Opera’s Free VPN is Now Automatic on Public Wi-Fi Networks

Opera has offered a free VPN for 10 years and it’s still the only truly free and unlimited web browser-based VPN. But the desktop version of Opera VPN just got even better: Now, it can be configured to turn on when you connect to a public Wi-Fi network.

“We’ve had a free VPN built into the browser since 2016,” Opera’s Santiago Benavides García explains. “It doesn’t ask you for an account, it doesn’t have a bandwidth limit, and it doesn’t cost anything. We did it that way because we believe that you should be in control of the way you see and reach the web.”

Chrome and Safari don’t offer built-in VPNs, and while others do, they’re more limited. For example, the VPNs in Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox have monthly usage caps and require an account sign-in. Opera, the company explains, remains the only major browser with a truly free, unlimited VPN built right in.

Starting today in Opera 136 for Windows, Mac, and Linux for users in the United States and France, the built-in VPN can detect when you’re connected to a public Wi-Fi network and turn itself on if you configure it to do so. (Open Opera settings, navigate to VPN, and enable the option “Always use VPN on Public WiFi.”) And, yes, Opera says it will bring this feature to more regions soon.

You can download Opera from the Opera website.