Alternatives to w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as w3m.
Lynx
Text-mode web browser for terminals and remote systems.
Lynx is a GPL-2.0 text-mode browser that works in any terminal and also runs on Windows and macOS, but it does not render tables as w3m does.
ELinks
A text-mode web browser for the terminal, maintained as an actively developed fork.
ELinks is an actively maintained text-mode terminal browser for Linux, usually installed through a distribution package or built from source, with no JavaScript support listed.
Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode.
Links renders tables and frames in text mode and adds a basic graphics mode that draws images without X, but it also has no JavaScript engine.
Chawan
A terminal web browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images.
Chawan uses its own engine with CSS, JavaScript and inline images in the terminal and also works as a pager, though building it requires the Nim compiler.
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, so JavaScript sites work, but it requires Firefox installed.
edbrowse
A line-oriented command-line text editor that also works as a web browser with JavaScript support.
edbrowse combines a line-oriented text editor with a browser that supports JavaScript and works well with screen readers, though its commands take time to learn.
Offpunk
An offline-first command-line browser and feed reader for Gemini, Gopher, Spartan and the web.
Offpunk is an offline-first command-line browser and feed reader covering Gemini, Gopher and the web, but it is not suited to interactive or script-heavy sites.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Lagrange
A cross-platform desktop and mobile client for browsing Geminispace and other small-web networks.
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.
Lightpanda
A headless browser written from scratch in Zig for web automation, crawling and AI agents.
