Jon von Tetzchner, CEO and founder of Vivaldi Technologies, refuses to integrate AI features in its browser and wants human engineers, not AI, to write its code.
“Customers don’t want it” is surprisingly difficult to understand for a lot of companies nowadays. Vivaldi must be run by some sort of language genius.
I’m not switching to Vivaldi, but it is refreshing to see someone say “I didn’t put X in the product because people don’t want X in the product.”
I’m going to stick with Firefox but also because they take the same stance.
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I really do appreciate that he has enough sense to recognize everyone hates AI, I just wish he also had enough sense to recognize Vivaldi sucks.
I’ve tried Vivaldi before in the past and it’s UI and cluttered interface turned me way off. I’ve got my own concerns about it still that hasn’t made me jump to it. That being, it relies on the Chrome Web Store to install extensions. If Google themselves decided not to have something on that store and you’re using it on Vivaldi, well you’re SOL.
That’s an advantage for Firefox, that has its own extensions. Some of us are stuck with Firefox despite their interestingly bad choices and historical lack of fulfilling promises on their own behalf. There are still key advantages with Firefox than most browsers.
And even if some of us are tired of Firefox anyway, we’ve got its forks to use.
I’m the inverse. The amount of customization and power user features are what makes it my daily driver, though I agree the reliance on Google isn’t good. Also having their sync data stored e2e encrypted with my own private key is a nice touch. Though if a heavily customizable fork of Firefox with features like that was available I’d likely switch. I don’t have the time to maintain a highly customized userchrome.css that could break with every update, unfortunately
just as “most users” don’t want ai baked into their browser, “most users” probably don’t use any addons, or use only one–an adblocker. ad blocking (with configurable filter lists) is built into vivaldi already, no separate addon needed. works well-enough.
that said, the chromium base and its dependency on google to provide the ‘addon store’ is vivaldi’s main detractor, because google has been putting the screws to anything that threatens their business as a data harvesting advertising company.
vivaldi does have some features not found in other browsers or other chromium browsers (excepting some in common with opera). the one i appreciate the most is the configurable toolbars, both items and their positions… similar to how you can configure firefox’s main toolbar.
i do occasionally need a chromium browser for specific tasks. vivaldi is the one i use. usually as a ‘portable’ installation that is easiest to trash when i’m done. it’s also the one i use for a couple streaming sites because it does use chrome addons (but also is not chrome, either).
Some of us are stuck with Firefox despite their interestingly bad choices and historical lack of fulfilling promises on their own behalf. There are still key advantages with Firefox than most browsers.
That’s why I use Librewolf/Ironfox on my laptop/phone. All the benefits of Firefox and none of the half-baked promises or bad decisions!
I feel like I could have written this comment word for word. But luckily you already did so now I only have to write this short one.
Would give it a try if it wasn’t proprietary.
Vivaldis not bad. Good for work where you need different profiles; not crazy resource intensive
And for people like me with a problem closing tabs, the memory management is excellent, killing off anything that hasn’t been used in a while.
It’s my secondary browser. Pretty much just for HDR on YouTube. Firefox still can’t do it.
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Would be a really really expected deciding factor for a secondary browser though.
Lmao
I’m on librewolf just now having used vivaldi for about three years as my daily. Great browser, I just fancied swapping the chromium problems for gecko problems for a while :D
Idk about not resource intensive but it does browser things happily.
My husband has a lot of nostalgia for opera (long story, don’t ask) but some of the dubious connections there made them a non-option for us as we got more into internet privacy. He was super happy when I switched him over to Vivaldi.
I was an Opera user for a decade. I think there designers left to start Vivaldi.
I never heard that connection but I do know it was sort of intended as a spiritual successor to opera, so if true, that would make a LOT of sense
Been using it for years on my phone. It’s great. Some webpage doesn’t work well with it though but imo those are the site not worth visiting.
Seems much of Lemmy is still married to Firefox despite all their slop and Alphabet funding.
