A headless browser is a web browser without a graphical user interface. Headless browsers provide automated control of a web page in an environment similar to popular web browsers, but are executed via a command-line interface or using network communication. They are particularly useful for testingweb pages as they are able to render and understand HTML the same way a browser would, including styling elements such as page layout, colour, font selection and execution of JavaScript and AJAX which are usually not available when using other testing methods.
This is a list of browsers providing a complete or near-complete headless implementation.
Google Chrome – since version 59 Chrome supports headless mode in Linux, macOS and Windows
Firefox – headless mode is available on linux since version 55. Version 56 added support for headless mode in Windows and macOS
PhantomJS – a headless web browser using WebKitlayout engine for rendering web pages and JavaScriptCore for executing scripted tests. PhantomJS was originally developed by Ariya Hidayat in 2010 and has gained a wide following and extensive development ecosystem. However, the project has since been archived and is no longer under active development.
HtmlUnit – a headless browser written in Java. HtmlUnit uses the Rhino engine to provide JavaScript and AJAX support as well as partial rendering capability.
TrifleJS – a headless Internet Explorer scriptable browser using the Trident layout engine for rendering pages and the V8 JavaScript engine for executing scripted tests. TrifleJS uses the same API language as PhantomJS and works by using the.NET WebBrowser object to control whatever version of IE is installed on the machine.
Splash – a headless web browser with an HTTP API, Lua scripting support and a built-in IPython -based IDE. Splash is written in Python and uses WebKit layout engine. Development started at ScrapingHub in 2013; it is partially funded by DARPA.
– a lightweight, highly capable, headless web browser with a scriptable.NET Standard API. SimpleBrowser written in C#, supporting.NET Standard 2.0.
Simulated
These are browsers that simulate a browser environment. While they are able to support common browser features, they do not render DOM and have limited support for DOM events. They usually perform faster than full browsers, but are unable to correctly interpret many popular websites.
Zombie.js – a simulated browser environment for Node.js.
ENVJS – a simulated browser environment written in JavaScript for the Rhino engine.
Edbrowse
Scriptable
These are browsers that may still require a user Interface but have programmatic APIs and are intended to be used in ways similar to traditional headless browsers.
SlimerJS – a scriptable browser using Mozilla's Gecko layout engine. SlimerJS uses the same API language as PhantomJS.
