When I first experimented with Perplexity’s Comet Browser earlier this year, I called it “a look at the future of AI-powered browsers.” Now Opera Neon is finally available to everyone and it seems that the future is no longer just around the corner. – It’s here.
Neon doesn’t just add an AI button to the toolbar and call it innovation. This is a real agent workspace based on some of the best models you can use today, including Gemini 3 Pro, GPT-5.1, Veo 3.1 and the brilliant Nano Banana Pro. All of this is available as part of a one-time monthly subscription for $19.90, which means the browser doesn’t just answer questions. It really does something for you.
speak, do, do
According to Opera, Neon is a browser “designed for action”. It’s marketing talk, but it’s not fake. The interface is built around three main ideas: Chat, Do and Create. Chat handles your conversations with built-in AI, Do lets your browser perform actions for you, and Make gives you a place to create and publish small web projects that run on Opera servers.
Think of Chat as your typical AI chatbot experience, similar to ChatGPT Search, while Do is more like Perplexity’s Comet, with Neon surfing the web for you and completing tasks in one tab while you take care of other, more pressing tasks. Creating, on the other hand, is like having a simple coding program on hand at all times, and even better, it can pull information from the tabs you see to complete what you want to do.
While most browsers are consumer oriented, Neon’s design and philosophy pushes you towards creativity. You get “To Do” instead of simple tab groups and “Tabs” instead of bookmarks. Both are designed to help you think in terms of projects rather than pages.
Once you start using it, the change seems subtle. You open Neon like any other browser, but soon you start thinking about how to best use its AI tools to get the most out of the web.
Create my own curated TechRadar feed
When I thought about my first project for Neon, I decided to keep it in-house and create a simple web page with the TechRadar news I’m most interested in: AI, Apple stuff, and TechRadar gaming stories.
In Neon’s Create mode, I simply told the browser what I wanted. Some sample templates were included and a structure was created that I could edit in real time. Within about 10 minutes, I had a nice little page of the latest TechRadar stories, with headlines, summaries, and links. You can see it here: LaComparacion RSS feed.
It’s a simple version, but it does exactly what I need: it consolidates my favorite sections of TechRadar into one and lets me quickly look at the best articles to get a general idea of what’s happening in the world of AI, Apple and gaming.
Neon is super easy to use and stands out from the less intelligent competition. In Chrome or Safari, I need third-party extensions, scripts or tools to bookmark an RSS feed. This is part of the Neon Browser experience and the best part is that you don’t have to create anything if you don’t want to. AI is available when you need it, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a part of every online interaction you have through Neon.
A simple list to keep track of video games
after reading The 100 best PC games of 2025 according to PC GamerI wanted to make a simple list of the most critically acclaimed role-playing games (RPGs) of the last few decades. I recently built a gaming PC and when I ventured into the big world of Steam I thought it would be nice to combine a simple web page with important information into one.
I decided to ask Neon to create a list of the 20 highest rated PC RPGs based on their Metacritic aggregate, add information from HowLongToBeat so I can get an idea of the size of each game, and then give me the current price on the Steam Store.
Although this is a very simple list, it is my list and I can update it over time if I run out of games or want to play new games. Neon’s ability to create and host websites is like a superpower, allowing you to create as many bookmarks as you want with the information you care about.
Oddly enough, creating a simple website through Neon is similar to creating my first Bebo over twenty years ago, where I could take ownership of my space on the internet and make it look exactly how I envisioned it. With Neon, I can write down any idea that comes to mind and in no time the AI browser has created my personal space with the information I want to give it.
Neon is certainly not perfect. For example, if my computer hibernates during a task while I was away from my desk, it would disconnect from the server and I would have to restart it, reminding me not to hibernate or leave my desk. And it’s pretty slow, in fact I’d say it’s not on par with Perplexity’s Comet in this regard just because of the speed at which it completes tasks for you.
The difference between Comet and Neon is that Opera has taken the concept of a web browser as a tool even further. Where Comet integrated an AI assistant, Neon adds an entire creative ecosystem. Try to replace half of the productivity apps you already use by integrating these features into the web experience itself.
The two projects I tested through Neon are small, but illustrate an important shift in browser development. The traditional browser is a window into someone else’s world, while agent browsers like Neon are starting to turn that window into a workspace.
The future may be neon
Opera’s new AI browser is still in its infancy. Neon has its quirks and not all functions seem suitable for traditional use. The Make interface can be confusing and you reach your limits if you want more complex layouts or live data. But despite these limitations, the core experience feels exciting and new.
When I used Perplexity’s Comet earlier this year, I was convinced that AI-powered browsers would be the next step. After spending some time with Opera Neon, I think they are just part of the story. The next big thing will come when browsers stop behaving like Windows and start behaving like workbenches.
Neon isn’t perfect, but it was the first browser that made me feel like the Internet was a place where I could rebuild. I didn’t need any programming knowledge or plugins to create something useful; All I needed was an idea and a few minutes of curiosity.
Opera Neon is now available without an invite, but it’s not a free experience. Opera even wants you to pay $20/£20 a month to replace your default browser like Google Chrome. At this price, I don’t think Neon will be successful, but it could lay the groundwork for a future where the app we already spend so much of our digital lives with also becomes the place where we grow it.