Opera launches its AI-centric Neon browser

Browser maker Opera launched its AI-centric browser, Neon, on Tuesday — introducing powerful agentic features such as the ability to create apps through AI prompts and build repeatable commands known as “Cards.” With Neon, Opera joins a growing list of companies, including Perplexity and The Browser Company, that are pushing the next wave of intelligent, task-driven browsers.

Opera first announced its work on Neon back in May, but the product had remained in closed preview. Now, the company has begun sending invites to select users who can access the browser for $19.99 per month.

“We built Opera Neon for ourselves — and for everyone who uses AI extensively in their day-to-day,” said Krystian Kolondra, EVP of Browsers at Opera. “Today, we’re welcoming the first users who will help shape the future of agentic browsing with us.”

Key Features of Opera Neon

Neon includes a traditional chatbot for everyday Q&A interactions, but its most distinctive feature is Neon Do — an AI assistant designed to get things done. For example, users can ask Neon to summarise a Substack article and automatically post that summary to a Slack channel.

Because the browser has contextual awareness of your browsing history, Neon can also retrieve details from a YouTube video you watched last week or a blog post you recently read.

Beyond text-based queries, Neon can even generate snippets of code for creating visual reports, charts, or tables — bringing lightweight data analysis directly into the browser. (It’s not yet clear whether these mini-apps can be shared publicly.)

“Cards” and Task Automation

Opera’s new Cards feature introduces repeatable AI prompts — a concept similar to Skills in The Browser Company’s Dia browser. Users can combine Cards, such as “pull-details” and “comparison-table,” to build complex workflows like comparing products across multiple tabs.

Think of it as an AI version of IFTTT (If This Then That) — where each Card acts as a building block for automation. Users can design their own Cards or use community-created ones.

Smarter Tab Management

Neon also debuts a new organisational system called Tasks, which serves as a contained workspace for related tabs and AI chats. This feature functions much like Chrome’s Tab Groups, but with an added AI context layer, similar to Arc Browser’s Spaces.

In Opera’s demo, Neon showcased autonomous task completion — even ordering groceries for the user. However, as seen with many AI products, demos can often outpace real-world performance. Neon will need to prove its reliability beyond the presentation stage.

A Competitive AI Browser Landscape

With Neon, Opera is entering a crowded space alongside Perplexity’s Comet and Dia from The Browser Company. At the same time, Major Tech players like Google and Microsoft continue to layer AI features into Chrome and Edge.

Unlike its competitors, Opera is positioning Neon as a premium tool for power users, distinguished by its paid subscription model.