Opera Add-ons

Browser

Opera Norway AS · Browser & OS extension stores

Best for: Chromium-extension developers adding Opera coverage cheaply.

Overview

Opera Add-ons is the official catalog for extensions in the Opera desktop browser, which is Chromium-based and consumes standard WebExtensions/Manifest packages. Because of that compatibility, developers can port Chrome extensions with minimal changes, and Opera also lets users install Chrome Web Store extensions directly via a bridge — but native listing gives dedicated discovery within Opera's ecosystem.

Submission is free through the Opera developer dashboard, but each extension goes through human moderation against Opera's acceptance criteria: it must deliver genuine functionality, ship a valid manifest, and must not contain obfuscated or minified first-party code. Reviews are thorough but historically slow, with developers reporting multi-week to multi-month queues, so time-to-publish is a real consideration. There is no store-level commerce layer, so monetization, if any, happens inside the extension against the developer's own backend. Opera Add-ons is a low-cost, WebExtensions-standard distribution surface whose main friction is moderation latency rather than fees.

How to build & ship

  1. 1Create an Opera add-ons developer account
  2. 2Build a Chromium-based extension with the WebExtensions API and a manifest.json (Chrome extensions are largely compatible)
  3. 3Prepare listing assets (icon, ~612x408 screenshots, description, category, license)
  4. 4Upload the packaged ZIP via the addons.opera.com developer upload form
  5. 5Pass moderation to be published to the catalog

Key APIs & SDKs

WebExtensions API
Chromium extension APIs (chrome.*)
manifest.json
Opera addons developer upload

Integration types

Authentication & security

  • Primary auth: None
  • Also supports: OAuth 2.0
  • Security review: Required
  • Human moderators test each extension against acceptance criteria (valid manifest, no obfuscated first-party code) before publishing.
  • Manual moderation against acceptance criteria before the extension is published; timelines are not officially fixed and can vary.
  • No marketplace-wide rate limit; extensions are governed by the Chromium WebExtensions APIs and any backend they call.

Monetization

Onboarding
$0
Commission
No store commerce system; extensions are distributed free
Merchant of Record
Not applicable (no store-facilitated payments)

Pros & cons for builders

Pros

  • Reuses Chromium/Chrome extension code with minimal changes
  • Free to publish
  • Access to Opera's niche but loyal user base

Cons

  • Small audience relative to Chrome/Firefox
  • Moderation timelines are unpredictable
  • Limited platform-specific tooling