ELinks
Ranked 7 of 7 text browsers by recommenders
Lightweight terminal web browser that people recommend for stable, text-only browsing; one critic calls it marginally useful on the modern web.
5 people recommended ELinks in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 7 comments.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 1
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 20% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 7 of the 9 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Long-running personal favorite for years
“the other good browser I was happily using on old machines”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “ELinks is the TUI browser I've used since… forever.”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Ratatui – App Showcase” Ranked above lynx and links
“Terminal emulators and lynx/elinks/links/w3c work, too.”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Hacking on the ReMarkable 2” “elinks is better than both of them”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “FIM – Linux framebuffer image viewer”
Other text browsers people recommend
The four most recommended other text 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 | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynx web browser | 34 | 8 | 8 | 81% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Links web browser | 14 | 3 | 3 | 82% | 7 | — | Approved |
| w3m | 12 | 5 | 1 | 92% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Chawan terminal web browser | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| ELinksThis page | 5 | 1 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“elinks https://www.wired.com/story/mcdonalds-built-a-515-page-dossier-on-me-it-says-ill-never-leave/”
“The text-only browser feels more robust, less likely to stall or crash.”
“The existence of elinks which is marginally useful on the modern web doesn't make the cut”
“elinks is better than both of them”
“Terminal emulators and lynx/elinks/links/w3c work, too.”
“the other good browser I was happily using on old machines”
“ELinks is the TUI browser I've used since… forever.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.