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Comparison of lightweight web browsers

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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]

Overview

[edit]
Browser Developers Status Engine Programming languages License Latest release
Version Date
AroraBenjamin C. Meyer et al.[7]DiscontinuedQtWebKit[8]C++GPL-2.0-or-later0.11.0[9] Edit this on Wikidata2010-09-27
DilloJorge Arellano Cid et al.ActiveDilloC, C++GPL-3.0-or-later3.3.0[10] Edit this on Wikidata2026-04-26
ELinksPetr Baudiš, Jonas Fonseca, et al.ActiveLinksC, C++GPL-2.0-only0.20.0[11] Edit this on Wikidata2026-07-26
EwwLars Magne IngebrigtsenActiveGNU Emacs librariesEmacs LispGPL-3.0-or-later
Falkon (QupZilla)David RoscaActiveQtWebKit / Qt WebEngineC++GPL-3.0-or-later26.04.3[12] Edit this on Wikidata2026-06-28
hv3Dan Kennedy & teamDiscontinuedTkhtmlTclGPL
K-MeleonChristophe Thibault et al.ActiveGecko / Goanna (fork)C++GPL76.4.7[13] Edit this on Wikidata2023-04-07
LinksMikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al.ActiveLinksCGPL-2.0-or-later2.30[14] Edit this on Wikidata2024-07-27
LynxLou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al.Activelibwww derivativeC (ISO C)GPL-2.0-only2.9.3[15] Edit this on Wikidata2026-05-27
NetSurfJohn-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al.[16]ActiveNetSurfC (ANSI C)GPL-2.0-only3.11[17] Edit this on Wikidata2023-12-28
Otter BrowserMichał Dutkiewicz[18]ActiveQtWebKit / Qt WebEngineC++GPL-3.0-or-later1.0.03[19] Edit this on Wikidata2022-02-22
QtWebLogicWare; LSoft Technologies[20]UnmaintainedQtWebKitC++GPL-2.0-or-later3.8.5[21] Edit this on Wikidata2013-09-09
qutebrowserFreya Bruhin et al.Active[22]QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine[23]Python3GPL-3.0-or-later3.7.0[24] Edit this on Wikidata2026-04-03
rekonqAndrea Diamantini et al.DiscontinuedQtWebKit[8]C++GPLv32.4.2[25] Edit this on Wikidata2014-01-12
surfChristoph Lohmann et al.ActiveWebKitGTKCMIT2.1[26] Edit this on Wikidata2021-05-08
uzblDieter Plaetinck et al.DiscontinuedWebKitGTKC, PythonGPL-3.0-only0.9.1[27] Edit this on Wikidata2016-10-27
w3mAkinori Ito et al.Unmaintainedw3mCMIT0.5.6[28] Edit this on Wikidata2026-01-23
WebPositiveAndrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al.ActiveHaikuWebkitC++MIT1.3-alpha[29] Edit this on Wikidata2021-08-01
xombreroMarco Peerboom et al.DiscontinuedWebKitGTKC, JavaScriptISC1.6.4[30] Edit this on Wikidata2015-02-17

Operating system support

[edit]
Browser BSD Haiku Linux macOS OpenIndiana OS/2 QNX RISC OS Windows
AroraYesYesYesYesYes[31]YesNoNoYes
DilloYesYes[32]YesYesYes[33]NoNoYes[33]Cygwin[33][34]
ELinksYes[35]?Yes[35]Yes[35]Yes[35]Yes[35]No[35]Dropped[35]?
Falkon (QupZilla)Dropped[36][37]Yes[36][37]Yes[36][37]Dropped[38]NoDropped[36][37]NoNoDropped[37]
K-MeleonWineNoWine[39]WineNoNoNoNoYes
LinksUnofficialNoYesUnofficial?YesNoNoYes
LynxYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes[40][41]Yes
NetSurfYes[42]Yes[43]Yes[42]Yes[42]Yes[42]No?Yes[44]Yes[45]
Otter BrowserYes[46]Unofficial[47]Yes[46]Yes[46]NoNoNoNoYes
QtWebYesUnofficial[48]YesYesUnofficial[i]NoNoNoYes
qutebrowserYes?YesYes????Yes
rekonqYesNoYesNoUnofficial[i]NoNoNoInactive[ii]
surfYesNoYes????NoNo
uzbl??YesYes?????
w3mUnofficialUnofficialYesUnofficialUnofficialInactiveNoNoCygwin
WebPositiveNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
xombreroYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYes
Notes
  1. 1 2 Must be built from source code; requires a compatible version of Qt.
  2. ↑ rekonq v1.1 for Windows was published in September 2012. As of June 2014, it is the only published version for Windows.[49]

