opera VPN Pro free?

No, Opera VPN Pro isn’t free, but there’s a free Opera VPN version. This version is integrated into the Opera browser and only protects your traffic within the Opera browser. On the free version, you get unlimited bandwidth and can only choose between 3 server locations — Americas, Asia, and Europe.