List of web browsers with custom rendering engines

Updated at: Mar 19, 2026

It is a huge, on-going task to build and maintain a fully functional, modern web browser rendering engine; as a result - most web browsers simply re-use one of the free, large, community supported engines such as Chromium, Gecko, or Webkit. However, in a handful of cases, some talented and ambitious developers decide to write their own rendering engine from scratch. These kinds of rendering engines tend to not support every single modern feature that we've come to expect, but they play an important part in ensuring that there is choice and variety in the rendering engines landscape. It's also often the only way that older operating systems have a chance to run web browsers that can still work online.

Browser Name Rendering Engine Year started Device Type Operating Systems Status
Abaco Custom 2006 Desktop Linux, Plan 9 Discontinued
Air Mosaic Custom 1994 Desktop Windows Discontinued
Amaya Custom 1996 Desktop Unix-like, Windows, OS X Discontinued
AMosaic Custom 1993 Desktop Amiga OS Discontinued
AMSD Ariadna Custom 1995 Desktop Windows Discontinued
AOLPress
Formerly Navipress
 Custom 1994 Desktop Windows, Mac OS Classic Discontinued
Arachne Custom 1996 Desktop Linux, FreeDOS Idle
Arena Browser Custom 1993 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
AWeb Custom 1996 Desktop Amiga OS Idle
Cello Custom 1993 Desktop Windows, OS2 Discontinued
Charon Custom 2006 Desktop Plan 9 Discontinued
Cyberjack Custom 1995 Desktop Windows Discontinued
Dillo Custom 1999 Desktop BSD, Linux, macOS, Solaris, FreeDOS Active
DR-WebSpyder Custom 1997 Desktop MS-DOS Discontinued
Embedix Browser
Formerly Embrowser
 Custom 1999 Desktop Linux Discontinued
Emissary Custom 1995 Desktop Windows
Erwise Custom 1992 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
FixBrowser Custom 2025 Desktop Linux, Windows, Haiku Idle
Flow Browser Custom Unknown Desktop & Mobile Android, Linux, macOS, Windows, Raspberry Pi
Gazelle Custom 2009 Desktop Windows Discontinued
IBM WebExplorer Custom 1994 Desktop OS2 Discontinued
IBrowse Custom 1996 Desktop Amiga OS Idle
Kristall Small-Internet Browser Custom 2020 Desktop BSD, Linux, Windows, OS X, Haiku
Lobo Evolution Custom 2019 Desktop Misc Desktop OS
MacWeb Custom 1994 Desktop Mac OS Classic
MidasWWW Custom 1992 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
Minuet Custom 1994 Desktop MS-DOS
Mothra Custom 1995 Desktop Plan 9 Discontinued
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
Nexus
Formerly WorldWideWeb
 Custom 1990 Desktop Misc Desktop OS Discontinued
Nokia Xpress Custom 2012 Mobile Nokia X Discontinued
PlanetWeb Custom 1999 Game Console Game Console Discontinued
Procomm Plus Web Zeppelin Custom 1996 Desktop Windows Discontinued
PS2 Browser Custom 2025 Game Console Game Console Active
QuarterDeck Mosaic Custom 1995 Desktop Windows Discontinued
ThunderHawk Custom 2001 Mobile Misc Mobile OS Discontinued
TkWWW Custom 1992 Desktop Unix-like Discontinued
Voyager (Amiga) Custom 1999 Desktop Amiga OS
Voyager (QNX) Custom Unknown Desktop Misc Desktop OS
WinWAP Custom 1999 Mobile Windows CE Discontinued