List of lightweight Web Browsers

Updated at: Mar 19, 2026

These are web browsers that can be considered "lightweight". Being lightweight refers to the fact that the browser's rendering engine doesn't implement some of the more modern features of web browsers. These browsers may not support features such as video playback, animated images, sound, complex layouts, new CSS attributes, and so on. This is sometimes done as a way of reducing the use of system resources, but sometimes it's because the rendering engine is developed by a smaller group of developers who lack the resources to implement every single feature in new browsers.

Note that being "lightweight" is different to browsers that simply have a "minimalistic user interface". Such "minimalistic" browsers are still usually built on Chromium or Electron (which is the very opposite of being lightweight!) - they merely have a simple UI. The browsers on this page are truly lightweight.

Browser Name Rendering Engine Year started Device Type Operating Systems Status
Abaco Custom 2006 Desktop Linux, Plan 9 Discontinued
Amaya Custom 1996 Desktop Unix-like, Windows, OS X Discontinued
Arena Browser Custom 1993 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
Arora Webkit 2008 Desktop BSD, Linux, macOS, Windows, OS2, Haiku, Genode, Misc Desktop OS Discontinued
Dillo Custom 1999 Desktop BSD, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeDOS Active
Endorphin Browser Webkit 2008 Desktop Linux Abandoned
Eww browser Text Mode 2013 Desktop Linux, Unix-like
Falkon
Formerly QupZilla
 QtWebEngine 2010 Desktop BSD, Linux, Windows Active
Fifth Browser Webkit 2013 Desktop Linux Discontinued
FixBrowser Custom 2025 Desktop Linux, Windows, Haiku Idle
Glide Gecko 2025 Desktop Linux Active
Hv3 Tkhtml 1995 Desktop Linux, Unix-like Discontinued
K-Meleon Goanna 2000 Desktop Windows Idle
Kristall Small-Internet Browser Custom 2020 Desktop BSD, Linux, Windows, OS X, Haiku
Light Browser CefSharp 2020 Desktop Windows Discontinued
Lynx Text Mode 1992 Desktop BSD, Linux, Windows Active
MacWWW
Also known as Samba
 Unknown 1992 Desktop Mac OS Classic Discontinued
Mothra Custom 1995 Desktop Plan 9 Discontinued
Naked Browser Pro Unknown 2012 Mobile Android Abandoned
NCSA Mosaic Custom 1993 Desktop Unix-like, Windows, OS2, Misc Desktop OS Discontinued
NetPositive Custom Unknown Desktop BeOS Discontinued
NetSurf Custom 2007 Desktop BSD, Linux, macOS, Haiku, RISC OS, Amiga OS, Plan 9 Active
Otter Browser QtWebEngine 2014 Desktop BSD, Linux, macOS, Windows, Haiku, Misc Desktop OS Active
QtWeb Webkit 2008 Desktop Linux, macOS, Windows Discontinued
qutebrowser Multiple 2014 Desktop Linux, macOS, Windows Active
rekonq Webkit 2008 Desktop Linux Discontinued
Surf Browser WebkitGTK 2009 Desktop Unix-like Active
Tkhtml Text Mode 1994 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
Ultralight WebBrowser Ultralight 2025 Desktop Linux, macOS, Windows
Uzbl Webkit 2009 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
Vimb Unknown 2012 Desktop Linux
visurf Unknown Unknown Desktop BSD, Linux
w3m Text Mode 1995 Desktop BSD, Linux, Unix-like, Solaris, OS2 Idle
WannaBe Text Mode 2001 Desktop Mac OS Classic Discontinued
WebPositive Webkit Unknown Desktop Haiku Active
Xombrero Webkit 2012 Desktop Unix-like, Windows Discontinued