I’m going to keep beating the Vivaldi drum as their mission has always been clear. Yes I understand the chromium backbone, but as long as uBlock continues to work I’m staying on board.
UBlock origin is just so much better than any other ad blocker, and it’s Firefox’s main feature.
So Firefox main feature is something made not by Firefox? That’s a little sad. Why not use uBlock on Vivaldi?
Because it’s chromium-based and Google broke that possibility on purpose. It’s what they get for being Google’s bitch.
It works just fine if you aren’t using chrome. It’s not broke in chromium.
Googles bitch? You mean firefox? The company that wouldn’t exist without a regular paycheck from google?
so you are worried about the alphabet funding but use a chromium based browser?
Yes, I said that, why is this phrased as a question? Money has a huge influence. I’d rather use something thats getting something free from gooe (chromium core) than a something from a company getting paid by them
Right. This is really. Really fucking weird.
You can like one thing without having to shit on the other. Firefox is fine. Vivaldi is cool. Simple as that. Not everything is a team sport.
I’m not shitting, just explaining reason I don’t like it.
Seems more like you’re explaining why you think others shouldn’t like it.
Try not to read into it too much.
You typed it out to be read. Now you don’t want people to read to much in to it after I guess not liking the reception.
I typed out why I don’t like it. I know exactly how people here feel about Firefox. It’s very predictable. Its the one AI software they will defend tirelessly.
What browser do you use? If you hate Chrome and Firefox, that’s really going to limit your choices. Derivatives of both of those must be forbidden too because all of those would cease to exist if the base browsers vanished.
Something WebKit based? Or are you using something based on the Goanna fork of Gecko?
Who’s hating, I thi k maybe you responded to the wrong comment?
Demonstrating that you’re not on the same team!
Definitely a free thinker! Not big on teams.
The browser wars require browser fighting words, I am always happy to hear critique about these products… especially in 2026 when the corpo’s meta game is to completely stifle any and all bad PR / reviews / discussion.
Nah, they don’t just like it; they’re married to it. And with that into the clan that wanders around the steppes, downvoting every thing that challenges them and their beloved. This is, in essence, The Browser War that really doesn’t have any other participants.
Is their beloved good? lol, well it’s constantly in the news for all the wrong reasons. Is it a good experience? If you’re into being a sub, yes. Does it perform well? Such questions are not allowed in the clan, but they believe it to be so based on clan size.
Most of all, they swear against Chromium, but park their Steam icons right next to Firefox on their desktop trays.
There is no mercy for anyone seen not using Firefox. Mixed-browser friendships are an abomination. Not caring much about extensions is death.
You seem to have got all worked up over this.
Just so you know, caring about what browser someone uses and recommending one are two separate things.
I couldnt give a fuck if you use Vivaldi, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge or anything else. I just prefer to recommend the open source ones, that are not holding a massive market share and run on an engine that is controlled by Google.
Like, relax, use Chrome to your heart’s content, if that is what makes you happy.
He gets worked up over lots of things. It’s an old account with no comment history that sprung up in the last few days being oddly aggressive and toxic.
It is weird.
I wasn’t even talking about browsers… Sort of just a loose comparison of Firefox fans and the hordes of Genghis. You can pretend they’re fans of something else, if you like.
there’s also something to be said for having a backwards-compatible configuration and history that stretches over 25 years. it’s why i stayed on gecko when switching browser.
Edit: apparently vivaldi is closed-source? huh.
Not really closed source all the way, only aspects of it. It’s still both weird and offputting, but it is slightly different.
By only aspects of it they mean the chromium base. What makes vivaldi not the same as chromium is proprietary
It was my understanding that the closed source part was limited to their visual aspects, as the functional changes they make have to adhere to the licence of chromium. Unless that’s changed; I haven’t looked into it in a couple of years. It’s where their “skin” applies that they keep it proprietary in other words.
