Brave Search
Blog post about the new Brave Search beta . Based in the US. Launched in June 2021.
Replace today:
Google Search Bing
The Best Private Web Search Engines in 2026
Private alternatives to Google Search, Bing, vetted against our public criteria.
Showing 8 of 8
Everyday Anyone should use these
Mojeek
A crawler-based search engine that provides independent search results using its own index of web pages, rather than using results from other search engines. Based in the UK.…
DuckDuckGo
Privacy-focused search engine and mobile browser. Blocks trackers, forces encrypted connections, and does not profile you. Partially open-source, based in the US.
Startpage
Obtains Google search results while protecting users' privacy. Based in the Netherlands. Launched in 1998.
Qwant
French private search engine, EU-hosted, no personal data stored, blending its own index with Bing results.
Kagi
Paid, ad-free search engine with no tracking, customizable result ranking, and a small free trial.
Hardened If you will trade some convenience
SearXNG
The actively maintained successor to Searx. Self-hostable, open source metasearch engine. Users can access existing public instances.
No matches for those filters.
Every query you type is a window into what you think, plan, and worry about, and the default engines log all of it to build a profile. These search engines return real answers without keeping a diary of your curiosity. Some run their own index, others act as a private layer over the big engines.
Own index versus privacy layer
Two approaches live here. Some engines run their own independent index, so they do not depend on Google or Bing at all. Others act as a privacy proxy, stripping your identity before passing the query to a big engine and returning the results without the profiling. Both keep your searches off a profile, so pick based on whether you value independence or the broadest results.
What to look for
No logging of queries tied to your identity, results that are not bent by a profile of you, a clear statement of whether the engine indexes the web itself or proxies others, and no filter bubble quietly narrowing what you see. The absence of a profile is the point: everyone gets the same honest results.
Making the switch
Set the engine as your browser’s default and give it a week, since the habit is the only real adjustment. Learn the shortcut that jumps to another engine for the occasional stubborn search, so you never feel stuck. You keep the convenience of the address bar and simply stop feeding a permanent record of what you look up.
Frequently asked
- Are the results as good as Google's?
- For most everyday searches, yes. Some engines run their own index and some blend several sources, and both can match Google on common queries. For a stubborn local or obscure search, a quick shortcut to peek at another engine is built into most of them.
- Do they run their own index?
- Some do, and some act as a privacy layer in front of other engines, stripping your identity before passing the query along. Both keep your searches off a profile; the choice is between an independent index and the broadest possible results.
- How do I set one as default?
- Every browser lets you set a default search engine in settings, and these engines usually offer a one-click add. After that, your address bar just uses it, with no profile building up behind your searches.