Last Updated on October 12, 2020
The usage share of web browsers is dominated by a few mature applications. Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera account for around 95% of all desktop web browsing activity. However, there are a myriad of other web browsers that are worth investigating.
There are good reasons to experiment with alternative web browsers. As they have a much smaller user base, they are less susceptible to being targeted by spyware and other nasties. Alternatively, you might choose to use more than one web browser for different purposes, which can help combine speed and reliability. You might want to use one for business, work and school, another for general use, one only for your social media interactions.
The purpose of this article is to highlight interesting open source web browsers that are in a very early stage of development. They have very different target audiences. Fifth is based on the WebKitFLTK web library, and seeks to retain the best features of Opera, but add a new few features. Dooscape uses the QtWebKit as its engine, and offers an intuitive interface. The latest major release of Emacs includes a built-in web browser, eww. The final web browser featured in this article is also distinct. Breach is a modular browser written entirely in Javascript. All four web browsers are released under an open source license.
Gngr is another new web browser under development that is worth keeping an eye on in the future.
| Cutting Edge Web Browsers | |
|---|---|
| Fifth | Offers the best features from Opera, as well as a few unique features |
| Dooscape | Written with the Qt framework and using WebKit as the web engine |
| eww | Emacs's built-in web browser |
| Breach | Modular browser written entirely in JavaScript |
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. Spotted a useful open source Linux program not covered on our site? Please let us know by completing this form. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |