I know, I know. You read the title, likely rolled your eyes, and have already formed an opinion. Fair enough. I probably would’ve done the same if I were you. Just know I didn’t see it coming either, and I’m still processing it too. It’s 2026, the economy is clearly struggling right now, and everything already costs more than it should.

On the software side, more and more apps are locking features behind paywalls and announcing price hikes. Just this week alone, Spotify announced that it’ll be raising its prices again. Given all of this, and factoring in that I’m a struggling college student who’s already subscribed to a ridiculous number of services, the last thing I expected was to voluntarily add a browser to that list. Let me explain why that actually made sense for me.

I subscribed to Opera’s AI browser, Neon

A browser built with AI at its core

Despite how rapidly AI is progressing, browsers have remained largely the same for the longest time, beyond a few AI features integrated here and there. That changed when browser companies began launching fully agentic AI browsers, built with AI at their core.

Beyond basic AI tasks like summarizing webpages or answering your questions (which these browsers can do, too), agentic AI browsers are capable of actually performing tasks for you. The first browser of this sort that I heard of was Opera's Neon back in May 2025.

Between the announcement of Neon and December 2025, access to the browser was limited to a waitlist. After months in what Opera termed the "closed founders" phase during which the company worked directly with a small cohort to incorporate feedback and improve the final build, Neon is now widely available as a $20-per-month subscription.

The browser is too helpful to go back

How did I use other browsers before?

Neon’s capabilities are divided into three modes: Chat, Do, and Make. Chat lets you quickly get AI assistance right within the browser (and in the context of the browser). It’s the same as opening ChatGPT, Gemini, or any AI tool by heading to their website and asking your question — only this time, it’s built directly into the browser, so you don’t have to switch tabs or break your flow.

Make uses a Cloud AI operator, and it’s capable of making things for you on a “cloud-hosted virtual computer” in the background. For instance, I’ve used this mode to create mini-games, websites, simple apps, and even test out small code projects without running anything locally. What’s impressive about this mode is that, since it works through a virtual machine in the cloud, Neon can continue working on tasks even when you go offline. Multiple tasks can also be run simultaneously!

This effectively lets you turn a browser into an IDE. As a computer science major and someone who has been into vibe-coding lately, this has hands-down been one of the unique yet fun ways to experiment with ideas that would’ve felt too heavy or time-consuming to spin up on my own.

And here's my personal favorite: Neon’s Do mode. This is where the “agentic” bit shines the most, and it enables the browser to go beyond basic assistance by actually performing tasks for you. The tasks you can ask it to handle range from surface-level things like opening a website for you to more involved actions, like drafting an email, autofilling information across multiple tabs, or even performing tasks that would traditionally require you to open tabs and tabs.

For example, say you’re trying to shortlist products from multiple websites. Normally, you’d have to open a bunch of tabs, copy and paste details into a spreadsheet, and keep track of prices manually. Not to mention you’d need to open a new tab just to look up information about a certain product or compare features across sites. With Neon’s Do mode, you can have it handle all of that automatically —gathering the details, organizing them, and even highlighting the best options, without ever leaving the browser window you started in.

Think planning an entire trip: Neon can pull hotel options, compare flight prices, check local attractions, and organize everything into a single, easy-to-digest overview. If you’re thinking, “Hey, won’t that mean Neon just opens a dozen tabs and I get totally sidetracked or my browser crashes?” — don’t worry. Opera has thought this through with its Tasks feature.

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Tasks in Neon are essentially groups of tabs that share a common context. When Neon opens new tabs, all of them stay contained within the task, keeping everything organized and preventing your browser from turning into a chaotic mess.

If it’s tedious, Neon handles it

Trading time

You’ve probably heard the advice: if there’s a task you’re doing that takes more time than your hourly rate is worth, outsource it. For example, if cooking takes up a significant chunk of your day (and brings you no joy or financial benefit), just hire someone who could do it for you. I apply the same philosophy here.

Sure, the tasks I use Neon for aren’t ones that directly equate to my hourly rate. But these little tasks add up throughout the day, and eventually, they accumulate into something far more significant.

One key way I’ve leveraged this is through Neon’s Cards feature. Cards are prompt instructions you can mix and match depending on what you’re doing and are basically reusable AI behaviors you can pull from whenever you need.

You can find these pre-built prompts in the Neon Cards section, and you can even create your own. I’ve set up different Cards that I run every morning to check my calendar, Google Tasks, Gmail, Asana, Trello, and even my college email, giving me a single, consolidated list of everything I have lined up for the day.

I even have a Card for the tiny, repetitive stuff, like ordering my daily coffee—same order, same place, every day. It might sound trivial, but saving those few minutes each morning adds up. Neon’s Do capability handles everything, including checking out, and all I need to do is run the Card.

I have a ton of Cards personalized to my workflow, which I can’t disclose here since some contain sensitive or private tasks. But suffice it to say, the flexibility is incredible, and once you set them up, it’s like having a team of assistants working quietly in the background.

Why not Comet or a free AI browser?

Perplexity used to be great — not anymore

You might be wondering: why pay when Perplexity’s Comet browser and a bunch of other AI browsers are completely free? First, let’s talk performance. In my testing, Perplexity has felt increasingly sluggish and prone to degradation over time. While Comet started strong, it often feels like it’s struggling under its own weight. In contrast, Neon is significantly faster. Its Do mode is much better, and the browser has small features here and there that demonstrate how well-thought-out it is.

For example, with Comet, you get two options: you can set Perplexity as the search engine or choose another. When you set Perplexity as your search engine, all your queries are routed through it unless you manually choose to search with a search engine like Google. Neon, on the other hand, automatically tries to recognize when something you’re searching for is better handled by an AI chatbot versus a traditional search engine.

The real dealbreaker, though, is privacy. A quick search about “Comet privacy” will show you everything you need to know. On the other hand, Neon’s privacy policies are much more reassuring. Input and output data is stored only temporarily before being permanently deleted. Opera explicitly states that your personal data isn’t used to train their AI models, and they don’t use it for advertising or personalization purposes. When a service is free (like Comet is), you often pay in ways you don’t see.