diff --git a/lib/live_book/evaluator.ex b/lib/live_book/evaluator.ex
index 5b0cc7ad0..ea404a517 100644
--- a/lib/live_book/evaluator.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book/evaluator.ex
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator do
 
   ## API
 
+  @doc """
+  Starts the evaluator.
+
+  Options:
+
+  * `formatter` - a module implementing the `LiveBook.Evaluator.Formatter` behaviour,
+    used for transforming evaluation response before it's sent to the client
+  """
   def start_link(opts \\ []) do
     GenServer.start_link(__MODULE__, opts)
   end
@@ -55,6 +63,7 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator do
   in which case the corresponding binding and environment are used during evaluation.
 
   Evaluation response is sent to the process identified by `send_to` as `{:evaluation_response, ref, response}`.
+  Note that response is transformed with the configured formatter (identity by default).
   """
   @spec evaluate_code(t(), pid(), String.t(), ref(), ref()) :: :ok
   def evaluate_code(evaluator, send_to, code, ref, prev_ref \\ :initial) when ref != :initial do
@@ -73,17 +82,20 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator do
   ## Callbacks
 
   @impl true
-  def init(_opts) do
+  def init(opts) do
+    formatter = Keyword.get(opts, :formatter, Evaluator.IdentityFormatter)
+
     {:ok, io_proxy} = Evaluator.IOProxy.start_link()
 
     # Use the dedicated IO device as the group leader,
     # so that it handles all :stdio operations.
     Process.group_leader(self(), io_proxy)
-    {:ok, initial_state(io_proxy)}
+    {:ok, initial_state(formatter, io_proxy)}
   end
 
-  defp initial_state(io_proxy) do
+  defp initial_state(formatter, io_proxy) do
     %{
+      formatter: formatter,
       io_proxy: io_proxy,
       contexts: %{initial: initial_context()}
     }
@@ -106,11 +118,11 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator do
         new_contexts = Map.put(state.contexts, ref, result_context)
         new_state = %{state | contexts: new_contexts}
 
-        send(send_to, {:evaluation_response, ref, {:ok, result}})
+        send_evaluation_response(send_to, ref, {:ok, result}, state.formatter)
         {:noreply, new_state}
 
       {:error, kind, error, stacktrace} ->
-        send(send_to, {:evaluation_response, ref, {:error, kind, error, stacktrace}})
+        send_evaluation_response(send_to, ref, {:error, kind, error, stacktrace}, state.formatter)
         {:noreply, state}
     end
   end
@@ -120,6 +132,11 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator do
     {:noreply, new_state}
   end
 
