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 15 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 comparedβLynx, w3m, Links, and ELinksβare 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 |
Arora | Benjamin C. Meyer et al.[7] | Unmaintained | QtWebKit[8] | C++ | GPL | 0.11.0[9] (27 September 2010 (2010-09-27)) [Β±] |
Dillo | Jorge Arellano Cid et al. | Active | Dillo | C, C++ | GPLv3 | 3.0.4.1[10] (24 December 2014 (2014-12-24)) [Β±] |
ELinks | Petr BaudiΕ‘, Jonas Fonseca, et al. | Unmaintained | Links | C, C++ | GPLv2 | 0.11.7[11] (22 August 2009 (2009-08-22)) [Β±] |
K-Meleon | Christophe Thibault et al. | Active | Gecko | C++ | GPL | 74.0 (September 27, 2014 (2014-09-27)[12]) [Β±] |
Links | MikulΓ‘Ε‘ PatoΔka, Twibright Labs, et al. | Active | Links | C | GPLv2+ | 2.9[13] (24 December 2014 (2014-12-24)) [Β±] |
Lynx | Lou Montulli, Thomas Dickey, et al. | Active | libwww derivative | C (ISO C) | GPLv2 | 2.8.8[14] (9 March 2014 (2014-03-09)) [Β±] |
Midori | Christian Dywan et al. | Active | WebKitGTK+ | Vala, C | LGPL v2.1+ | 0.5.10[15][16][17] (18 April 2015 (2015-04-18)) [Β±]
|
NetSurf | John-Mark Bell, Michael Drake, et al.[18] | Active | NetSurf | C (ANSI C) | GPLv2 | 3.3[19] (15 March 2015 (2015-03-15)) [Β±] |
QtWeb | LogicWare; LSoft Technologies[20] | Active | QtWebKit | C++ | GPL | 3.8.5[21] (9 September 2013 (2013-09-09)) [Β±] |
QupZilla | David Rosca | Active | QtWebKit | C++ | GPLv3 | 1.8.6[22] (January 26, 2015 (2015-01-26)) [Β±] |
rekonq | Andrea Diamantini et al. | Active | QtWebKit[8] | C++ | GPLv3 | 2.4.2[23][24] (12 January 2014 (2014-01-12)) [Β±] |
surf | Christoph Lohmann et al. | Active | WebKitGTK+ | C | MIT License | 0.6[25] (10 February 2013 (2013-02-10)) [Β±] |
w3m | Akinori Ito et al. | Unmaintained | w3m | C | MIT License | 0.5.3[26] (15 January 2011 (2011-01-15)) [Β±] |
WebPositive | Andrea Anzani, Ryan Leavengood, et al. | Active | HaikuWebkit | C++ | MIT License | 1.1-alpha (15 November 2013 (2013-11-15)) [Β±] |
xombrero | Marco Peerboom et al. | Active | WebKitGTK+ | C, JavaScript | ISC license | 1.6.3[27] (11 July 2013 (2013-07-11)) [Β±] |
Operating system support
- Notes
- β Must be built from source code with a Vala compiler.[28]
- β A binary for NetSurf v2.0 for Haiku is available. For v2.1 and higher, one must build it from source.[35]
- β 3.0 3.1 Must be built from source code; requires a compatible version of Qt.
- β rekonq v1.1 for Windows was published in September 2012. As of June 2014, it is the only published version for Windows.[39]
Features
Test scores reflect the version of the browser engine in use. Generally, a lower score indicates an older version of the browser engine.
