Alternatives to ELinks
A text-mode web browser for the terminal, maintained as an actively developed fork. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
ELinks
A text-mode web browser for the terminal, maintained as an actively developed fork.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as ELinks.
Lynx
Text-mode web browser for terminals and remote systems.
Lynx is an open source GPL-2.0 text browser that works in any terminal including bare SSH sessions, adds Windows and macOS, but has no JavaScript or CSS.
w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal.
w3m is an open source terminal browser that renders tables and frames as text and also works as a pager for local files, though it lacks JavaScript.
Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode.
Links is an open source GPL-2.0 browser running as text or in a basic graphics mode without X, available on Windows and macOS, with no JavaScript engine.
Chawan
A terminal web browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images.
Chawan is an open-source terminal browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images, needing the Nim compiler to build from source.
Browsh
Browse modern web pages through a terminal interface.
Browsh renders modern pages through a Firefox backend and displays them in the terminal, handling current sites better but requiring Firefox to be installed.
edbrowse
A line-oriented command-line text editor that also works as a web browser with JavaScript support.
edbrowse is a line-oriented editor and browser with JavaScript support that works well with screen readers, but its commands take time to learn.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Offpunk
An offline-first command-line browser and feed reader for Gemini, Gopher, Spartan and the web.
Dillo
Browse lightweight pages with a small graphical browser.
NetSurf
A small, fast open-source web browser written in C with its own layout engine.
Lagrange
A cross-platform desktop and mobile client for browsing Geminispace and other small-web networks.
Neko
Self-hosted virtual browser that runs in Docker and streams to other browsers over WebRTC.