What?
The official words: https://vivaldi.com/blog/technology/why-isnt-vivaldi-browser-open-source/
Firefox is still the better browser, and frankly I can’t just get over that anything else is simply chrome with a skin.
I like Vivaldi, it is my secondary browser, but Firefox is preferred. But good for you, anything is better than Brave. Vivaldi has some great aspirations of being a suite like Mozilla was back in the day, but if they want to do that, they need to make their upgrades not break their sync. The fact that happens so often makes me worry a little about their overall system.
That Chromium backbone is exactly why. Firefox or forks of it are preferred. Other browsers using different engines can also be recommended, but I only know of some WIP projects right now. Also, Vivaldi is proprietary, not open source.
Oh wait it’s Chromium?! I have things that need that to work, so even tho I EXCLUSIVELY use FF forks for browsing on my computer, I have to dip into edge (eww) for those web applets to work. Would Vavldi be a good alternative? Better than… ugh… BRAVE, anyway?
I’d recommend helium, it’s my favorite chromium browser because it’s fairly customizable and very privacy-respecting. I’d say it’s like the librewolf of chromium, for lack of a better comparison.
Thank you! That sounds even better, I’ll look into that!
Yes, Vivaldi is a good chromium browser when some oddball site doesn’t work.
You know what works great with FF&Forks; ad-blockers that aren’t sellouts.
Perfect, I’ll snag that for the like four hardware things I have that need Chromium for settings, and continue using FF forks for anything real!
Yeah, or just use Ungoogled Chromium, that’s about as raw as it gets without any proprietary shit.
IE6 teaches us that a multi-engine web is best, though…
It is really important that no single project or company dominates the web. Any browser based on chromium is not going to be well received by people concerned about current engine diversity. Whatever people think of the Mozilla corp or foundation and their stewardship, there is a strong public interest in promoting wider use of the Gecko engine and any other Blink alternatives. Many here will be running forks like librewolf to remove Firefox features we don’t want or trust.
In a healthy ecosystem people will use a diversity of products that suit their individual tastes and needs and that is fine. Advocates warning against over dependence on Chromium are doing it with very good intentions. We don’t need everyone to switch. We only need enough to avoid a mono-culture and the death of the open web. There is plenty of room left for diversity and freedom of choice.
The majority don’t even think about what browser they are using and use what is installed by default. They are the real battle. If a fraction of them did some research and made an informed choice, even if many chose Chromium browsers, the ecosystem would be much healthier.
Continuing to use Firefox so that Google has to keep wasting their money on it to avoid the antitrust lawsuit >>>
As someone who’s extremely picky about my browsers/extensions/etc AND who’s forced to use Edge and Chrome at work…. I make due with Firefox because everything else is just off enough that I can’t commit to ‘em longterm
Does casting tabs to a TV work?
Why would you cast tabs specifically to a TV and not just cast to the entire TV Itself and just make it a big pseudo monitor? 🤔
Because if you’re just casting a video, you can still use your PC/phone while it’s playing.
But you can do that if you cast directly from desktop too lol, maybe I’m just misunderstanding what exactly is going on here. I swear it’s way simpler / reliable to just cast directly from the OS, at least in my experience 🤷
Been on the wolf for quite some time, but I gotta respect Vivaldis values
There’s a name I haven’t heard for a while, but kudos I guess. Been using Brave for the blue moon when I need a browser with unreasonable access to subsystems (like yearly perhaps) and I know they have suckage, but yearly. Any reason to change (linux)?
Personally, Zen and the art of less bullshit. YMMV.
Wow, this was minus five a little while ago, doesn’t seem so bad. Did I trigger a bot farm or am I missing something?
Well, that’s true… For the moment
Can you say more? Do you mean that people may want AI in the browser soon? I’m just curious.
Most likely they notice the pattern that corporations are inherently slimy, selfish, and shortsighted. It might be anti-ai now a days but how long will that last?