- Notes
See also
References
- β Arora, Himanshu (6 November 2013). "5 lesser-known browsers: Free, lightweight and low-maintenance". Computerworld. International Data Group. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- β Klimkiewicz, Kamil (18 January 2003). "Lightweight Web Browsers". Freecode. Dice Holdings. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- β Arimbra, Krishnan (16 July 2013). "Memory usage of the browsers β Lightest browser". Geekiest.Net. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- β "surf". Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β Peereboom, Marco; Hill, David et al. (1 March 2012 onward). "xombrero wiki Β§ Quick-Start Tutorial". Conformal Systems. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β Ito, Akinori. "w3m". w3m.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β Meyer, Benjamin (2 October 2009). "Arora 0.10.0!". Arora Development. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β 8.0 8.1 Poulain, Benjamin et al. (10 May 2010). "Applications Using QtWebKit". Qt Wiki. Qt Project Hosting. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- β Meyer, Benjamin (27 September 2010). "Arora 0.11.0!". Arora Development. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β Arellano Cid, Jorge (2014). "ChangeLog". Dillo.org. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
- β "ELinks - Full-Featured Text WWW Browser". elinks.or.cz. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β "News". kmeleon.sourceforge.net. September 27, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- β "ChangeLog". links.twibright.com. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- β Dickey, Thomas E. (14 February 2014). "Stable release". lynx.isc.org. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "Timeline". Midori: Webkit Web browser. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- β "Midori 0.5.10 "A leap of leopards"". Midori: Webkit Web browser. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
- β "Changelog". midori-browser.org. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "The NetSurf Developers". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- β "News". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- β "About QtWeb". QtWeb.NET. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "Qt Web Browser". QtWeb.NET. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "QupZilla Changelog". GitHub. 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-29.
- β "rekonq: Files". SourceForge. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- β Diamantini, Andrea (12 January 2014). "rekonq 2.4.2". adjam.weblog(). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "Index of /surf/". suckless.org. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "w3m: Files". SourceForge. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β "xombrero: Files". SourceForge. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β 28.0 28.1 "Spec Files Extra Repository". OpenIndiana Wiki. 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- β 29.0 29.1 29.2 "Dillo Web Browser Compatibility". Dillo.org. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- β Vibber, Kelson (28 April 2005). "Installing Dillo on Cygwin". Hyperborea. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- β 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 "About ELinks". elinks.cz. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β "Nettle". nettle.sourceforge.net. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- β "New Telnet Client and Web Browser for RISC OS". My RISC OS. 2 September 2001. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- β 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 "GTK NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- β "Haiku and BeOS NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- β "RISC OS NetSurf Downloads". netsurf-browser.org. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
- β "QtWeb - Web Browser". Haikuware. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 "Qupzilla - Lightweight multiplatform browser: Download". Qupzilla.com. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
- β Papp, Laszlo (24 September 2012). "Randa: Rekonq installer for Windows". KDE (Laszlo Papp's blog). Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- β "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.
- β Inge Bolso, Erik (8 March 2005). "2005 Text Mode Browser Roundup". Linux Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- β "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.2; WOW64; rv:24.0) Gecko/20140105 Firefox/24.0 K-Meleon/74.0". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- β "ThirdPartyPlugins". kmeleonbrowser.org. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- β JΓ‘quez, VΓctor (31 December 2013). "Boosting WebKitGTK+ compilation for armhf with icecream". Herostratusβ legacy. Igalia. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- β Midori_(web_browser)#HTML5_score
- β Auza, Jun (27 June 2009). "5 Free and Open Source Web Browsers That You May Have Never Heard Of". TechSource. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- β "0001896: NPAPI plugin support". NetSurf Bug Report System. 22 October 2010 onward. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- β "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux; en-GB) AppleWebKit/534.34 (KHTML, like Gecko) QtWeb Internet Browser/3.8.5 http://www.QtWeb.net". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- β "HTML5test results for: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.21 (KHTML, like Gecko) QupZilla/1.6.0 Safari/537.21". HTML5test.com. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- β "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.
- β Howell, Dean (22 May 2013). "ReKonq Gaining Chrome Extension Support, Still Sponsored By Blue Systems". The Powerbase. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- β "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.
- β 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.
- β "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.
- β "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