Comparison of lightweight web browsers

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 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. 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 Development status Engine Programming languages Software license Latest stable release
AroraBenjamin C. Meyer et al.[7]DiscontinuedQtWebKit[8]C++GPL0.11.0[9] (27 September 2010 (2010-09-27)) [±]
DilloJorge Arellano Cid et al.ActiveDilloC, C++GPLv33.0.5[10] (30 June 2015 (2015-06-30)) [±]
ELinksPetr Baudiš, Jonas Fonseca, et al.ActiveLinksC, C++GPLv20.11.7[11] (22 August 2009 (2009-08-22)) [±]
K-MeleonChristophe Thibault et al.ActiveGeckoC++GPL75.1 (September 19, 2015 (2015-09-19)[12]) [±]
LinksMikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al.ActiveLinksCGPLv2+2.16[13] (11 May 2018 (2018-05-11)) [±]
luakitAidan Holm, Mason Larobina et al.Active [14]WebKitGTK+Lua, CGPLv32017-08-10[15]
LynxLou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al.Activelibwww derivativeC (ISO C)GPLv22.8.9rel.1[16][17] (8 July 2018 (2018-07-08)) [±]
MidoriChristian Dywan et al.ActiveWebKitGTK+Vala, CLGPL v2.1+None [±]
NetSurfJohn-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al.[18]ActiveNetSurfC (ANSI C)GPLv23.8[19] (29 August 2018 (2018-08-29)) [±]
Otter BrowserMichał Dutkiewicz[20]ActiveQtWebKit / QtWebEngineC++GPL0.9.99-RC12 (1 September 2018 (2018-09-01)[21]) [±]
QtWebLogicWare; LSoft Technologies[22]UnmaintainedQtWebKitC++GPL3.8.5[23] (9 September 2013 (2013-09-09)) [±]
Falkon (QupZilla)David RoscaActiveQtWebKit / QtWebEngineC++GPLv33.0.1 (8 May 2018 (2018-05-08)[24]) [±]
qutebrowserFlorian Bruhin et al.Active [25]QtWebKit / QtWebEngine[26]Python3GPLv3?
rekonqAndrea Diamantini et al.UnmaintainedQtWebKit[8]C++GPLv32.4.2[27][28] (12 January 2014 (2014-01-12)) [±]
surfChristoph Lohmann et al.ActiveWebKitGTK+CMIT License2.0 (28 March 2017 (2017-03-28)[29]) [±]
uzblDieter Plaetinck et al.ActiveWebKitGTK+C, PythonGPLv30.9.1 (October 27, 2016 (2016-10-27)[30]) [±]
vimbDaniel Carl et al.ActiveWebKitGTK+CGPLv33.1.0 (March 27, 2018 (2018-03-27)[31]) [±]
w3mAkinori Ito et al.Unmaintainedw3mCMIT License
Original version 0.5.3[32] / 15 January 2011 (2011-01-15)
Tatsuya Kinoshita version v0.5.3+git20180125[33] / 25 January 2018 (2018-01-25)
WebPositiveAndrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al.ActiveHaikuWebkitC++MIT License1.1-alpha (15 November 2013 (2013-11-15)) [±]
xombreroMarco Peerboom et al.DiscontinuedWebKitGTK+C, JavaScriptISC license1.6.4[34] (17 February 2015 (2015-02-17)) [±]

Operating system support

Browser BSD Haiku Linux macOS OpenIndiana OS/2 QNX RISC OS Windows
AroraYesYesYesYesYes[35]YesNoNoYes
DilloYesNoYesYesYes[36]NoNoYes[36]Cygwin[36][37]
ELinksYes[38]?Yes[38]Yes[38]Yes[38]Yes[38]No[38]Dropped[38]?
K-MeleonWineNoWine[39]WineNoNoNoNoYes
LinksUnofficialNoYesUnofficial?YesNoNoYes
luakitYesNoYesNo?NoNoNoYes
LynxYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes[40][41]Yes
MidoriYesNoYesNoUnofficial[lower-roman 1]NoNoNoYes
NetSurfYes[42]Yes[lower-roman 2]Yes[42]Yes[42]Yes[42]No?Yes[44]Yes
Otter BrowserYes[45]Unofficial[46]Yes[45]Yes[45]NoNoNoNoYes
QtWebYesUnofficial[47]YesYesUnofficial[lower-roman 3]NoNoNoYes
Falkon (QupZilla)Dropped[48][49]Dropped[48][49]Yes[48][49]Dropped[48][49]NoDropped[48][49]NoNoYes[48][49]
rekonqYesNoYesNoUnofficial[lower-roman 3]NoNoNoInactive[lower-roman 4]
surfYesNoYes????NoNo
vimbYesNoYesYes???NoYes
w3mUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialInactiveNoNoCygwin
WebPositiveNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
xombreroYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYes
Notes
  1. ↑ Must be built from source code with a Vala compiler.[35]
  2. ↑ A binary for NetSurf v2.0 for Haiku is available. For v2.1 and higher, one must build it from source.[43]
  3. 1 2 Must be built from source code; requires a compatible version of Qt.
  4. ↑ rekonq v1.1 for Windows was published in September 2012. As of June 2014, it is the only published version for Windows.[50]

