Although Google has been the go-to search engine for more than two decades, there are other search engines that offer more privacy and other features. In February 2025, PCMag.com published an article entitled "Go Beyond Google: The Best Alternative Search Engines for 2025." Following is a brief summary.
AOL Search
Includes a home page with curated content from various sources. See
AOL.
Bing
Close to Google and sometimes more useful.
Brave
Most private browser and search engine of them all. See
Brave browser.
DuckDuckGo
Best browser for anonymity. See
DuckDuckGo.
Ecosia
In collaboration with environmental organizations, Ecosia has planted more than 180 million trees. See
eco-friendly search engine.
Gibiru
Google searching without the tracking.
Mojeek
UK-based search engine that can return results based on emotion: happy, angry, etc.
Presearch
Distributes user queries to other search engines. Web3 oriented, users can earn PRE tokens if Presearch's search engine is used; however, withdrawal is not always guaranteed.
Qwant
EU-based anti-Google service ensuring no browsing history is stored and no targeted ads. Qwant Junior is a kid-friendly version.
Seekr
Aimed at political stories with results labeled right, left or center and their reliability.
Seva
Half of ad revenue donated to charities, including St. Jude, World Food Program and Best Friends Animal Society.
Startpage
Offers privatized results with Web pages accessed via a proxy server. See
Startpage.
Swisscows
Switzerland-based search offers a VPN, private messaging app and private email. X-rated sites do not appear in results, and a non-clickable image of a Web page can be viewed.
Yahoo!
Uses Bing along with own panel of trending searches. Provides a portal for news, weather, sports, trending searches and Yahoo! Mail. See
Yahoo!
Yep
Ninety percent of search revenue goes to users' favorite content creators. Includes AI chatbot.