Independent reviews of search engines based on query logging, tracking practices, jurisdiction, and result quality—not affiliate commissions.
| Engine | Logs Queries | Own Index | Jurisdiction | Result Quality | Verdict | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave Search | No | Yes | USA | Good | Recommended | Visit Site |
| DuckDuckGo | No | No | USA | Good | Recommended | Visit Site |
| SearXNG | No | No | Self-hosted | Varies | Recommended | Visit Site |
| Yes | Yes | USA | Excellent | Avoid | Visit Site |
Own index means the engine crawls the web itself rather than proxying results from Google or Bing. Own-index engines are more independent but may have smaller coverage.
Your search queries reveal your interests, concerns, health questions, and intentions. A private search engine must not log queries or associate them with your IP address or any identifier.
Where the engine is hosted determines what governments can demand. US and UK engines are subject to national security letters and other coercive demands. European engines face GDPR protections.
Search engines that rely entirely on Google or Bing are one partnership change away from losing independence. Engines with their own index or open-source code are more trustworthy long-term.
Some "private" search engines include tracking elements in result pages or use advertising networks that profile users. Check whether ads are contextual (based on your query) or behavioural (based on your profile).
Without a VPN or Tor, the search engine can see your IP address even if it does not log queries. For most people this is acceptable, but if your threat model requires hiding searches from the provider itself, combine a private search engine with a VPN.
Many private search engines proxy results from Bing or Google. While your queries are anonymised, you are still dependent on Microsoft or Google for the underlying index. Corporate policy changes can affect these engines overnight.
Clicking on a result takes you to a website that can track you regardless of which search engine referred you. Use a privacy browser and uBlock Origin alongside a private search engine.
In your browser settings, change the default search engine to Brave Search or DuckDuckGo. This is a five-second change with immediate privacy benefits.
In Firefox: Settings → Search → Default Search Engine.
In Brave: Settings → Search Engine → Default search engine.
DuckDuckGo's bang feature lets you search specific sites directly: !g for Google, !w for Wikipedia, !gh for GitHub. You get the privacy of DuckDuckGo for most searches with the ability to quickly reach Google when needed.
A private search engine is most effective when combined with a privacy browser that blocks trackers on result pages and destination sites. Firefox with uBlock Origin or Brave complement any private search engine well.
For most everyday searches, yes — Brave Search and DuckDuckGo return quality results. For very niche technical queries, cutting-edge news, or local searches, Google's coverage is still superior. Many people use DuckDuckGo bangs to fall back to Google for specific searches while keeping privacy as the default.
The 2022 controversy involved DuckDuckGo's browser (not the search engine) having an exception that allowed Microsoft trackers on third-party sites. DuckDuckGo has since removed this exception. The search engine itself has always been privacy-respecting.
Startpage proxies Google results with privacy protection — you get Google's quality without Google tracking you. It was acquired by a European advertising company (System1) in 2019, which caused concern in the privacy community. The privacy policy has remained consistent since, but the corporate ownership is worth being aware of.
A VPN prevents your ISP from seeing your searches and hides your real IP from the search engine. Combined with a private search engine, you get strong protection from both ISP-level and provider-level logging. It is a good combination, but not required for most people's threat model.