Comparison of lightweight web browsers

Last updated

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]

Contents

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

Browser Developers Status Engine Programming languages License Latest release
VersionDate
Arora Benjamin C. Meyer et al. [7] Discontinued QtWebKit [8] C++ GPL-2.0-or-later 0.11.0 [9]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2010-09-27
Dillo Jorge Arellano Cid et al.ActiveDillo C, C++ GPL-3.0-or-later 3.2.0 [10]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2025-01-18
ELinks Petr Baudiš, Jonas Fonseca, et al.ActiveLinks C, C++ GPL-2.0-only 0.18.0 [11]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-12-26
Eww Lars Magne IngebrigtsenActive GNU Emacs libraries Emacs Lisp GPL-3.0-or-later
Falkon (QupZilla)David RoscaActive QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine C++ GPL-3.0-or-later 25.04.3 [12]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2025-07-03
hv3 Dan Kennedy & teamDiscontinued Tkhtml Tcl GPL
K-Meleon Christophe Thibault et al.Active Gecko / Goanna (fork) C++ GPL 76.4.7 [13]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-04-07
Links Mikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al.ActiveLinks C GPL-2.0-or-later 2.30 [14]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-07-27
Lynx Lou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al.Active libwww derivative C (ISO C) GPL-2.0-only 2.9.2 [15]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-05-31
NetSurf John-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al. [16] ActiveNetSurf C (ANSI C) GPL-2.0-only 3.11 [17]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-12-28
Otter Browser Michał Dutkiewicz [18] Active QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine C++ GPL-3.0-or-later 1.0.03 [19]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2022-02-22
QtWeb LogicWare; LSoft Technologies [20] Unmaintained QtWebKit C++ GPL-2.0-or-later 3.8.5 [21]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2013-09-09
qutebrowser Florian Bruhin et al.Active [22] QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine [23] Python3 GPL-3.0-or-later 3.5.1 [24]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2025-06-05
rekonqAndrea Diamantini et al.Discontinued QtWebKit [8] C++ GPLv3 2.4.2 [25]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2014-01-12
surf Christoph Lohmann et al.Active WebKitGTK C MIT 2.1 [26]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2021-05-08
uzbl Dieter Plaetinck et al.Discontinued WebKitGTK C, Python GPL-3.0-only 0.9.1 [27]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2016-10-27
w3m Akinori Ito et al.Unmaintainedw3m C MIT 0.5.3 [28]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2011-01-15
WebPositive Andrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al.Active HaikuWebkit C++ MIT 1.3-alpha [29]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2021-08-01
xombrero Marco Peerboom et al.Discontinued WebKitGTK C, JavaScript ISC 1.6.4 [30]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2015-02-17

Operating system support

Browser BSD Haiku Linux macOS OpenIndiana OS/2 QNX RISC OS Windows Android
Arora YesYesYesYesYes [31] YesNoNoYes
Dillo YesYes [32] YesYesYes [33] NoNoYes [33] Cygwin [33] [34]
ELinks Yes [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-Meleon Wine No Wine [39] Wine NoNoNoNoYes
Links UnofficialNoYesUnofficial?YesNoNoYes
Lynx YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes [40] [41] Yes
NetSurf Yes [42] Yes [43] Yes [42] Yes [42] Yes [42] No?Yes [44] Yes [45]
Otter Browser Yes [46] Unofficial [47] Yes [46] Yes [46] NoNoNoNoYes
QtWeb YesUnofficial [48] YesYesUnofficial [i] NoNoNoYes
qutebrowser Yes?YesYes????Yes
rekonqYesNoYesNoUnofficial [i] NoNoNoInactive [ii]
surf YesNoYes????NoNo
uzbl ??YesYes?????
w3m UnofficialUnofficialYesUnofficialUnofficialInactiveNoNo Cygwin
WebPositive NoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
xombrero YesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYes
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

Test scores reflect the version of the browser engine in use. Generally, a lower score indicates an older version of the browser engine.

Image formatsAdvancedTest scoresPlug-in APIs
Browser GIF, JPEG, PNG WebP JavaScript Frames Acid3 HTML5test Netscape Pepper
Arora YesNoYesYes 100/100 [i] 359/550 [50] No [ii] No
Dillo YesYes [51] NoPartialN/A [iii] N/A [iii] NoNo
ELinks NoNoPartial [iv] PartialN/A [iii] N/A [iii] NoNo
Falkon (QupZilla)YesYesYesYes 100/100 [i] 497/550 [53] PartialPartial
K-Meleon YesNoYesYes 100/100 [i] 416/555 [54] Partial [55] No
Links Yes [v] YesNo [vi] PartialN/A [iii] N/A [iii] NoNo
Lynx NoNoNoPartialN/A [iii] N/A [iii] NoNo
NetSurf Yes [57] YesPartial [58] YesN/A [iii] N/A [iii] No [59] No
Otter Browser YesYesYesYes 100/100 370/550 [60] YesNo
QtWeb YesNoYesYes 100/100 [i] [vii] 234/550 [61] No [ii] No
qutebrowser YesYesYesYes99/100[ citation needed ]521/550NoNo
rekonqYesNoYesYes 100/100 [i] 385/555 [62] No [ii] Partial [63]
surf YesYes [viii] YesYes 100/100 [i] 385/500 [65] Yes?
uzbl YesYesYesYes 98/100 461/500 Yes?
w3m Yes [66] NoNo [67] YesN/A [iii] N/A [iii] NoNo
WebPositive YesNoYesYes 98/100 [i] 358/500 [68] NoNo
xombrero YesYes [viii] YesYes 100/100 385/500 [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

References

  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. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Release 0.11.0". 27 September 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Dillo release 3.2.0" . Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  11. ↑ "Release v0.18.0". 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  12. ↑ "Falkon" . Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  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. ↑ Thomas E. Dickey (31 May 2024). "ANN: lynx2.9.2" . Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  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 3.5.1". 5 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  25. ↑ "rekonq 2.4.2". 12 January 2014.
  26. ↑ "surf".
  27. ↑ "Release 0.9.1". 27 October 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  28. ↑ "w3m Files".
  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. ↑ https://depot.haiku-os.org/__multipage/pkg/dillo_plus/haikuports/haikuports_x86_64/3/2/1/-/2/x86_64?locale=zh [ bare URL ]
  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. ↑ https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=395926 [ bare URL ]
  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. Archived from the original on 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  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. ↑ https://dillo-browser.github.io/release/3.2.0 [ bare URL ]
  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

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.