Features

[edit]

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
AroraYesNoYesYes100/100[i]359/550[50]No[ii]No
DilloYesYes[51]NoPartialN/A[iii]N/A[iii]NoNo
ELinksNoNoPartial[iv]PartialN/A[iii]N/A[iii]NoNo
Falkon (QupZilla)YesYesYesYes100/100[i]497/550[53]PartialPartial
K-MeleonYesNoYesYes100/100[i]416/555[54]Partial[55]No
LinksYes[v]YesNo[vi]PartialN/A[iii]N/A[iii]NoNo
LynxNoNoNoPartialN/A[iii]N/A[iii]NoNo
NetSurfYes[57]YesPartial[58]YesN/A[iii]N/A[iii]No[59]No
Otter BrowserYesYesYesYes100/100370/550[60]YesNo
QtWebYesNoYesYes100/100[i][vii]234/550[61]No[ii]No
qutebrowserYesYesYesYes99/100[citation needed]521/550NoNo
rekonqYesNoYesYes100/100[i]385/555[62]No[ii]Partial[63]
surfYesYes[viii]YesYes100/100[i]385/500[65]Yes?
uzblYesYesYesYes98/100461/500Yes?
w3mYes[66]NoNo[67]YesN/A[iii]N/A[iii]NoNo
WebPositiveYesNoYesYes98/100[i]358/500[68]NoNo
xombreroYesYes[viii]YesYes100/100385/500[69]Yes?
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Some tests take too much time to complete.
  2. 1 2 3 NPAPI is ported to QtWebKit, but is not implemented in this browser.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 The test requires JavaScript, which is not sufficiently supported by this browser.
  4. ↑ ELinks implements Mozilla's SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine.[52]
  5. ↑ Only Links 2 supports graphics.
  6. ↑ JavaScript support was removed in 2007 (in release 2.1pre29).[56]
  7. ↑ The final state does not match the reference rendering.
  8. 1 2 WebP is supported via the WebKitGTK browser engine.[64]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Arora, Himanshu (6 November 2013). "5 lesser-known browsers: Free, lightweight and low-maintenance". Computerworld. International Data Group. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  2. ↑ Klimkiewicz, Kamil (18 January 2003). "Lightweight Web Browsers". Freecode. Dice Holdings. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Arimbra, Krishnan (16 July 2013). "Memory usage of the browsers – Lightest browser". Geekiest.Net. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "surf". Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Peereboom, Marco; Hill, David; et al. (1 March 2012). "xombrero wiki § Quick-Start Tutorial". Conformal Systems. Archived from the original on 28 September 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Ito, Akinori. "w3m". w3m.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Meyer, Benjamin (2 October 2009). "Arora 0.10.0!". Arora Development. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. 1 2 Poulain, Benjamin; et al. (10 May 2010). "Applications Using QtWebKit". Qt Wiki. Qt Project Hosting. Retrieved 21 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ↑ "Release 0.11.0". 27 September 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dillo release 3.3.0". Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  11. ↑ "Release 0.20.0". 26 July 2026. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "v26.04.3 · Tags · Network / Falkon · GitLab". Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "K-Meleon 76.4.7 on Goanna 3.5.0". 7 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "RELEASE 2.30". 27 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  15. ↑ "[Lynx-dev] ANN: lynx2.9.3". 27 May 2026. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "The NetSurf Developers". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  17. ↑ "NetSurf Change Log". 28 December 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  18. ↑ "Otter Browser". otter-browser.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  19. ↑ https://github.com/OtterBrowser/otter-browser/blob/master/CHANGELOG. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ "About QtWeb". QtWeb.NET. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "Qt Web Browser".
  22. ↑ "qutebrowser/qutebrowser". GitHub. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "qutebrowser - ArchWiki". wiki.archlinux.org. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Release 3.7.0". 3 April 2026. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  25. ↑ "rekonq 2.4.2". 12 January 2014.
  26. ↑ "surf".
  27. ↑ "Release 0.9.1". 27 October 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  28. ↑ "NEWS".
  29. ↑ "WebPositive: update version to 1.3". 1 August 2021.
  30. ↑ "XOMBRERO_1_6_4". Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  31. ↑ "Spec Files Extra Repository". OpenIndiana Wiki. 2011. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  32. ↑ "Haiku Depot Server". depot.haiku-os.org. Retrieved 2026-05-15.
