The best text browsers, according to hackers
8 text browsers were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 4 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended text browsers with the badge. Each figure is 5 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Fast on any hardware
A free, text-only web browser that renders text-heavy sites quickly on old or low-power machines and works well with scripts and piped text. Critics say many modern sites that need JavaScript no longer work in it.
Renders tables and HTML email well
Text-based web browser people use for quick lookups, HTML email and non-JavaScript pages; it lacks JavaScript support, so many modern sites break.
Works without JavaScript or graphics
A lightweight text-mode browser for reading pages, debugging, and working in a terminal. Critics say it does not work on sites that need JavaScript.
All 8 text browsers, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lynx web browser | 42 | 10 | 81% | 12 | — | Approved |
| 2 | w3m | 19 | 1 | 95% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 3 | Links web browser | 18 | 4 | 82% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 4 | Chawan terminal web browser | 12 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| 5 | EWW (Emacs Web Wowser) | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 6 | Browsh | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 6 | Offpunk | 7 | 2 | 78% | 3 | — | — |
| 8 | ELinks | 6 | 1 | 86% | 4 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same text browser in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to text browsers that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.