# Best private search engine: what anonymous search engines really protect URL: https://webvpn.org/anonymity/private-search-engine/ Updated: 2026-09-12 How to choose the most private search engine: what DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Startpage and metasearch engines hide, anonymous view features, and which fits your browser. The most private search engine is one that does not store your searches in a way tied to you, does not build a profile, and shows every user the same results for the same query. Several engines meet that standard by different routes: DuckDuckGo and Brave Search operate on a no-profiling basis, Startpage adds an anonymous view proxy for opening results, and metasearch engines such as SearXNG can be self-hosted so that no third party sees your queries at all. Which is best depends on whether you want an independent index, a proxy for result pages, or no intermediary. Search is the most revealing thing most people do online: queries expose health worries, finances, relationships and beliefs, and a mainstream engine ties every one to an account or a profile. Switching to a private engine is one of the easiest and highest-value privacy changes available. This guide explains what private search does and does not hide, how the main options differ, what anonymous view features do, how free private search is funded, and how to pick and set one as your default. ## What a private search engine hides, and what it cannot A private search engine promises three things: it does not store your queries linked to your identity or IP address, it does not build a profile of you across searches, and it does not personalise results based on who you are. Some add that they do not pass your query to the sites you click, which mainstream engines historically did through the referrer. What no search engine can hide is what happens after you click. The site you visit sees your IP address and browser fingerprint like any other site. Your network sees the connection. If you want that hidden too, you need Tor Browser or a VPN alongside the private engine, as the anonymous browsing guide on this site explains. The companion guide on whether DuckDuckGo hides your IP address deals with this common confusion directly. ## The main options compared The engines fall into three groups by how they get their results. Independent index engines crawl the web themselves. Brave Search is the prominent example: it runs its own index, does not profile users, and is the default in the Brave browser while being usable from any browser. Its results reflect its own crawl rather than a larger engine's. Engines drawing on other indexes obtain results from a major provider under contract while stripping identifying information before the query is passed on. DuckDuckGo draws mainly on Bing plus its own crawler and many specialised sources, and does not store personal information or IP addresses. Startpage returns Google results through its own servers, so Google sees a query from Startpage rather than from you, and adds its anonymous view feature. These engines give mainstream-quality results with the privacy handled by the intermediary, whose policies you are trusting. Metasearch engines query several engines at once and merge the results. SearXNG is the open-source example and can be run on a public instance operated by a volunteer or self-hosted on your own server, in which case no third party sees your queries at all. Public instances vary in trustworthiness; self-hosting is the strongest option and the most effort. DuckDuckGo is the most widely used and the easiest to adopt, Brave Search the most independent, Startpage the closest to Google's results with a proxy for viewing pages, and a self-hosted SearXNG the most private for those willing to run it. ## Anonymous view and other features worth having Startpage's anonymous view, and similar features elsewhere, load a result page through the search engine's proxy, so the destination site sees the proxy rather than you. It is a convenient way to read a page without revealing your IP address or being tracked by that site, and it works like the web proxies described elsewhere on this site, with the same trust placed in the proxy operator. Other features worth checking: the ability to open results in new tabs without a referrer, a setting to disable any query suggestions that send keystrokes to the server as you type, a URL parameter or POST method that keeps queries out of your browser history and server logs, and a Tor onion service, which several private engines provide for use in Tor Browser. ## How free private search is funded Private search engines are free to use and most show advertising, but the model differs from mainstream engines: ads are matched to the search term you just typed, not to a profile built from your history. When you search for a laptop, you see laptop ads; the engine does not need to know who you are. Some engines add affiliate revenue from shopping results and some offer paid tiers without ads. The distinction to understand is that "free" here is not funded by collecting your data, which is the usual meaning of free online. Read the privacy policy for the specific engine; the good ones are short and specific. ## Choosing a private search engine: a six-point checklist - Read the privacy policy and confirm it states that queries are not stored with identifiers such as IP addresses or user IDs. - Decide whether you want an independent index, mainstream-quality results through an intermediary, or a self-hosted metasearch with no third party. - Check where the company is based and what disclosure obligations apply there, if that matters to you. - Try the results for the searches you actually do; privacy that leads you back to a mainstream engine for half your queries is not helping. - Look for an onion service if you use Tor Browser, and for anonymous view if you often read pages you would rather not visit directly. - Set it as the default in every browser and on your phone, so private search is the path of least resistance. ## Setting a private search engine as default Every browser allows changing the default search engine in its settings. Brave browser defaults to Brave Search. Firefox and Safari list DuckDuckGo among the built-in options and Firefox allows adding any engine. Chrome requires adding the engine in the search settings, and on some platforms the private engines offer an extension that does it. On phones, change the default in the browser's settings and, if you use a search widget, replace it with the engine's own app or widget. Tor Browser uses DuckDuckGo by default and its onion service when available. ## What the engines and privacy reviewers say The comparisons above follow the engines' own published policies and independent assessments. DuckDuckGo, Brave Search and Startpage publish privacy policies stating that they do not store personal identifiers with searches and do not build user profiles, and each explains its funding model as contextual rather than behavioural advertising. The SearXNG project describes itself as a privacy-respecting metasearch engine intended for self-hosting, and notes that public instances are only as trustworthy as their operators. Privacy reviewers who have compared search engines generally agree that all of the above are a substantial improvement on mainstream engines and differ mainly in independence of index, result quality for specific query types, and jurisdiction, and they consistently note that no engine hides the searcher from the sites they click through to. ## Switch today, then keep going Change your default search engine in every browser you use to a private one from the options above. It takes two minutes and removes one of the largest sources of personal data about you. Then, if you want the pages you visit hidden as well, read the anonymous browsing guide on this site, because search privacy is the first step, not the last. ## FAQ Q: What is the most private search engine? A: There is no single answer, because the engines differ in how they achieve privacy. DuckDuckGo and Brave Search do not store queries tied to users; Startpage adds an anonymous view proxy for results; self-hosted or community metasearch engines remove the middleman's servers entirely. All are far more private than mainstream engines; which is best depends on whether you value an independent index, a proxy view, or no third party at all. Q: Is DuckDuckGo an anonymous search engine? A: DuckDuckGo does not store your IP address or a user profile with your searches, so your searches are anonymous to DuckDuckGo. It does not hide your IP address from the websites you click through to, and it does not make you anonymous online in general. Q: What does the anonymous view feature in a private search engine do? A: It loads a result page through the search engine's own proxy so that the destination site sees the search engine's server rather than you. It is useful for reading a page without revealing your IP address, and it does not hide your activity from the search engine that provides it. Q: Are private search engines free? A: The well-known ones are free to use and funded by contextual advertising based on the search term rather than on a profile of you, or by paid tiers. Some offer paid ad-free plans. Free here does not mean funded by your data, which is the point. Q: Can I set a private search engine as default in my browser? A: Yes. Every major browser lets you change the default search engine in settings, and the private engines provide instructions. Brave browser ships with Brave Search; Firefox and Safari include DuckDuckGo as an option; Chrome requires adding it in settings.