  33. 1 2 3 "Dillo Web Browser Compatibility". Dillo.org. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  34. ↑ Vibber, Kelson (28 April 2005). "Installing Dillo on Cygwin". Hyperborea. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  35. 1 2 3 4 "Qupzilla - Lightweight multiplatform browser: Download". Qupzilla.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 "Download - Falkon". falkon.org. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  37. ↑ "395926 – errors compiling mocs_compilation.cpp.o". bugs.kde.org. Retrieved 2026-05-15.
  38. ↑ "UKmeleon: Unofficial K-Meleon Distributions". kmeleonbrowser.org. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  39. ↑ "Nettle". nettle.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  40. ↑ "New Telnet Client and Web Browser for RISC OS". My RISC OS. 2 September 2001. Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  41. 1 2 3 4 "NetSurf | GTK Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  42. ↑ "NetSurf | BeOS Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  43. ↑ "NetSurf | RISC OS Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  44. ↑ "NetSurf | Windows Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  45. 1 2 3 "OtterBrowser/otter-browser". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  46. ↑ "Otter browser: new recipe by miqlas · Pull Request #1006 · haikuports/haikuports". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  47. ↑ "QtWeb - Web Browser". Haikuware. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  48. ↑ Papp, Laszlo (24 September 2012). "Randa: Rekonq installer for Windows". KDE (Laszlo Papp's blog). Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  49. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.21 (KHTML, like Gecko) Arora/0.11.0 Safari/537.21". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  50. ↑ "Dillo release 3.2.0". dillo-browser.github.io. Retrieved 2026-05-15.
  51. ↑ Inge Bolso, Erik (8 March 2005). "2005 Text Mode Browser Roundup". Linux Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  52. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QupZilla/2.1.99 Safari/537.36". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  53. ↑ "HTML5test - How well does your browser support HTML5?". html5test.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  54. ↑ "ThirdPartyPlugins". kmeleonbrowser.org. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  55. ↑ "Links user documentation". Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  56. ↑ Auza, Jun (27 June 2009). "5 Free and Open Source Web Browsers That You May Have Never Heard Of". Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  57. ↑ "User Information".
  58. ↑ "0001896: NPAPI plugin support". NetSurf Bug Report System. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  59. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/602.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Otter/0.9.91". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  60. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux; en-GB) AppleWebKit/534.34 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWeb Internet Browser/3.8.5". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  61. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.21 (KHTML, like Gecko) rekonq/2.4.2 Safari/537.21". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  62. ↑ Howell, Dean (22 May 2013). "ReKonq Gaining Chrome Extension Support, Still Sponsored By Blue Systems". The Powerbase. Archived from the original on 10 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  63. ↑ Jáquez, Víctor (31 December 2013). "Boosting WebKitGTK+ compilation for armhf with icecream". Herostratus’ legacy. Igalia. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  64. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Unix; en-US) AppleWebKit/537.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/24.0.1295.0 Safari/537.15 Surf/0.6". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  65. ↑ Hoffman, Chris (23 January 2012). "How to Browse From the Linux Terminal With W3M". How-To Geek. How-To Geek, LLC. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  66. ↑ "w3m man page". GitHub. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  67. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Haiku R1 x86) AppleWebKit/606.1.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) WebPositive/1.2 Version/11.1 Safari/606.1.4". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  68. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/538.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/538.15 Version/6.0". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

Further reading

[edit]
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