The end of Opera VPN
Opera Software announced today that it will retire the company's Opera VPN applications for Android and iOS on April 30, 2018.
Opera Software launched Opera VPN for Android in 2016 and Opera VPN for iOS some time before that. The service launched as a free offering initially which users could use right away without forced registration of an account or any form of payment.
Opera VPN Gold was introduced in 2017 as a way to earn revenue from the VPN service by offering more features to paying customers. The Gold version unlocked new regions that users could connect to and provided paying customers with other benefits besides that.
Opera Software wants to appease affected customers of Opera VPN by offering free or discounted subscriptions to SurfEasy Ultra and Total VPN plans.
Existing Opera Gold users get a free upgrade to SurfEasy Ultra and free users of Opera VPN an 80% discount on SurfEasy Total VPN instead.
SurfEasy offers more features and better functionality when compared to OperaVPN. SurfEasy Ultra supports unlimited usage on up to five devices, supports Windows, Mac and Amazon devices next to Android and iOS, and offers access to servers in 28 different regions. The company has a strict no-logging policy and allows P2P traffic. The regular price of of SurfEasy Ultra is $6.49 per month.
SurfEasy Total VPN supports fewer regions and does not come with torrent servers. SurfEasy Total is available for $3.99 per month, and a 80% discount for the first year would reduce the price to less than $1 per month if paid annually.
The company notes that Opera VPN Gold customers on iOS will be able to migrate using the latest version of the Oprea VPN application. Free Opera VPN users will "be able to redeem an 80% discount" through the latest version of the Opera VPN application on Android and iOS.
It is unclear at this point in time how that is going to work and how Opera VPN Gold for Android users can take advantage of the offer.
A quick check in the Opera VPN application on Android was unsuccessful. No announcement or option to get the discount was displayed in the application on first use after installation.
Opera VPN Gold was available for about $30 per year when it launched.
A free Starter version of SurfEasy is also available that is good for 500 Megabytes of free data.
Particularly interesting from a user's point of view is that Opera Software owns SurfEasy, and that it is SurfEasy that operates Opera VPN.
The move looks as if Opera Software wants to consolidate its VPN offerings, maybe, because Opera Gold was not as successful as the company hoped it would be.
Opera Software sold SurfEasy to Symantec in November 2017.
Opera VPN is the second mobile application that Opera Software discontinues after retiring Opera Max back in August of 2017.
Note that the retiring of Opera VPN for Android and iOS has no impact on the VPN integration in the web browser.
Now You: Are you affected by the change?
Opera sucks anyway. Ppl are better off with ExpressVPN.
ProtonVPN, made by the company behind ProtonMail. Or Tor.
why was my comment removed? Opera is owned by a Chinese consortium, and the Chinese are censoring proxy & VPN apps on mobile device stores, it only stands to reason that they are doing this for the same goal.
nobody said it yet, so I will. this move is almost certainly due to Opera being run by a Chinese company who wants to tow the party line in regard to banning all proxy/VPN software in the country.
You seem to be right. All VPN services (except govt. approved ones [LOL]) were deemed illegal by the CPC from the beginning of this month and tighter regulations were already in place earlier.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-01/china-s-internet-underground-fights-for-its-life
Would also make sense why they sold SurfEasy last year (the company was acquired by Chinese investors in late 2016).
@Martin, can you write an article “An honest VPN providers comparison”?
Most VPN reviews are not honest, they are actual sponsoring someone.
An article comparing prices and features of the top 10 VPN providers?
– bandwidth
– limit / cap
– anonimity
– price/plans
– torrent friendly
Here’s some comparison articles:
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/ – Newest Review
Older Reviews:
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/
https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/
https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition/
Another Read – https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-providers-no-logging-claims-tested-in-fbi-case-160312/
I am affected by the change.
I use the free version on an unrooted android tablet.
It’s not been perfect,
but I’d like some actual alternatives,
not just those highly rated.
Does anyone rate surfeasy?
Thanks for the heads up Martin, no one else has mentioned it.
Opera browser’s “built-in VPN” is a scam. It is not a VPN, it is just a HTTPS proxy.
Opera browser’s VPN is just a proxy, here’s how it works:
..Once the user enables the feature in settings, Opera VPN sends API requests to https://api.surfeasy.com to obtain credentials and proxy IPs. The browser then talks to a proxy like de0.opera-proxy.net, and its IP address can only be resolved from within Opera when the VPN feature is turned on. It’s an HTTP/S proxy that requires authentication…
https:// www. helpnetsecurity. com/ 2016/04/22/opera-browser-vpn-proxy/
Hardly a scam. And it’s a “VPN” as far as the browser is concerned, and the browser is the entire point of the Opera BROWSER. No one expects that a browser would be applicable to anything else you’re running on the system. They probably didn’t use the word “proxy” because only techheads have the slightest idea what that means.
BTW, Martin, appending the words “for mobile” to your headline would improve it.
Opera doesn’t own SurfEasy anymore. You even wrote about that yourself…
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/12/10/changes-to-operas-vpn-service/
Thank you, I totally forgot about that.
knew it would not last so never even looked at it
hey where did the login button go?
had to manually enter info to post today
I manually enter the login url (as I knew it) so was able to login however….actual button missing. no adblockers or anything on this site
Free VPNs keep track of IP addresses, Logs and pretty much everything you do online, these glorified proxies are the antithesis of privacy. Avoid them all!
All VPNs do the same, paid or not. None of them is to be trusted, imo. Many of them are probably state-sponsored anyway.
retiring Opera Max back in August of 2018!
How is it possible? Do you have vision of the future? wow
I don’t know why all good things must come to an end. There is already a dearth of free VPNs in the market as mostly, VPN providers force you to buy their plans. So if you want to check out a pretty effective free VPN, Ivacy Lite should be your pick. I agree with Mr. Stank there, our privacy shouldn’t have a cost.
What do you expect for free? It’s surprising so many VPNs offer free access at all.
“Free access” to your data perhaps?
I am not aware of a reliable free (real) VPN service. A “free” internet service usually implies that the user is the product.
I don’t why good things have to come to an end so soon. There is already a dearth of good free VPNs in the market and now this! I have lately come across a new yet effective app called Ivacy Lite VPN. Fans of the OperaVPN should check it out.
Everything shows that nowadays you have to pay for your privacy…
Not really: ProtonMail is free, Firefox is free, Tor is free, …
Good riddance, I say!
I’m not concerned here. Using Blokada