Basilisk browser
Shares rank 41 of 53 web browsers by recommenders
Free browser, a Goanna-based fork that people suggest for old laptops that still browse the modern web fine.
Free browser, a Goanna-based fork that people suggest for old laptops that still browse the modern web fine.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 78%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Usable on old, lightweight machines
“looks great when you want lightweight browser to run on old laptops”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “PowerFox Browser” “can browse the modern web just fine”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux” Independent fork with its own direction
“You can also try Basilisk, which is the upstream version without those tweaks.”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “PowerFox Browser” “Basilisk is an actual fork which has lead development in it's own direction”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “PowerFox Browser”
Other web browsers people recommend
The four most recommended other web browsers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox | 1,572 | 1,371 | 53% | 12 | 16 yrs125 owners | — |
| Google Chrome | 503 | 1,086 | 32% | 12 | 10 yrs11 owners | — |
| Brave | 397 | 248 | 62% | 12 | 4.9 yrs16 owners | — |
| Safari | 307 | 577 | 35% | 12 | 13 yrs27 owners | — |
| Basilisk browserThis page | 7 | 2 | 78% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If you want something truly different, try a Goanna-based browser like Pale Moon or Basilisk”
“A quick skim of their code or commit history makes that obvious that this project's development methodology was clearly flawed”
“Though unfortunate that this happened, it's commendable the Basilisk author proactively identified and raised the problem & took responsibility for missing it.”
“Basilisk is an actual fork which has lead development in it's own direction”
“looks great when you want lightweight browser to run on old laptops”
“Nothing but very vague and useless marketing-speak.”
“You can also try Basilisk, which is the upstream version without those tweaks.”
“can browse the modern web just fine”
“basilisk 2025: 26/32(-6 experimental features)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.