GNOME Web (Epiphany)
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 34 of 53 web browsers by recommenders
Free, open-source GNOME browser that people recommend for cross-platform desktop use and webapps. Critics say it is rough on performance, has limited extensions, and lacks stability and power-user features.
Free, open-source GNOME browser that people recommend for cross-platform desktop use and webapps. Critics say it is rough on performance, has limited extensions, and lacks stability and power-user features.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 11 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Open-source WebKit-based browser
“Anything webkit-based and open source like Epiphany or Konqueror/Rekonq”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent” “shows this correctly, as expected for a Webkit-based browser”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “JPEG XL Demo Page” Good for webapps
“I do use some webapps, but with Epiphany rather than Firefox.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Jolla Phone, Over 13 500 units sold” “with Epiphany's webapps it's just there as an app to launch”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “Phosh 0.56.0” Native cross-platform desktop browser
“Why wouldn't I use a native browser like Epiphany instead?”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: Is it worthwhile to create a web browser in 2026?” “Epiphany web browser for cross-platform desktop support”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “MacBook Neo Deep Dive: Benchmarks, Wafer Economics, and the 8GB Gamble”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rough performance
“it has just been a pretty, though unfortunately rough performance-wise, browser with limited extension support”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Gnome 50 Released” Lacks stability and power-user features
“which I'll admit while is a noble effort, lags a bit in the stability and power-user features department”
Comment from 9 Jan 2026 in “Kagi releases alpha version of Orion for Linux” Limited extension support
“it has just been a pretty, though unfortunately rough performance-wise, browser with limited extension support”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Gnome 50 Released”
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 | — |
| GNOME Web (Epiphany)This page | 11 | 1 | 92% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I'll port Epiphany eventually.”
“I was a very happy Epiphany user about 20 years ago.”
“Epiphany can finally be usable for more than basic websearch”
“with Epiphany's webapps it's just there as an app to launch”
“Why wouldn't I use a native browser like Epiphany instead?”
“I do use some webapps, but with Epiphany rather than Firefox.”
“Epiphany web browser for cross-platform desktop support”
“Anything webkit-based and open source like Epiphany or Konqueror/Rekonq”
“it’s a good proxy for testing on Safari”
“zooming it back in without relayouting by making a pinch gesture is trivial”
“it has just been a pretty, though unfortunately rough performance-wise, browser with limited extension support”
“shows this correctly, as expected for a Webkit-based browser”
“Frequently, but not always, I can reproduce such bugs using Epiphany”
“which I'll admit while is a noble effort, lags a bit in the stability and power-user features department”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.