Want to get rid of Google search? Try these five other free search engines


On May 19, Google announced at its conference Google I/O developer conference She was making great strides in Combining Google search with advanced AI tools. Robbie Stein, Google’s vice president of search product, said at the time that search was moving into the “proxy” era. But if you don’t like the direction Google search is heading, there are other search engines you can try for free.

These search engines have some advantages over Google, such as more privacy. But the main drawback of these alternative search engines is that they may lack comprehensive results. This means that you may have to see more results on other search engines than on Google. I’ve found it helpful to be more specific with my search queries when using these other engines.

It’s also important to note that even if you use these search engines within your Google Chrome browser, you may not get the full benefit of some of these other engines. Here are five other free search engines you can use instead of Google search.

brave

Brave browser

Sarah Tew/CNET

brave It is a privacy-focused search engine that blocks trackers, and uses Google as its search engine Backup option. What this means is that if your Brave search doesn’t return a lot of results, you can enable the search engine to anonymously check Google for the same query.

Brave also offers other features, such as VPNA Crypto wallet and his eponymous AI assistant Leo. Your use of AI is private and secure, too, Brave said. You don’t even need to create or log in to an account to use Leo.

You can try brave Free.

Duck, duck, go

duckduckgo logo on the lock on the tablet screen

Getty Images/DuckDuckGo/VivaTong/CNET

Duck, duck, go It is another privacy-focused search engine that has described itself as anti-Google. While Google collects and stores data about you to create personalized search results, DuckDuckGo doesn’t track what you do and effectively blocks third-party trackers.

Over the past few years, DuckDuckGo has also expanded the free tools it offers people. Now it offers tools like Application tracking protection For Android users, especially VPN – Which Our experts said It was great for general privacy and live streaming – it’s called an AI tool DuckAssist.

You can try Duck, duck, go Free.

Ecosia

Ecosia logo on a green background.

Ecosia

This Berlin-based private search engine is an environmentally friendly option too. Ecosia He writes online It has planted more than 250 million trees and produces more clean energy than is needed to power all of its searches and AI queries. The company also writes online that all of its profits go toward climate action.

However, Ecosia writes in his book privacy policy It uses Google and Microsoft Bing to provide you with results. CNBC It was reported in 2024 that Ecosia and Paris-based search engine Qwant collaborated to create a European search index in order to reduce dependence on American companies.

You can try Ecosia Free.

Quant

Qwant logo on smartphone.

Soba images via Getty Images

This French search engine He writes online It doesn’t store your search data or sell your personal data, which makes it a good alternative to Google. In addition to search, Qwant also offers a feature called Qwant Junior, which provides He writes online It aims to help children between the ages of 6 and 12 explore the Internet safely.

You should know that Qwant has integrated artificial intelligence into its engine in what it calls Flash Answers. But you can deactivate it from your settings menu without crossing the hurdles. Historically, Qwant has used the Bing Search API, which allows companies to access Bing’s search infrastructure. But according to CNBCthe company partnered with Berlin-based search engine Ecosia in 2024 to build a European search index in order to reduce dependence on American companies.

You can try Quant Free.

Home page

Computer

Home page

Startpage is a search engine and it is also a Research complex. This means that it partners with other companies like Google and Microsoft Bing to provide you with search results.

Despite these partnerships, Startpage said it does not share any of your personal information with its partners and submits your search queries anonymously. Startpage said so too It does not use cookies for trackingand does not review or access cookies you may have from other websites. Think of Startpage as a way to use Google and Bing without getting your data.

You can try Home page Free.

Watch this: Watch Google reveal its biggest updates at Google I/O 2026 in 13 minutes

To learn more about other search engines, here’s what you should know about them Duck, duck, go and Brave search.



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