+  defp send_evaluation_response(send_to, ref, evaluation_response, formatter) do
+    response = formatter.format(evaluation_response)
+    send(send_to, {:evaluation_response, ref, response})
+  end
+
   defp eval(code, binding, env) do
     try do
       quoted = Code.string_to_quoted!(code)
diff --git a/lib/live_book/evaluator/formatter.ex b/lib/live_book/evaluator/formatter.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c689f5fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/live_book/evaluator/formatter.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator.Formatter do
+  @moduledoc false
+
+  # Behaviour defining how evaluation results are transformed.
+  #
+  # The evaluation response is sent to the client as a message
+  # and it may potentially be huge. If the client eventually
+  # converts the result into some smaller representation,
+  # we would unnecessarily send a lot of data.
+  # By defining a custom formatter the client can instruct
+  # the `Evaluator` to send already transformed data.
+
+  alias LiveBook.Evaluator
+
+  @doc """
+  Transforms the evaluation response.
+  """
+  @callback format(Evaluator.evaluation_response()) :: term()
+end
diff --git a/lib/live_book/evaluator/identity_formatter.ex b/lib/live_book/evaluator/identity_formatter.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..63b261ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/live_book/evaluator/identity_formatter.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator.IdentityFormatter do
+  @moduledoc false
+
+  # The default formatter leaving the response unchanged.
+
+  @behaviour LiveBook.Evaluator.Formatter
+
+  @impl true
+  def format(evaluation_response), do: evaluation_response
+end
diff --git a/lib/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter.ex b/lib/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d6d48e343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator.StringFormatter do
+  @moduledoc false
+
+  # The formatter used by LiveBook for rendering the results.
+
+  @behaviour LiveBook.Evaluator.Formatter
+
+  @impl true
+  def format({:ok, value}) do
+    inspected = inspect_as_html(value, pretty: true, width: 100)
+    {:inspect_html, inspected}
+  end
+
+  def format({:error, kind, error, stacktrace}) do
+    formatted = Exception.format(kind, error, stacktrace)
+    {:error, formatted}
+  end
+
+  @doc """
+  Wraps `inspect/2` to include HTML tags in the final string for syntax highlighting.
+
+  Any options given as the second argument are passed directly to `inspect/2`.
+
+  ## Examples
+
+      iex> StringFormatter.inspect_as_html(:test, [])
+      "<span class=\\"atom\\">:test</span>"
+  """
+  @spec inspect_as_html(Inspect.t(), keyword()) :: String.t()
+  def inspect_as_html(term, opts \\ []) do
+    # Inspect coloring primary tragets terminals,
+    # so the colors are usually ANSI escape codes
+    # and their effect is reverted by a special reset escape code.
+    #
+    # In our case we need HTML tags for syntax highlighting,
+    # so as the colors we use sequences like \xfeatom\xfe
+    # then we HTML-escape the string and finally replace
+    # these special sequences with actual <span> tags.
+    #
+    # Note that the surrounding \xfe byte is invalid in a UTF-8 sequence,
+    # so we can be certain it won't appear in the normal `inspect` result.
+
+    term
+    |> inspect(Keyword.merge(opts, syntax_colors: inspect_html_colors()))
+    |> html_escape()
+    |> replace_colors_with_tags()
+  end
+
+  defp inspect_html_colors() do
+    delim = "\xfe"
+
+    [
+      atom: delim <> "atom" <> delim,
+      binary: delim <> "binary" <> delim,
+      boolean: delim <> "boolean" <> delim,
+      list: delim <> "list" <> delim,
+      map: delim <> "map" <> delim,
+      number: delim <> "number" <> delim,
+      nil: delim <> "nil" <> delim,
+      regex: delim <> "regex" <> delim,
+      string: delim <> "string" <> delim,
+      tuple: delim <> "tuple" <> delim,
+      reset: delim <> "reset" <> delim
+    ]
+  end
+
+  defp replace_colors_with_tags(string) do
+    colors = inspect_html_colors()
+
+    Enum.reduce(colors, string, fn
+      {:reset, color}, string ->
+        String.replace(string, color, "</span>")
+
+      {key, color}, string ->
+        String.replace(string, color, "<span class=\"#{Atom.to_string(key)}\">")
+    end)
+  end
+
+  # Escapes the given HTML to string.
+  # Taken from https://github.com/elixir-plug/plug/blob/692655393a090fbae544f5cd10255d4d600e7bb0/lib/plug/html.ex#L37
+  defp html_escape(data) when is_binary(data) do
+    IO.iodata_to_binary(to_iodata(data, 0, data, []))
+  end
+
+  escapes = [
+    {?<, "&lt;"},
+    {?>, "&gt;"},
+    {?&, "&amp;"},
+    {?", "&quot;"},
+    {?', "&#39;"}
+  ]
+
+  for {match, insert} <- escapes do
+    defp to_iodata(<<unquote(match), rest::bits>>, skip, original, acc) do
+      to_iodata(rest, skip + 1, original, [acc | unquote(insert)])
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp to_iodata(<<_char, rest::bits>>, skip, original, acc) do
+    to_iodata(rest, skip, original, acc, 1)
+  end
+
+  defp to_iodata(<<>>, _skip, _original, acc) do
+    acc
+  end
+
+  for {match, insert} <- escapes do
+    defp to_iodata(<<unquote(match), rest::bits>>, skip, original, acc, len) do
+      part = binary_part(original, skip, len)
+      to_iodata(rest, skip + len + 1, original, [acc, part | unquote(insert)])
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp to_iodata(<<_char, rest::bits>>, skip, original, acc, len) do
+    to_iodata(rest, skip, original, acc, len + 1)
+  end
+
+  defp to_iodata(<<>>, 0, original, _acc, _len) do
+    original
+  end
+
+  defp to_iodata(<<>>, skip, original, acc, len) do
+    [acc | binary_part(original, skip, len)]
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist.ex b/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist.ex
index b8d48a7e7..7bce3c1b9 100644
--- a/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist.ex
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist do
   @required_modules [
     LiveBook.Evaluator,
     LiveBook.Evaluator.IOProxy,
+    LiveBook.Evaluator.StringFormatter,
     LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist,
     LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist.Manager,
     LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist.EvaluatorSupervisor
diff --git a/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/evaluator_supervisor.ex b/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/evaluator_supervisor.ex
index 11eb4d144..1d15a9ad5 100644
--- a/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/evaluator_supervisor.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/evaluator_supervisor.ex
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist.EvaluatorSupervisor do
   """
   @spec start_evaluator() :: {:ok, Evaluator.t()} | {:error, any()}
   def start_evaluator() do
-    case DynamicSupervisor.start_child(@name, Evaluator) do
+    case DynamicSupervisor.start_child(@name, {Evaluator, [formatter: Evaluator.StringFormatter]}) do
       {:ok, pid} -> {:ok, pid}
       {:ok, pid, _} -> {:ok, pid}
       :ignore -> {:error, :ignore}
diff --git a/lib/live_book/runtime/standalone.ex b/lib/live_book/runtime/standalone.ex
index 07ee44dda..5f437c083 100644
--- a/lib/live_book/runtime/standalone.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book/runtime/standalone.ex
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Runtime.Standalone do
           # unexpected messages if the process produces some output.
           :nouse_stdio,
           args: [
-            if(LiveBook.Config.shortnames?, do: "--sname", else: "--name"),
+            if(LiveBook.Config.shortnames?(), do: "--sname", else: "--name"),
             to_string(node),
             "--eval",
             eval,
diff --git a/lib/live_book_web/helpers.ex b/lib/live_book_web/helpers.ex
index 4e2b0a887..5fbd6ab6a 100644
--- a/lib/live_book_web/helpers.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book_web/helpers.ex
@@ -1,68 +1,6 @@
 defmodule LiveBookWeb.Helpers do
   import Phoenix.LiveView.Helpers
 
