Best Search Engines Curated by Github Users

Abstract

This technical assessment provides an evidence-based analysis of search engine services. In contrast to commercial review sites, this framework prioritizes empirical analysis via privacy policies, open source availability, independent audits, and operational transparency.

Simply the facts.

Methodology

Evaluation Criteria

Our evaluation considers:

1. Code Transparency: Public availability of source code

2. Privacy Policy: Clear and verifiable no-tracking policies

3. Data Collection: What user data is collected and stored

4. Independent Verification: Third party audits and reviews

5. Privacy Architecture: Technical implementation and tracking prevention

Ignore the marketing. Read the facts.

Search Engine Comparison

Rank	Service	Open Source	No Tracking	No Logs	Anonymous	Own Index	Audited
1	Kagi	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
2	Brave Search	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
3	SearXNG	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
4	DuckDuckGo	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
5	Startpage	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
6	Mojeek	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
7	Qwant	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
8	Ecosia	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
9	Bing	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
10	Google	No	No	No	No	Yes	No

Critical Understanding: Privacy vs Tracking Based Search

Class 1: Privacy First (No Tracking by Design)

The following search engines represent privacy-focused alternatives. They do not track by design.

Kagi: Paid subscription model eliminates advertising incentives. No tracking of searches or clicks; no profiling; minimal data collection needed to operate the service. Paid model ensures alignment with user privacy.
Brave Search: Independent index built from scratch. No user profiling, no tracking, anonymous usage possible. Built by privacy-focused Brave Software.

Class 2: Privacy Respecting (Verified by Policy)

These search engines do not track by policy, verified through privacy policies and operational transparency.

SearXNG: Open source metasearch engine. Self-hostable. No tracking by design. Queries multiple search engines without passing user data.
DuckDuckGo: Verified privacy policy. Does not log searches or use tracking cookies. Metasearch engine using Bing and other sources.
Startpage: Privacy audited. Anonymous proxy view. Uses Google results without tracking. Based in Netherlands (EU privacy laws).
Mojeek: Independent crawler and index. No user tracking. UK-based. Transparent privacy policy.
Qwant: French search engine. GDPR compliant. No tracking or personalization. Based in France (EU privacy laws).
Ecosia: Tree-planting search engine. Privacy respecting. Uses Bing results. Transparent operations.

Detailed Service Analysis

1. Kagi

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: No ads, no tracking of search behavior, minimal data collection
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: Paid subscription model; no advertising incentives; no user profiling
Own index: Partial (operates Teclis for non-commercial web and TinyGem for news; supplements with external indexes)
What's logged (by policy): Account email and billing-related information; no search logs tied to accounts (per policy)
Anonymous usage: Account required; Privacy Pass available for paid users (cryptographic tokens allow searches not linkable to account)
Operational history: ~3 years

2. Brave Search

Code transparency: Proprietary (company open sources browser)
Privacy policy: No personal information collected about you, your device, or your searches
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: Independent index; no user profiling; anonymous usage (aggregated anonymous metrics only)
Own index: Yes (Brave Index)
What's logged (by policy): Aggregated anonymous metrics only; no personal data
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~4 years

3. SearXNG

Code transparency: Fully open source
Privacy policy: No tracking by design
Org transparency: Community driven
Privacy architecture: Self-hostable metasearch; queries multiple engines without passing user data; no tracking by design
Own index: No (metasearch engine)
What's logged (by policy): No tracking by design; logging varies by instance operator
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~3 years (fork of Searx ~8 years)

4. DuckDuckGo

Code transparency: Partially published (apps and browser extensions)
Privacy policy: No tracking, no search history saved or shared
Org transparency: Partially disclosed
Privacy architecture: No unique tracking cookies; only anonymous cookies/local storage for settings; no personal identifiers
Own index: Partial (uses Bing and 400+ other sources)
What's logged (by policy): No personal identifiers; anonymous settings only
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~17 years

5. Startpage

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: No tracking; previously audited with the EuroPriSe privacy seal
Org transparency: Not fully disclosed. Owned by System1
Privacy architecture: Anonymous proxy view; removes identifying information before forwarding to Google
Own index: No (uses Google results)
What's logged (by policy): Nothing identifiable
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~25 years

6. Mojeek

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: No tracking, no profiling
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: Independent crawler; no user data collection; UK-based
Own index: Yes (independent crawler)
What's logged (by policy): Very limited logs; see policy
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~20 years

7. Qwant

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: GDPR compliant, no tracking
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: French company; EU privacy laws; no personalization
Own index: Partial (own crawler supplemented with Bing; joint EU index effort with Ecosia)
What's logged (by policy): Nothing identifiable
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~11 years

8. Ecosia

Code transparency: Proprietary (publishes financial reports)
Privacy policy: Privacy respecting, no tracking
Org transparency: Fully disclosed with transparency reports
Privacy architecture: Uses Bing; anonymizes searches; tree-planting mission
Own index: No (uses Bing results)
What's logged (by policy): IP anonymized after 7 days; partners (Microsoft/Google) retain longer per their policies
Anonymous usage: Yes
Operational history: ~16 years

9. Bing

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: Tracks users extensively
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: Tracks searches, builds user profiles, targets ads
Own index: Yes (Microsoft's own crawler)
What's logged (by policy): Extensive user data
Anonymous usage: No
Operational history: ~16 years

10. Google

Code transparency: Proprietary
Privacy policy: Tracks users extensively
Org transparency: Fully disclosed
Privacy architecture: Tracks searches, builds detailed user profiles, targets ads across services
Own index: Yes (world's largest search index)
What's logged (by policy): Extensive user data across all Google services
Anonymous usage: No
Operational history: ~27 years

Conclusion

Kagi and Brave Search represent a new generation of privacy-first search engines with independent indexes. Kagi's paid model eliminates advertising conflicts of interest, while Brave's anonymous-by-default approach provides similar benefits without payment requirements.

For users prioritizing open source and self-hosting, SearXNG provides complete transparency and control. DuckDuckGo remains the most popular privacy alternative with 17+ years of operation, while Startpage offers Google results without tracking for users who prefer Google's search quality.

The traditional search giants (Google and Bing) offer superior search quality through extensive data collection but at significant privacy costs. The choice between search quality and privacy continues to narrow as privacy-focused alternatives improve their indexes and algorithms.

Evidence-based evaluation.