What alternatives do privacy experts recommend over DuckDuckGo?

1. Startpage: Google-like results without the profile — but watch the ownership

Startpage is repeatedly recommended because it returns Google-quality results while stripping identifying metadata and offering features such as “Anonymous View,” a proxy that prevents visited sites from seeing the user’s IP, and it explicitly markets “we don’t track you,” making it attractive to users who want Google-level relevance without profiling ^{[1] [5]}; however, privacy experts flag that Startpage was founded in the Netherlands and is now owned by U.S. company System1, a fact that complicates its privacy narrative and prompts scrutiny about corporate incentives ^[1].

2. Brave Search: a proprietary index that reduces reliance on Big Tech

Brave Search, built by the browser maker Brave, is praised for running its own search index — reducing dependence on Bing/Google sources — and for a privacy policy that aims to limit logging and profiling, attributes that privacy analysts highlight when recommending alternatives to engines that remix Big Tech results ^{[2] [6]}; experts note Brave’s combination of browser and search can simplify privacy controls, but they also remind users that independent indexes sometimes return narrower coverage for niche queries ^[2].

3. MetaGer, Mojeek, Kagi and Searx: transparency, decentralization and independent indexes

MetaGer and Searx appeal to privacy purists because they emphasize user control and open‑source transparency — MetaGer lets users choose which third‑party engines to query and Searx can be self‑hosted — while Mojeek and Kagi are singled out by security writers for running independent indexes that avoid sending queries to Big Tech altogether, though experts warn independent indexes can be smaller and have gaps compared with Google/Bing aggregators ^{[2] [3] [5]}.

4. Qwant, Proton’s picks and eco‑alternatives like Ecosia: regional rules, coherent privacy narratives, or mission-driven choices

European options such as Qwant and services highlighted by Proton each position themselves on regional privacy law and different business models — Qwant emphasizes EU jurisdiction while Proton’s roundup recommends multiple private engines that balance usefulness with legal protections — and mission-driven alternatives like Ecosia trade some tracking complexity for environmental impact by directing ad revenue to tree planting, a tradeoff experts identify for users with specific ethical priorities ^{[7] [8] [5]}.

5. Why some experts still stick with DuckDuckGo — and where it draws critique

Many reviewers concede DuckDuckGo remains a strong default because it avoids building user profiles and blocks third‑party trackers, with conveniences like a bundled browser and extension that lower the friction to adopt privacy protections ^{[9] [2]}; at the same time, independent testing and tracker blockers have flagged that DuckDuckGo’s results pages can include trackers attributable to the service itself and that its partnership with Microsoft for some results has raised questions among privacy analysts about residual tracker exposure ^{[4] [1]}.

6. Practical advice: mix tools to match threat models

Privacy experts routinely advise matching a search engine to the specific threat model: use Startpage or Brave for Google-like results without profiling, choose an independent index (Mojeek, Kagi) if avoiding Big Tech is paramount, deploy Tor or the DDG .onion for stronger network anonymity, and pair any search engine with a trusted VPN or private browser to hide IPs and encrypt traffic — a layered approach is the consensus rather than a single “best” replacement ^{[1] [4] [3]}.