A lightweight web browser is a web browser that sacrifices some of the features of a mainstream web browser in order to reduce the consumption of system resources, and especially to minimize the memory footprint. [1] [2] [3]
The tables below compare notable lightweight web browsers. Several of them use a common layout engine, but each has a unique combination of features and a potential niche. The minimal user interface in surf, for example, does not have tabs, [4] whereas xombrero can be driven with vi-like keyboard commands. [5]
Four of the browsers compared— Lynx, w3m, Links, and ELinks—are designed for text mode, and can function in a terminal emulator. Eww is limited to working within Emacs. Links 2 has both a text-based user interface and a graphical user interface. w3m is, in addition to being a web browser, also a terminal pager. [6]
Browser | Developers | Status | Engine | Programming languages | License | Latest release | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Version | Date | ||||||
Arora | Benjamin C. Meyer et al. [7] | Discontinued | QtWebKit [8] | C++ | GPL-2.0-or-later | 0.11.0 [9] | 2010-09-27 |
Dillo | Jorge Arellano Cid et al. | Active | Dillo | C, C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 3.0.5 [10] | 2015-06-30 |
ELinks | Petr Baudiš, Jonas Fonseca, et al. | Active | Links | C, C++ | GPL-2.0-only | 0.17.0 [11] | 2023-12-25 |
Eww | Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen | Active | GNU Emacs libraries | Emacs Lisp | GPL-3.0-or-later | ||
Falkon (QupZilla) | David Rosca | Active | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine | C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 24.02.0 [12] | 2024-02-17 |
hv3 | Dan Kennedy & team | Discontinued | Tkhtml | Tcl | GPL | ||
K-Meleon | Christophe Thibault et al. | Active | Gecko / Goanna (fork) | C++ | GPL | 76.4.7 [13] | 2023-04-07 |
Links | Mikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al. | Active | Links | C | GPL-2.0-or-later | 2.29 [14] | 2023-03-21 |
Lynx | Lou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al. | Active | libwww derivative | C ( ISO C) | GPL-2.0-only | 2.9.0 [15] | 2024-01-15 |
NetSurf | John-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al. [16] | Active | NetSurf | C ( ANSI C) | GPL-2.0-only | 3.11 [17] | 2023-12-28 |
Otter Browser | Michał Dutkiewicz [18] | Active | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine | C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 1.0.03 [19] | 2022-02-22 |
QtWeb | LogicWare; LSoft Technologies [20] | Unmaintained | QtWebKit | C++ | GPL-2.0-or-later | 3.8.5 [21] | 2013-09-09 |
qutebrowser | Florian Bruhin et al. | Active [22] | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine [23] | Python3 | GPL-3.0-or-later | 3.1.0 [24] | 2023-12-08 |
rekonq | Andrea Diamantini et al. | Discontinued | QtWebKit [8] | C++ | GPLv3 | 2.4.2 [25] | 2014-01-12 |
surf | Christoph Lohmann et al. | Active | WebKitGTK | C | MIT | 2.1 [26] | 2021-05-08 |
uzbl | Dieter Plaetinck et al. | Discontinued | WebKitGTK | C, Python | GPL-3.0-only | 0.9.1 [27] | 2016-10-27 |
w3m | Akinori Ito et al. | Unmaintained | w3m | C | MIT | 0.5.3 [28] | 2011-01-15 |
WebPositive | Andrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al. | Active | HaikuWebkit | C++ | MIT | 1.3-alpha [29] | 2021-08-01 |
xombrero | Marco Peerboom et al. | Discontinued | WebKitGTK | C, JavaScript | ISC | 1.6.4 [30] | 2015-02-17 |
Browser | BSD | Haiku | Linux | macOS | OpenIndiana | OS/2 | QNX | RISC OS | Windows | Android |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arora | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [31] | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
Dillo | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes [32] | No | No | Yes [32] | Cygwin [32] [33] | |
ELinks | Yes [34] | ? | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | No [34] | Dropped [34] | ? | |
Falkon (QupZilla) | Dropped [35] [36] | Yes [35] [36] | Yes [35] [36] | Dropped [35] [36] | No | Dropped [35] [36] | No | No | Yes [35] [36] | |
K-Meleon | Wine | No | Wine [37] | Wine | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
Links | Unofficial | No | Yes | Unofficial | ? | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
Lynx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [38] [39] | Yes | |
NetSurf | Yes [40] | Yes [41] | Yes [40] | Yes [40] | Yes [40] | No | ? | Yes [42] | Yes [43] | |
Otter Browser | Yes [44] | Unofficial [45] | Yes [44] | Yes [44] | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
QtWeb | Yes | Unofficial [46] | Yes | Yes | Unofficial [i] | No | No | No | Yes | |
qutebrowser | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
rekonq | Yes | No | Yes | No | Unofficial [i] | No | No | No | Inactive [ii] | |
surf | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | |
uzbl | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
w3m | Unofficial | Unofficial | Yes | Unofficial | Unofficial | Inactive | No | No | Cygwin | |
WebPositive | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
xombrero | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Test scores reflect the version of the browser engine in use. Generally, a lower score indicates an older version of the browser engine.
