Dillo
Hacker ApprovedRanked 17 of 53 web browsers by recommenders
Recommended as a very light, fast browser for old hardware and simple sites. Main caveat: no JavaScript, so many modern websites break.
Recommended as a very light, fast browser for old hardware and simple sites. Main caveat: no JavaScript, so many modern websites break.
55 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 49
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 20 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 49 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Fast and lightweight
“The computer was too slow for the rest of the software of the era but Dillo was still fast!”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “Dillo is hands down the best ultra lightweight browser ever developed in my opinion.”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “because it was faster, cleaner, and left more RAM free for other uses”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” - Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux”
- Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser”
Runs well on old hardware
“I used Dillo in 2001-2002 with the PlayStation 2 Linux kit. With 32MB of RAM for Linux, and 4MB for the graphics. It worked really well”
Comment from 15 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “I've successfully run Dillo on machines with 40-64 MB of RAM before now, and it hasn't changed that much”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “Dillo gave new life to lots of hardware out there that could have otherwise end up in the trash.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” - Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “Dillo Browser Release 3.3.0”
Works without JavaScript
“You can use Dillo and explore the light web, gopher and gemini with no JS or big plugins at all.”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “Using the internet like it's 1999” “Disable Javascript or use Lynx, Links or Dillo to open the articles from your newsreader.”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “PC Gamer Recommends RSS Readers in a 37MB Article That Just Keeps Downloading” “the lightness and lack of javascript can be very therapeutic”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “The RAM shortage comes for us all”
Supports Gopher and Gemini
“You can use Dillo and explore the light web, gopher and gemini with no JS or big plugins at all.”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “Using the internet like it's 1999” “dillo now has plugins for both Gemini and Gopher and the plugins work find on the various BSDs”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “Kevin Boone: The "small web" is bigger than you might think” “DIllo is much lighter and it supports Gopher, Gemini, Info, Man”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Breaks sites that need JavaScript
“it does not support JavaScript at all. There aren't many or any sites/apps that I regularly use that would work without JavaScript.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “it would just fail on most modern websites”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” Incomplete CSS and web font support
“Dillo (from git) has worse CSS capabilities than netsurf but more than often the webs aren't broken as often as NetSurf.”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Old Computer Challenge” “It runs my dev blog quite well. Some of the CSS alignment is off and it doesn't load web fonts”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web 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 | — |
| DilloThis page | 49 | 6 | 89% | 10 | 20 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 83 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A single http request that loads fast from a comparatively simple application that also loads fast.”
“Dillo from git it's uberfast and good enough for news, blogs and HN.”
“Dillo (from git) has worse CSS capabilities than netsurf but more than often the webs aren't broken as often as NetSurf.”
“it is very lightweight ad it has been recently updated”
“Dillo was the browser enabled me to view the web at all on my first old 486 PC”
“Dillo (3.2.0) crashed quite often on my system because of this bug.”
“dillo could very well be the go-to browser on Linux and BSD”
“You can use Dillo and explore the light web, gopher and gemini with no JS or big plugins at all.”
“Disable Javascript or use Lynx, Links or Dillo to open the articles from your newsreader.”
“dillo now has plugins for both Gemini and Gopher and the plugins work find on the various BSDs”
“You should consider contributing to a similar small browser - Dillo”
“Include offline installers for browsers like Dillo or Firefox”
“and thanks to DPI and dilloc it can be really powerful”
“Mainline dillo from their Git and not the outdated one from the repos.”
“DSL contains Dillo which is arguably the latest modern-ish (to the most extent possible) and lightest browser in existence.”
“it would just fail on most modern websites”
“my all-time favorite web browser, Dillo, which was fine for most sites up to about 2018”
“HN works under Dillo and you don't needs JS at all.”
“I'm using 1GB with TWM, DIllo, TUI tools, XTerm, MuPDF and the like.”
“I am finding I am using dillo more and more these days.”
“you can use dropbear/bearssl and even Dillo happily with just a light lag”
“I used Dillo in 2001-2002 with the PlayStation 2 Linux kit. With 32MB of RAM for Linux, and 4MB for the graphics. It worked really well”
“I've successfully run Dillo on machines with 40-64 MB of RAM before now, and it hasn't changed that much”
“because it was faster, cleaner, and left more RAM free for other uses”
“it does not support JavaScript at all. There aren't many or any sites/apps that I regularly use that would work without JavaScript.”
“Dillo gave new life to lots of hardware out there that could have otherwise end up in the trash.”
“Dillo can take a little bit of getting used to but it's a usable text oriented browser”
“The computer was too slow for the rest of the software of the era but Dillo was still fast!”
“It still has great looking icons, a proper boarder bevel, and real scroll bars.”
“DIllo is much lighter and it supports Gopher, Gemini, Info, Man”
“I have been using dillo more and more as time goes on”
“It runs my dev blog quite well. Some of the CSS alignment is off and it doesn't load web fonts”
“I have the fondest memories of running dillo under netbsd”
“gives you a glimpse how fast live could be without bloat”
“I remember it feeling revolutionary to open up a webpage on something other than my linux desktop computer”
“Dillo is hands down the best ultra lightweight browser ever developed in my opinion.”
“the lightness and lack of javascript can be very therapeutic”
“1.1Mb executable that is so freaking, shockingly fast.”
“I was a student and couldn't afford a very nice laptop so it was fluxbox + dillo for me.”
“I only reached for it if Dillo couldn't render a page”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.