Vivaldi browser now comes with Proton VPN built-in

Vivaldi browser has partnered with Proton VPN to allow users to protect the privacy of users. This is not particularly a new innovation, but what matters is the service that is used.

Opera and Brave have integrated their own VPNs in their browsers, as have some apps on Android. Proton is a great choice, as the Switzerland-based non-profit foundation is known for its privacy-oriented services such as Proton Mail, Proton Drive, Proton Pass, etc.

Using a VPN is an easy way to bypass censorship, Geo-restrictions, and access content that is otherwise blocked by your internet service provider.

While it may sound like you don’t need a Proton VPN account to use the security feature, that is not the case. You have two options. One is to sign in with a Proton account directly.

Two, you will need to use your Vivaldi account, and chances are you probably have one if you signed up to sync your browsing data between devices. That being said, you will need to authorize Vivaldi to share your email address with Proton to allow you to use their service, the process is handled by OAuth.

How to use Proton VPN in Vivaldi browser

1. Open Vivaldi on your desktop and click on the “VPN” button in the toolbar (top right corner).
2. Select Sign in with Vivaldi, or Click on “Already have a Proton Account.”
3. Click on the Connect button to automatically connect to the nearest Proton VPN server.

That’s it, your browser traffic is now protected by the VPN. You can tweak the service’s settings from the pop-up panel.

If you do not see the VPN option, try updating your browser to the latest version.

Note: You may want to disable sharing of anonymous usage crash reports under the VPN’s settings.

Built-in feature, or is it?

All that said, it appears that the feature is not truly baked into the browser. What I mean by that, is that Vivaldi doesn’t integrate the VPN in its browser, there are no options that you can manage from the Settings page. That’s because Vivaldi installs the Proton VPN: Fast & Secure extension for the VPN feature. Vivaldi’s announcement does not mention this.

The VPN button does not indicate that it is related to an extension, as the right-click menu does not list options like “Manage Extension” that are available in other add-ons. Vivaldi’s VPN button appears as if it’s a native option, but sadly it’s not. The only unique experience that it seems to offer is the VPN button itself, the icon doesn’t use Proton VPN’s logo. You can still hide it from the toolbar, or even uninstall the extension.

The extension is not installed by default, it only appears when you interact with the VPN button, i.e. when you choose to sign in. You could of course install the extension manually and sign in to it directly with your Proton account, i.e. if you don’t want to use a Vivaldi account. The add-on is available for all major browsers including Firefox, and Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, etc.

It’s not my intention to downplay the feature, I’m just saying a native feature would have been nicer. But, this could be useful too, especially for people who are not familiar with VPN or Proton, or don’t know which extension to download.

Proton VPN in Vivaldi is only available in the desktop version of the browser, i.e. it is not available in the mobile apps for Android and iOS.

Now, this should be obvious to power users, but for those unaware, using Vivaldi’s built-in VPN will only protect your browser traffic. If you want to protect all of your internet traffic, then you should consider using the Proton VPN desktop client, which has a free tier with some limitations, or a different VPN of your choice, like Mullvad.

Read my recent coverage about Vivaldi 7.2, which introduced a faster, more accurate address bar and other improvements.