Alternatives to Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Links.
Lynx
Text-mode web browser for terminals and remote systems.
Lynx is a GPL-2.0 text-mode browser that works in any terminal or bare SSH session, but it has no graphics mode and no images, CSS or JavaScript.
Browsh
Browse modern web pages through a terminal interface.
Browsh renders modern pages with a Firefox backend and shows them as text in the terminal, handling JavaScript sites that Links cannot, but it requires Firefox installed.
Dillo
Browse lightweight pages with a small graphical browser.
Dillo is a small GPL-3.0 graphical browser for macOS and Linux with modest resource needs, trading the terminal text mode for a lightweight windowed interface.
w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal.
w3m runs in the terminal, renders tables and frames as text and doubles as a pager for local files, but it is listed only for Linux.
ELinks
A text-mode web browser for the terminal, maintained as an actively developed fork.
ELinks is an actively maintained text-mode fork for terminals and SSH sessions on Linux, usually built from source or installed through a distribution package.
NetSurf
A small, fast open-source web browser written in C with its own layout engine.
NetSurf is a light graphical browser with its own C layout engine, running on RISC OS and UNIX-like systems, with limited support for script-heavy sites.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Links as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Chawan
A terminal web browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images.
Links offers a text mode plus a basic graphics mode that draws images without X and runs on Windows, but it has no JavaScript engine for modern sites.
edbrowse
A line-oriented command-line text editor that also works as a web browser with JavaScript support.
Links offers a text mode and a basic graphics mode on Windows, macOS and Linux, but it has no JavaScript engine and no editor functions.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Nyxt
Keyboard-first browser configured and extended in Common Lisp.
qutebrowser
A keyboard-driven browser with vim-style bindings and almost no interface to click on.
Min
Browse with a minimal interface and grouped tabs.
Lagrange
A cross-platform desktop and mobile client for browsing Geminispace and other small-web networks.
Lightpanda
A headless browser written from scratch in Zig for web automation, crawling and AI agents.