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 formats Advanced Test scores Plug-in APIs
Browser GIF, JPEG, PNG WebP JavaScript Frames Acid3 HTML5test Netscape Pepper
AroraYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]359/550[51]No[lower-roman 2]No
DilloYesNoNoPartialN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
ELinksNoNoPartial[lower-roman 4]PartialN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
K-MeleonYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]416/555[53]Partial[54]No
LinksYes[lower-roman 5]NoPartialPartialN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
luakitYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes98/100[lower-roman 1]403/500[55]??
LynxNoNoNoPartialN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
MidoriYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes100/100325/555[57]YesYes
NetSurfYes[58]YesNoYesN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]No[59]No
Otter BrowserYesYesYesYes100/100370/550[60]YesNo
QtWebYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1][lower-roman 7]234/550[61]No[lower-roman 2]No
Falkon (QupZilla)YesYesYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]497/550[62]PartialPartial
qutebrowserYesYesYesYes99/100497/550NoNo
rekonqYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]385/555[63]No[lower-roman 2]Partial[64]
surfYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]385/500[65]Yes?
vimbYesYesYesYes98/100[lower-roman 1]405/500[66]NoNo
w3mYes[67]NoPartialYesN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
WebPositiveYesNoYesYes96/100[lower-roman 1]253/500[68]NoNo
xombreroYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes100/100385/500[69]Yes?
Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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. 1 2 3 4 WebP is supported via the WebKitGTK+ browser engine.[56]
  7. ↑ The final state does not match the reference rendering.

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. 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. 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.
  9. ↑ Meyer, Benjamin (27 September 2010). "Arora 0.11.0!". Arora Development. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Arellano Cid, Jorge (2015). "ChangeLog". www.dillo.org. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "ELinks - Full-Featured Text WWW Browser". elinks.or.cz. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "News". kmeleon.sourceforge.net. 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  13. ↑ "ChangeLog". links.twibright.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "luakit/luakit". GitHub. Retrieved 17 Sep 2018.
  15. ↑ "Luakit 2017-08-10". github.io. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  16. ↑ Dickey, Thomas E. (8 July 2018). "Stable release". Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  17. ↑ Dickey, Thomas E. (8 July 2018). "Changes since Lynx 2.8 release". Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "The NetSurf Developers". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "News". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 29 Aug 2018.
  20. ↑ "Otter Browser". otter-browser.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "Otter Browser - Browse Files". SourceForge.net. 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
  22. ↑ "About QtWeb". QtWeb.NET. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  23. ↑ "Qt Web Browser". QtWeb.NET. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  24. ↑ Rosca, David (8 May 2018). "Falkon 3.0.1 released". Falkon.
  25. ↑ "qutebrowser/qutebrowser". GitHub. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  26. ↑ "qutebrowser - ArchWiki". wiki.archlinux.org. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "rekonq: Files". SourceForge. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  28. ↑ Diamantini, Andrea (12 January 2014). "rekonq 2.4.2". adjam.weblog(). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  29. ↑ "Index of /surf/". suckless.org. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  30. ↑ "uzbl release page". 27 October 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  31. ↑ "vimb release page". 27 March 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  32. ↑ "w3m: Files". SourceForge. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  33. ↑ "Releases · tats/w3m". GitHub. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  34. ↑ "xombrero Git Repository". GitHub. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  35. 1 2 "Spec Files Extra Repository". OpenIndiana Wiki. 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  36. 1 2 3 "Dillo Web Browser Compatibility". Dillo.org. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  37. ↑ Vibber, Kelson (28 April 2005). "Installing Dillo on Cygwin". Hyperborea. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  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. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  41. 1 2 3 4 "GTK NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  42. ↑ "Haiku and BeOS NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 January 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  43. ↑ "RISC OS NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  44. 1 2 3 "OtterBrowser/otter-browser". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  45. ↑ "Otter browser: new recipe by miqlas · Pull Request #1006 · haikuports/haikuports". GitHub. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  46. ↑ "QtWeb - Web Browser". Haikuware. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Qupzilla - Lightweight multiplatform browser: Download". Qupzilla.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Download - Falkon". www.falkon.org. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  49. ↑ Papp, Laszlo (24 September 2012). "Randa: Rekonq installer for Windows". KDE (Laszlo Papp's blog). Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  50. ↑ "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.
  51. ↑ Inge Bolso, Erik (8 March 2005). "2005 Text Mode Browser Roundup". Linux Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  52. ↑ "HTML5test - How well does your browser support HTML5?". html5test.com. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  53. ↑ "ThirdPartyPlugins". kmeleonbrowser.org. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  54. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; OpenBSD amd64) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/11.0 Safari/605.1.15". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  55. ↑ Jáquez, Víctor (31 December 2013). "Boosting WebKitGTK+ compilation for armhf with icecream". Herostratus’ legacy. Igalia. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  56. ↑ Midori (web browser)#HTML5 score
  57. ↑ Auza, Jun (27 June 2009). "5 Free and Open Source Web Browsers That You May Have Never Heard Of". TechSource. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  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/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) QupZilla/2.1.99 Safari/537.36". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  62. ↑ "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.
  63. ↑ Howell, Dean (22 May 2013). "ReKonq Gaining Chrome Extension Support, Still Sponsored By Blue Systems". The Powerbase. Retrieved 28 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. ↑ "HTML5test - How well does your browser support HTML5?". html5te.st. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  66. ↑ 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.
  67. ↑ "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; U; Haiku x86; en-US) AppleWebKit/536.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Haiku/R1 WebPositive/1.1 Safari/536.10". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  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

  • Sugianto, Masim (18 January 2010). "7 Lightweight Linux Browsers You may want to Consider for Fast Browsing Experience". Spirit of Change. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  • Arimbra, Krishnan (17 July 2013). "3 Alternate Browsers – Lightweight browsers". Geekiest.Net. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  • Murray, Richard (2007). "RISC OS browsers". Rick's World. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
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