-  @doc """
-  Wraps `inspect/2` to include HTML tags in the final string for syntax highlighting.
-
-  Any options given as the second argument are passed directly to `inspect/2`.
-
-  ## Examples
-
-      iex(2)> LiveBookWeb.Helpers.inspect_as_html(:test, [])
-      {:safe, "<span class=\\"atom\\">:test</span>"}
-  """
-  @spec inspect_as_html(Inspect.t(), keyword()) :: Phoenix.HTML.safe()
-  def inspect_as_html(term, opts \\ []) do
-    # Inspect coloring primary tragets terminals,
-    # so the colors are usually ANSI escape codes
-    # and their effect is reverted by a special reset escape code.
-    #
-    # In our case we need HTML tags for syntax highlighting,
-    # so as the colors we use sequences like \xfeatom\xfe
-    # then we HTML-escape the string and finally replace
-    # these special sequences with actual <span> tags.
-    #
-    # Note that the surrounding \xfe byte is invalid in a UTF-8 sequence,
-    # so we can be certain it won't appear in the normal `inspect` result.
-
-    term
-    |> inspect(Keyword.merge(opts, syntax_colors: inspect_html_colors()))
-    |> Phoenix.HTML.html_escape()
-    |> Phoenix.HTML.safe_to_string()
-    |> replace_colors_with_tags()
-    |> Phoenix.HTML.raw()
-  end
-
-  defp inspect_html_colors() do
-    delim = "\xfe"
-
-    [
-      atom: delim <> "atom" <> delim,
-      binary: delim <> "binary" <> delim,
-      boolean: delim <> "boolean" <> delim,
-      list: delim <> "list" <> delim,
-      map: delim <> "map" <> delim,
-      number: delim <> "number" <> delim,
-      nil: delim <> "nil" <> delim,
-      regex: delim <> "regex" <> delim,
-      string: delim <> "string" <> delim,
-      tuple: delim <> "tuple" <> delim,
-      reset: delim <> "reset" <> delim
-    ]
-  end
-
-  defp replace_colors_with_tags(string) do
-    colors = inspect_html_colors()
-
-    Enum.reduce(colors, string, fn
-      {:reset, color}, string ->
-        String.replace(string, color, "</span>")
-
-      {key, color}, string ->
-        String.replace(string, color, "<span class=\"#{Atom.to_string(key)}\">")
-    end)
-  end
-
   @doc """
   Renders a component inside the `LiveBook.ModalComponent` component.
 
