Want to branch out beyond Google? Here are some search engines worth checking out | TechCrunch

Google has dominated the search space for so long that a U.S. District Court judge recently found that it has acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search. You have probably used Google Search for as long as you can remember; it’s what replaced things like phone books and encyclopedias. 

But just because Google runs the most popular engine doesn’t mean you have to use it. If you have never considered a search engine beyond Google, you might be surprised to see what else is out there.

There are many Google Search alternatives on the market that have gained traction. Whether you’re looking for increased privacy, enhanced AI features or just something different, there are some notable options worth checking out.

While Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo are arguably the most well-known, there are tons of Google Search alternatives that have also been around for a while. But for this list, we’re focusing on newer, lesser-known entrants into the search engine space. (Disclaimer: TechCrunch is owned by Yahoo.) 

Now, let’s get into some Google Search alternatives worth exploring.

DuckDuckGo

If you want more privacy when you search, DuckDuckGo may be the right search engine for you. DuckDuckGo doesn’t track your search history, and its privacy policy outlines that it doesn’t collect or share any of your personal information, unlike Google, which collects your data to personalize your search results and the ads it shows you. 

DuckDuckGo has a simple layout that allows you to search for images, videos, news, maps and shopping results. You can also filter your results based on time, so you can choose to see results from the past day, week, month or year. Plus, you can base your results on specific regions. 

Like Google, DuckDuckGo offers a safe search feature. You can choose to have it off or on a “strict” or “moderate” setting. 

If you’re interested in AI, DuckDuckGo gives you anonymous access to a few different AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini, Anthropic’s Claude 3, Meta’s Llama 3.1 and Mixtral. DuckDuckGo reassures users that their conversations won’t be used to train AI. 

Ecosia

Ecosia is a good Google Search alternative for people who want to help save the planet. The search engine contributes to planting trees and has planted more than 213 million trees to date in over 35 countries. All of the search engine’s profits go toward its tree-planting and other environmental projects. 

The search engine is simple to use, and its results are powered by Google and Microsoft’s Bing, so you still get the same sorts of results but also help the environment while doing so. 

Ecosia uses essential cookies to provide search results, but searches are encrypted. If you do want personalized search results, you can opt into them. Ecosia will ask for your consent before enabling personalized search results and ads. 

Brave Search

Like DuckDuckGo, Brave Search also uses privacy as one of its selling points. The service says it doesn’t share, sell or collect your personal data. Brave Search doesn’t rely on other search engines and is instead built on its own independent search index.

Brave surfaces AI-powered answers to most questions at the top of your search results. If you don’t want AI-powered answers and only want to see standard results, you can toggle the feature off in the search engine’s settings. 

The search engine also has a “Discussions” section that will display content from forums like Reddit. Plus, you can refine your search results with the engine’s “Goggles” feature, which lets you filter your results with options like “no Pinterest,” “tech blogs,” “news from the left,” “news from the right” and more. 

Like some other engines on this list, Brave offers a safe search feature that you can have “off” or on a “strict” or “moderate” setting. 

Startpage

If you are used to Google search results and don’t want to try something else but want added privacy, Startpage might be a good choice. While Startpage is powered by Google, it promises that users don’t have to worry about personal data collection, tracking or targeting. 

The search engine’s “Anonymous View” feature masks your identity while you browse other websites, similar to a VPN. Startpage blocks trackers and also removes your IP address from all of its global premise servers. 

Startpage also lets you access unprofiled news, which means it doesn’t show news based on your browsing behavior. The search engine does show you promotional content on its homepage and search results page, but you can turn this off in Startpage’s settings. 

The search engine operates pretty similarly to Google, but if you want to access Maps, it will send you to Google or Bing. 

Perplexity

Perplexity is embroiled in a series of controversies at the moment. However, it is one of the most popular AI search engines on the market, so it’s worth mentioning. 

Unlike the other search engines on this list that simply offer AI features on top of their search results, Perplexity was created as an AI-powered search engine. Think of it like combining an AI chatbot with a search engine. 

Perplexity uses a conversational approach to search and gives you a concise answer to a question. If you don’t want a straightforward answer, Perplexity provides you with a list of websites in addition to its concise answer if you want to explore the web. Plus, there is a “related” section at the end of your search that brings up related queries that encourage further exploration. 

While the search engine is free to use, you can sign up for a $20 monthly subscription for additional features, such as access to image-generation models and the option to select your preferred AI model. 

SearchGPT

Although OpenAI’s SearchGPT isn’t widely available, it’s definitely one to look forward to once it officially launches. Given the success of OpenAI’s other products, the release of SearchGPT is sure to cause a ripple in Google’s Search dominance. 

OpenAI has said SearchGPT will give users “fast and timely answers” to questions. You will be able to type in a query and receive information and photos from the web along with links to relevant sources. You can then ask follow-up questions or explore related searches in a sidebar. 

Responses from the service cite and link sources so you know where the information is coming from. OpenAI has noted that since SearchGPT is about search and is separate from training OpenAI’s generative AI foundation models, the service will surface results from sites even if they have opted out of generative AI training. 

SearchGPT is still a prototype, so we can’t say too much about it now, but it will definitely be one to check out once it’s widely available.