NetSurf
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 23 of 53 web browsers by recommenders
Small, free browser that runs on old and minimal systems and has a clean, modular codebase. Common caveat: many modern websites do not render well.
Small, free browser that runs on old and minimal systems and has a clean, modular codebase. Common caveat: many modern websites do not render well.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 8.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Runs lightly, works on framebuffer
“If you want to stay low on resources you can use Netsurf.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “200 MB RAM FreeBSD Desktop” “I use netsurf because I can use it in the framebuffer”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Old Computer Challenge” Clean, modular C codebase
“I consider Netsurf to be a beautiful and excellently well-done browser in its own right”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” “I found the netsurf browser to have a pretty and modular C codebase”
Comment from 15 Nov 2025 in “What is the most beautiful / highest quality code you've seen (or written)?” Lightweight alternative to text browsers
“NetSurf or elinks/lynx etc. is the way to go”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Damn Small Linux” “ladybird? netsurf? links? dillo? netscape 3?”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “The Overcomplexity of the Shadcn Radio Button” Loved by long-time users
“while keeping the great classic NetSurf”
Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “New Version of OnemanBSD Includes WebKitGtk” “I am a big fan of NetSurf”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “MacSurf 1.68 – NetSurf on OS 9 Released”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Breaks on many modern websites
“Netsurf isn't fun on many websites but it should be enough for rendering HTML content from RSS”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Hacking on the ReMarkable 2” “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” “Netsurf had certain limitations for modern web page”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “Wisp, browser with its own small and light rendering engine”
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 | — |
| NetSurfThis page | 17 | 2 | 89% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
18 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“while keeping the great classic NetSurf”
“with beter JS support than the Duktape one under Unix”
“Netsurf seems pretty closed in terms of who they allow to contribute”
“I wish more people contributed to Netsurf and it gets the momentum it needs to compete”
“I am a big fan of NetSurf”
“I use netsurf because I can use it in the framebuffer”
“Dillo (from git) has worse CSS capabilities than netsurf but more than often the webs aren't broken as often as NetSurf.”
“Palemoon and Netsurf are available as graphical Web browsers”
“NetSurf itself is also very cool. I often run it even on my modern ThinkPad X1 machines”
“Netsurf had certain limitations for modern web page”
“If you want to stay low on resources you can use Netsurf.”
“ladybird? netsurf? links? dillo? netscape 3?”
“NetSurf or elinks/lynx etc. is the way to go”
“i3 and NetSurf made that extremely possible”
“Netsurf isn't fun on many websites but it should be enough for rendering HTML content from RSS”
“I found the netsurf browser to have a pretty and modular C codebase”
“I consider Netsurf to be a beautiful and excellently well-done browser in its own right”
“Netsurf had better compatibility”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.