diff --git a/lib/live_book_web/live/cell.ex b/lib/live_book_web/live/cell.ex
index 1f3234bcb..a9d3ec409 100644
--- a/lib/live_book_web/live/cell.ex
+++ b/lib/live_book_web/live/cell.ex
@@ -151,18 +151,15 @@ defmodule LiveBookWeb.Cell do
     """
   end
 
-  defp render_output({:ok, value}) do
-    inspected = inspect_as_html(value, pretty: true, width: 100)
-
-    assigns = %{inspected: inspected}
+  defp render_output({:inspect_html, inspected_html}) do
+    assigns = %{inspected_html: inspected_html}
 
     ~L"""
-    <div class="whitespace-pre text-gray-500 elixir-inspect"><%= @inspected %></div>
+    <div class="whitespace-pre text-gray-500 elixir-inspect"><%= raw @inspected_html %></div>
     """
   end
 
-  defp render_output({:error, kind, error, stacktrace}) do
-    formatted = Exception.format(kind, error, stacktrace)
+  defp render_output({:error, formatted}) do
     assigns = %{formatted: formatted}
 
     ~L"""
diff --git a/test/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter_test.exs b/test/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f41d31a5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/live_book/evaluator/string_formatter_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+defmodule LiveBook.Evaluator.StringFormatterTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+
+  alias LiveBook.Evaluator.StringFormatter
+
+  doctest StringFormatter
+
+  describe "inspect_as_html/2" do
+    test "uses span tags for term highlighting" do
+      assert ~s{<span class="list">[</span><span class="number">1</span><span class="list">,</span> <span class="number">2</span><span class="list">]</span>} ==
+               StringFormatter.inspect_as_html([1, 2])
+    end
+
+    test "escapes HTML in the inspect result" do
+      assert ~s{<span class="string">&quot;1 &lt; 2&quot;</span>} ==
+               StringFormatter.inspect_as_html("1 < 2")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/manager_test.exs b/test/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/manager_test.exs
index e730d18ca..649232476 100644
--- a/test/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/manager_test.exs
+++ b/test/live_book/runtime/erl_dist/manager_test.exs
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ defmodule LiveBook.Runtime.ErlDist.ManagerTest do
       Manager.set_owner(node(), self())
       Manager.evaluate_code(node(), "1 + 1", :container1, :evaluation1)
 
-      assert_receive {:evaluation_response, :evaluation1, {:ok, 2}}
+      assert_receive {:evaluation_response, :evaluation1, _}
 
       Manager.stop(node())
     end
diff --git a/test/live_book_web/helpers_test.exs b/test/live_book_web/helpers_test.exs
deleted file mode 100644
index 24161c8eb..000000000
--- a/test/live_book_web/helpers_test.exs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-defmodule LiveBookWeb.HelpersTest do
-  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
-
-  alias LiveBookWeb.Helpers
-
-  doctest Helpers
-
-  describe "inspect_as_html/2" do
-    test "uses span tags for term highlighting" do
-      assert {:safe,
-              ~s{<span class="list">[</span><span class="number">1</span><span class="list">,</span> <span class="number">2</span><span class="list">]</span>}} ==
-               Helpers.inspect_as_html([1, 2])
-    end
-
-    test "escapes HTML in the inspect result" do
-      assert {:safe, ~s{<span class="string">&quot;1 &lt; 2&quot;</span>}} ==
-               Helpers.inspect_as_html("1 < 2")
-    end
-  end
-end