Chawan
A terminal web browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images.
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About Chawan
Chawan is a TUI browser that renders pages with a small engine written from scratch. It supports CSS, JavaScript and inline images, so many websites look closer to how they appear in graphical browsers than in older text browsers. Besides HTTP it handles (S)FTP, Gopher and Gemini, and it can also serve as a terminal pager.
It is written in Nim and targets Unix-like systems such as Linux, the BSDs, Haiku and macOS. Windows users need WSL.
Strengths
- CSS and JavaScript support in the terminal
- Inline image display
- Handles Gemini, Gopher and (S)FTP too
- Also works as a terminal pager
Limitations
- No native Windows version, only via WSL
- Building from source requires the Nim compiler
- Own engine cannot display every site correctly
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source.
- License
- Open source, license not stated
- Developer
- bptato
- Platforms
- macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Terminal users who want a text browser that copes with modern sites
- Categories
- Web browsers, CLI tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Chawan
Compare allSoftware that can replace Chawan for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal.
w3m also runs in the terminal and works as a pager, rendering tables and frames as text, but it has no JavaScript support, so many modern sites fail.
Lynx
Text-mode web browser for terminals and remote systems.
Lynx runs in any terminal, including on Windows, with very low resource use, but has no JavaScript, CSS or images, so most modern sites are unusable.
Browsh
Browse modern web pages through a terminal interface.
Browsh renders pages with a Firefox backend before showing them in the terminal, handling modern sites and running on Windows, but it requires Firefox installed alongside.
ELinks
A text-mode web browser for the terminal, maintained as an actively developed fork.
ELinks is a maintained text-mode terminal browser for SSH sessions and headless servers, but it renders text only, so many modern sites display poorly compared with Chawan.
Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode.
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.
edbrowse keeps JavaScript support in a terminal program but uses line-oriented editor commands instead of a screen display, suiting screen reader users more than visual browsing.
Chawan as an alternative
Listings that name Chawan as an alternative.
less
A classic terminal file pager for reading text files and command output one screen at a time.
Chawan is mainly a terminal web browser that also works as a pager, adding CSS rendering and inline images, but needs WSL on Windows.
Offpunk
An offline-first command-line browser and feed reader for Gemini, Gopher, Spartan and the web.
Chawan is a terminal browser that handles Gemini, Gopher and the web with CSS, JavaScript and inline images, but it is not a feed reader and builds with the Nim compiler.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
