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 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. 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.InactiveLinksC, C++GPLv20.11.7[11] (22 August 2009 (2009-08-22)) [±]
Falkon (QupZilla)David RoscaActiveQtWebKit / Qt WebEngineC++GPLv33.1.0.75 (March 19, 2019 (2019-03-19)[12]) [±]
K-MeleonChristophe Thibault et al.ActiveGeckoC++GPL76.3G (August 30, 2020 (2020-08-30)[13]) [±]
LinksMikuláš Patočka, Twibright Labs, et al.ActiveLinksCGPLv2+2.21 (2 August 2020 (2020-08-02)[14][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)GPLv23.10[19] (May 24, 2020 (2020-05-24)) [±]
Otter BrowserMichał Dutkiewicz[20]ActiveQtWebKit / Qt WebEngineC++GPL1.0.02 (21 December 2020 (2020-12-21)[21]) [±]
QtWebLogicWare; LSoft Technologies[22]UnmaintainedQtWebKitC++GPL3.8.5[23] (9 September 2013 (2013-09-09)) [±]
qutebrowserFlorian Bruhin et al.Active [24]QtWebKit / Qt WebEngine[25]Python3GPLv31.14.0 (15 October 2020 (2020-10-15)[26]) [±]
rekonqAndrea Diamantini et al.DiscontinuedQtWebKit[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.DiscontinuedWebKitGTK+C, PythonGPLv30.9.1 (October 27, 2016 (2016-10-27)[30]) [±]
w3mAkinori Ito et al.Unmaintainedw3mCMIT License
Original version0.5.3 / 15 January 2011 (2011-01-15)[31]
Tatsuya Kinoshita versionv0.5.3+git20210102 / 2 January 2021 (2021-01-02)[32]
WebPositiveAndrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al.ActiveHaikuWebkitC++MIT License1.2-alpha (9 June 2020 (2020-06-09)) [±]
xombreroMarco Peerboom et al.DiscontinuedWebKitGTK+C, JavaScriptISC license1.6.4[33] (17 February 2015 (2015-02-17)) [±]

Operating system support
Browser BSD Haiku Linux macOS OpenIndiana OS/2 QNX RISC OS Windows
AroraYesYesYesYesYes[34]YesNoNoYes
DilloYesNoYesYesYes[35]NoNoYes[35]Cygwin[35][36]
ELinksYes[37]?Yes[37]Yes[37]Yes[37]Yes[37]No[37]Dropped[37]?
Falkon (QupZilla)Dropped[38][39]Dropped[38][39]Yes[38][39]Dropped[38][39]NoDropped[38][39]NoNoYes[38][39]
K-MeleonWineNoWine[40]WineNoNoNoNoYes
LinksUnofficialNoYesUnofficial?YesNoNoYes
LynxYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes[41][42]Yes
MidoriYesNoYesUnofficial[lower-roman 1]UnofficialNoNoNoInactive[lower-roman 2]
NetSurfYes[44]Yes[lower-roman 3]Yes[44]Yes[44]Yes[44]No?Yes[46]Yes
Otter BrowserYes[47]Unofficial[48]Yes[47]Yes[47]NoNoNoNoYes
QtWebYesUnofficial[49]YesYesUnofficial[lower-roman 4]NoNoNoYes
qutebrowserYes?YesYes????Yes
rekonqYesNoYesNoUnofficial[lower-roman 4]NoNoNoInactive[lower-roman 5]
surfYesNoYes????NoNo
uzbl?????????
w3mUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialUnofficialInactiveNoNoCygwin
WebPositiveNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
xombreroYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYes
Notes
  1. Must be built from source code with a Vala compiler.[34]
  2. The latest version of Midori is 6.0; however, it cannot be built from source on Windows, as WebKit development for Windows has ceased. The latest version for Windows is stuck at 0.5.11.[43]
  3. A binary for NetSurf v2.0 for Haiku is available. For v2.1 and higher, one must build it from source.[45]
  4. Must be built from source code; requires a compatible version of Qt.
  5. 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
Falkon (QupZilla)YesYesYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]497/550[53]PartialPartial
K-MeleonYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]416/555[54]Partial[55]No
LinksYes[lower-roman 5]NoPartialPartialN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
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
qutebrowserYesYesYesYes99/100521/550NoNo
rekonqYesNoYesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]385/555[62]No[lower-roman 2]Partial[63]
surfYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes100/100[lower-roman 1]385/500[64]Yes?
uzbl????????
w3mYes[65]NoPartialYesN/A[lower-roman 3]N/A[lower-roman 3]NoNo
WebPositiveYesNoYesYes98/100[lower-roman 1]358/500[66]NoNo
xombreroYesYes[lower-roman 6]YesYes100/100385/500[67]Yes?
Notes
  1. Some tests take too much time to complete.
  2. NPAPI is ported to QtWebKit, but is not implemented in this browser.
  3. 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. 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. 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. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. 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.
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  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. "Falkon v3.1.0 is now available for download". Falkon.
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  14. "ChangeLog". links.twibright.com. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
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  17. Dickey, Thomas E. (8 July 2018). "Changes since Lynx 2.8 release". Retrieved 12 August 2018.
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  20. "Otter Browser". otter-browser.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
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  37. "Qupzilla - Lightweight multiplatform browser: Download". Qupzilla.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  38. "Download - Falkon". falkon.org. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
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  40. "Nettle". nettle.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  41. "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.
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Further reading
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