diff --git a/__tests__/index.spec.tsx b/__tests__/index.spec.tsx
index c7aef42..9120e54 100644
--- a/__tests__/index.spec.tsx
+++ b/__tests__/index.spec.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 import { shallow } from "enzyme";
 import React from "react";
 
+import Anser from "anser";
 import Ansi from "../src/index";
 
 const GREEN_FG = "\u001b[32m";
 const YELLOW_BG = "\u001b[43m";
 const BOLD = "\u001b[1m";
 const RESET = "\u001b[0;m";
+const NO_OP = "\u001b[99m";
 
 describe("Ansi", () => {
   test("hello world", () => {
@@ -269,4 +271,83 @@ describe("Ansi", () => {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  describe("as span", () => {
+    test("can return hello world as a span element", () => {
+      const el = shallow(
+        React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span" }, "hello world")
+      );
+      expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(el.text()).toBe("hello world");
+      expect(el.html()).toBe(
+        '<span>hello world</span>'
+      );
+    });
+
+    test("can return a link as a span element", () => {
+      const el = shallow(
+        React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span", linkify: true }, "https://nteract.io/")
+      );
+      expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(el.text()).toBe("https://nteract.io/");
+      expect(el.html()).toBe(
+        '<span><a href="https://nteract.io/" target="_blank">https://nteract.io/</a></span>'
+      );
+    });
+
+    test("can return nested span elements with color", () => {
+      const el = shallow(
+        React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span" }, `${GREEN_FG}hello ${YELLOW_BG}world`)
+      );
+      expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+      expect(el.text()).toBe("hello world");
+      expect(el.html()).toBe(
+        '<span style="color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">hello </span><span style="background-color:rgb(187, 187, 0);color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">world</span>'
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("data in chunks", () => {
+    describe("without anser prop", () => {
+      test("doesn't carry colors over", () => {
+        const dataInChunks = [`${GREEN_FG}hello `, `${YELLOW_BG}world`];
+        let el = "";
+        dataInChunks.map((spandata) =>
+          el += (shallow(React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span" }, spandata)).html())
+        );
+        expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+        expect(el).toBe(
+          '<span style="color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">hello </span><span style="background-color:rgb(187, 187, 0)">world</span>'
+        );
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe("with anser prop", () => {
+      test("can carry colors over", () => {
+        const anser = new Anser();
+        const dataInChunks = [`${GREEN_FG}hello `, `${YELLOW_BG}world`];
+        let el = "";
+        dataInChunks.map((spandata) =>
+          el += (shallow(React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span", anser: anser }, spandata)).html())
+        );
+        expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+        expect(el).toBe(
+          '<span style="color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">hello </span><span style="background-color:rgb(187, 187, 0);color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">world</span>'
+        );
+      });
+  
+      test("can carry colors over using a no-op option for chunks without code", () => {
+        const anser = new Anser();
+        const dataInChunks = [`${GREEN_FG}hello `, `${NO_OP}world`];
+        let el = "";
+        dataInChunks.map((spandata) =>
+          el += (shallow(React.createElement(Ansi, { as: "span", anser: anser }, spandata)).html())
+        );
+        expect(el).not.toBeNull();
+        expect(el).toBe(
+          '<span style="color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">hello </span><span style="color:rgb(0, 187, 0)">world</span>'
+        );
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 888670a..7b1bfe7 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -13,10 +13,11 @@ import * as React from "react";
  */
 function ansiToJSON(
   input: string,
-  use_classes: boolean = false
+  use_classes: boolean = false,
+  anser: Anser
 ): AnserJsonEntry[] {
   input = escapeCarriageReturn(input);
-  return Anser.ansiToJson(input, {
+  return anser.ansiToJson(input, {
     json: true,
     remove_empty: true,
     use_classes
@@ -143,14 +144,18 @@ declare interface Props {
   linkify?: boolean;
   className?: string;
   useClasses?: boolean;
+  as?: string;
+  anser?: Anser;
 }
 
 export default function Ansi(props: Props): JSX.Element {
-  const { className, useClasses, children, linkify } = props;
+  const { className, useClasses, children, linkify, as, anser } = props;
+  const elementType = ( as === "span" ) ? React.Fragment : "code";
+  const elementProps = ( as === "span" ) ? null : { className };
   return React.createElement(
-    "code",
-    { className },
-    ansiToJSON(children ?? "", useClasses ?? false).map(
+    elementType,
+    elementProps,
+    ansiToJSON(children ?? "", useClasses ?? false, anser ?? new Anser()).map(
       convertBundleIntoReact.bind(null, linkify ?? false, useClasses ?? false)
     )
   );