VPN for Yandex Browser: an extension in a minute, no sign-up

Yandex Browser is built on Chromium, so it takes extensions from the Chrome Web Store. That means a VPN for it switches on in a minute without installing separate programs.

Step 1. Install the extension

Open the Surok extension page in Yandex Browser and press "Install". The browser asks for permissions: proxy control and site access are needed to route traffic through the tunnel.

Step 2. Press "Try for free"

Click the marmot icon to the right of the address bar. The "Try for free" button gives seven days without an email, password or card: speed up to 3 Mbit/s and an exit in Europe. If you already have a Surok account, sign in with email or Telegram.

Step 3. The big button

Press the button in the extension window. "Connected" and the address below show where sites now see you from. The toolbar icon changes colour while protection is on.

Russian sites

By default the extension opens government services, banks, Yandex and a thousand more Russian sites directly, bypassing the tunnel: faster and without "foreign address" complaints. The "Sites" tab has your own rules: any site can be sent direct or via Surok with one tap, and the current tab has a button right on the main screen.

How this differs from "Protect" and turbo mode

Yandex Browser's built-in tools guard against phishing and compress traffic, but they do not change your address or open blocked sites. The extension does exactly that. It protects only the browser: for messengers and games you need the Surok app for Windows, Android or Mac.

If something is off

• The extension says the proxy is taken. Another extension already controls the proxy; disable it in the add-ons list.
• After seven days it stopped connecting. The free days are over; a subscription is bought right in the extension window: SBP, card, crypto or Stars. After paying, speed is uncapped and all nine countries open.

The same extension works in Chrome and Edge, and Firefox has a separate version.