Image formats | Advanced | Test scores | Plug-in APIs | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Browser | GIF, JPEG, PNG | WebP | JavaScript | Frames | Acid3 | HTML5test | Netscape | Pepper |
Arora | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 359/550 [48] | No [ii] | No |
Dillo | Yes | No | No | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
ELinks | No | No | Partial [iv] | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
Falkon (QupZilla) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 497/550 [50] | Partial | Partial |
K-Meleon | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 416/555 [51] | Partial [52] | No |
Links | Yes [v] | Yes | No [vi] | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
Lynx | No | No | No | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
NetSurf | Yes [54] | Yes | Partial [55] | Yes | — [iii] | — [iii] | No [56] | No |
Otter Browser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100/100 | 370/550 [57] | Yes | No |
QtWeb | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] [vii] | 234/550 [58] | No [ii] | No |
qutebrowser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 99/100[ citation needed] | 521/550 | No | No |
rekonq | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 385/555 [59] | No [ii] | Partial [60] |
surf | Yes | Yes [viii] | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 385/500 [62] | Yes | ? |
uzbl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 98/100 | 461/500 | Yes | ? |
w3m | Yes [63] | No | No [64] | Yes | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
WebPositive | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 98/100 [i] | 358/500 [65] | No | No |
xombrero | Yes | Yes [viii] | Yes | Yes | 100/100 | 385/500 [66] | Yes | ? |
A lightweight web browser is a web browser that sacrifices some of the features of a mainstream web browser in order to reduce the consumption of system resources, and especially to minimize the memory footprint. [1] [2] [3]
The tables below compare notable lightweight web browsers. Several of them use a common layout engine, but each has a unique combination of features and a potential niche. The minimal user interface in surf, for example, does not have tabs, [4] whereas xombrero can be driven with vi-like keyboard commands. [5]
Four of the browsers compared— Lynx, w3m, Links, and ELinks—are designed for text mode, and can function in a terminal emulator. Eww is limited to working within Emacs. Links 2 has both a text-based user interface and a graphical user interface. w3m is, in addition to being a web browser, also a terminal pager. [6]
Browser | Developers | Status | Engine | Programming languages | License | Latest release | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Version | Date | ||||||
Arora | Benjamin C. Meyer et al. [7] | Discontinued | QtWebKit [8] | C++ | GPL-2.0-or-later | 0.11.0 [9] | 2010-09-27 |
Dillo | Jorge Arellano Cid et al. | Active | Dillo | C, C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 3.0.5 [10] | 2015-06-30 |
ELinks | Petr Baudiš, Jonas Fonseca, et al. | Active | Links | C, C++ | GPL-2.0-only | 0.17.0 [11] | 2023-12-25 |
Eww | Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen | Active | GNU Emacs libraries | Emacs Lisp | GPL-3.0-or-later | ||
Falkon (QupZilla) | David Rosca | Active | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine | C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 24.02.0 [12] | 2024-02-17 |
hv3 | Dan Kennedy & team | Discontinued | Tkhtml | Tcl | GPL | ||
K-Meleon | Christophe Thibault et al. | Active | Gecko / Goanna (fork) | C++ | GPL | 76.4.7 [13] | 2023-04-07 |
Links | Mikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al. | Active | Links | C | GPL-2.0-or-later | 2.29 [14] | 2023-03-21 |
Lynx | Lou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al. | Active | libwww derivative | C ( ISO C) | GPL-2.0-only | 2.9.0 [15] | 2024-01-15 |
NetSurf | John-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al. [16] | Active | NetSurf | C ( ANSI C) | GPL-2.0-only | 3.11 [17] | 2023-12-28 |
Otter Browser | Michał Dutkiewicz [18] | Active | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine | C++ | GPL-3.0-or-later | 1.0.03 [19] | 2022-02-22 |
QtWeb | LogicWare; LSoft Technologies [20] | Unmaintained | QtWebKit | C++ | GPL-2.0-or-later | 3.8.5 [21] | 2013-09-09 |
