NetSurf
A small, fast open-source web browser written in C with its own layout engine.
These buttons open the developer's own site, repository or store listing in a new tab. wares.gg does not host downloads.
1 more ways to get NetSurf
Package managers
- Flathub
flatpak install flathub org.netsurf_browser.NetSurf
About NetSurf
NetSurf is a lightweight multi-platform web browser for RISC OS, Linux and other UNIX-like systems, and Mac OS X. It is written in C and uses its own layout engine rather than one of the major browser engines, along with its own libraries for HTML parsing, CSS, DOM and image decoding.
The project is actively developed and aims at modest hardware where mainstream browsers are too heavy. It handles everyday tasks such as webmail, news and forums, though modern script-heavy sites may not work fully.
Strengths
- Very small and light on resources
- Independent layout engine written in C
- Runs on RISC OS and UNIX-like systems
Limitations
- Limited support for modern script-heavy websites
- Not a replacement for a mainstream browser on current sites
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source under the GPL version 2.
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Developer
- The NetSurf contributors
- Platforms
- macOS, Linux
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Older or low-resource machines and RISC OS users who need a working browser
- Categories
- Web browsers
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to NetSurf
Compare allSoftware that can replace NetSurf for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Dillo
Browse lightweight pages with a small graphical browser.
Dillo is another small graphical browser with modest resource requirements on macOS and Linux, and similarly struggles with modern web applications that need a fuller engine.
Links
Small browser that runs either as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode.
Links runs as text in a terminal or in a basic graphics mode without X, adds Windows support, but has no JavaScript engine at all.
Midori
Lightweight browser with an ad blocker and privacy-focused defaults.
Midori is a lightweight Chromium fork with an ad blocker that handles modern sites better, on Windows, Linux and Android but not macOS.
surf
A minimal WebKit2GTK web browser from the suckless project, without tabs and configured at compile time.
surf is a minimal suckless browser on WebKit2GTK with no tabs, configured by editing and recompiling the source on Linux.
Ladybird
Explore an independent browser with its own rendering engine.
Ladybird is a BSD-2-Clause browser with its own independent engine for macOS and Linux, but the project calls it pre-alpha and suitable for developers.
Falkon
Lightweight KDE browser built on QtWebEngine.
Falkon is a lightweight QtWebEngine browser that handles modern sites, with an ad blocker and password manager, on Windows and Linux rather than macOS.
Supermium
A current Chromium-based web browser that runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and later.
Supermium runs a current Chromium engine on older Windows versions from XP onward, so modern sites work, but it is Windows only and not open source.
Lynx
Text-mode web browser for terminals and remote systems.
Lynx is a text-mode browser for terminals and bare SSH sessions with extremely low resource use, but shows no JavaScript, CSS or images.
NetSurf as an alternative
Listings that name NetSurf as an alternative.
Flow Browser
An independent HTML browser engine and browser that lays out pages in parallel across CPU cores.
NetSurf has its own open-source layout engine written in C and runs light on low-resource machines, but its support for script-heavy modern websites is limited.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Servo
Experiment with a browser engine written in Rust.
w3m
A text-based web browser and pager that runs in the terminal.
Chawan
A terminal web browser with its own engine supporting CSS, JavaScript and inline images.
GNOME Web
GNOME's browser, built on WebKitGTK, formerly known as Epiphany.
Browsh
Browse modern web pages through a terminal interface.