qutebrowser | Florian Bruhin et al. | Active [22] | QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine [23] | Python3 | GPL-3.0-or-later | 3.1.0 [24] | 2023-12-08 |
rekonq | Andrea Diamantini et al. | Discontinued | QtWebKit [8] | C++ | GPLv3 | 2.4.2 [25] | 2014-01-12 |
surf | Christoph Lohmann et al. | Active | WebKitGTK | C | MIT | 2.1 [26] | 2021-05-08 |
uzbl | Dieter Plaetinck et al. | Discontinued | WebKitGTK | C, Python | GPL-3.0-only | 0.9.1 [27] | 2016-10-27 |
w3m | Akinori Ito et al. | Unmaintained | w3m | C | MIT | 0.5.3 [28] | 2011-01-15 |
WebPositive | Andrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al. | Active | HaikuWebkit | C++ | MIT | 1.3-alpha [29] | 2021-08-01 |
xombrero | Marco Peerboom et al. | Discontinued | WebKitGTK | C, JavaScript | ISC | 1.6.4 [30] | 2015-02-17 |
Browser | BSD | Haiku | Linux | macOS | OpenIndiana | OS/2 | QNX | RISC OS | Windows | Android |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arora | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [31] | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
Dillo | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes [32] | No | No | Yes [32] | Cygwin [32] [33] | |
ELinks | Yes [34] | ? | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | Yes [34] | No [34] | Dropped [34] | ? | |
Falkon (QupZilla) | Dropped [35] [36] | Yes [35] [36] | Yes [35] [36] | Dropped [35] [36] | No | Dropped [35] [36] | No | No | Yes [35] [36] | |
K-Meleon | Wine | No | Wine [37] | Wine | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
Links | Unofficial | No | Yes | Unofficial | ? | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
Lynx | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [38] [39] | Yes | |
NetSurf | Yes [40] | Yes [41] | Yes [40] | Yes [40] | Yes [40] | No | ? | Yes [42] | Yes [43] | |
Otter Browser | Yes [44] | Unofficial [45] | Yes [44] | Yes [44] | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
QtWeb | Yes | Unofficial [46] | Yes | Yes | Unofficial [i] | No | No | No | Yes | |
qutebrowser | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
rekonq | Yes | No | Yes | No | Unofficial [i] | No | No | No | Inactive [ii] | |
surf | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | |
uzbl | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
w3m | Unofficial | Unofficial | Yes | Unofficial | Unofficial | Inactive | No | No | Cygwin | |
WebPositive | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
xombrero | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
Test scores reflect the version of the browser engine in use. Generally, a lower score indicates an older version of the browser engine.
Image formats | Advanced | Test scores | Plug-in APIs | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Browser | GIF, JPEG, PNG | WebP | JavaScript | Frames | Acid3 | HTML5test | Netscape | Pepper |
Arora | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 359/550 [48] | No [ii] | No |
Dillo | Yes | No | No | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
ELinks | No | No | Partial [iv] | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
Falkon (QupZilla) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 497/550 [50] | Partial | Partial |
K-Meleon | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 416/555 [51] | Partial [52] | No |
Links | Yes [v] | Yes | No [vi] | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
Lynx | No | No | No | Partial | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
NetSurf | Yes [54] | Yes | Partial [55] | Yes | — [iii] | — [iii] | No [56] | No |
Otter Browser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100/100 | 370/550 [57] | Yes | No |
QtWeb | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] [vii] | 234/550 [58] | No [ii] | No |
qutebrowser | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 99/100[ citation needed] | 521/550 | No | No |
rekonq | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 385/555 [59] | No [ii] | Partial [60] |
surf | Yes | Yes [viii] | Yes | Yes | 100/100 [i] | 385/500 [62] | Yes | ? |
uzbl | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 98/100 | 461/500 | Yes | ? |
w3m | Yes [63] | No | No [64] | Yes | — [iii] | — [iii] | No | No |
WebPositive | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 98/100 [i] | 358/500 [65] | No | No |
xombrero | Yes | Yes [viii] | Yes | Yes | 100/100 | 385/500 [66] | Yes | ? |