The Best Open Source DuckDuckGo AlternativesTop Web Search & Image Search Engines like DuckDuckGo

The best open source alternative to DuckDuckGo is Searx. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to DuckDuckGo and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to DuckDuckGo are SearXNG, YaCy, MetaGer and Stract.

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DuckDuckGo alternatives are mainly Web Search Engines, but if you're looking for Image Search Engines or Privacy Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Kindle Fire + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to DuckDuckGo.
DuckDuckGo iconDuckDuckGo
  1519
  • ...

Privacy-focused search engine offering Zero-click Info, instant answers, and more, built from open-source software for a user-friendly experience.

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DuckDuckGo alternatives page was last updated Mar 4, 2025
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  1. Searx icon

    Searx

     286 likes
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    Searx is a free internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from more than 70 search services. Users are neither tracked nor profiled. Additionally, searx can be used over Tor for online anonymity.

    102 Searx alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    Searx screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Searx is no longer maintained. The GitHub repository has been archived on September 7, 2023. Users should probably take a look at SearXNG icon SearXNG.

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Meta-Search
    2.  Decentralized
    3.  Self-hosted search
    4.  No Tracking
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Video search
    9.  Reverse Image Search
    10.  REST API

    Searx VS DuckDuckGo

     
    Comments about Searx as an Alternative to DuckDuckGo
    Top Positive Comment
    Buster_Blue
    Sep 26, 2017
    3

    Both are search engines that focus on privacy. Searx is a metasearch engine, however.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    Oct 16, 2023
    0

    It requires too much work in order to see if it is even similar.

    Most Recent Comment
    Oscar Sanderson
    Positive Jul 22, 2021
    -1

    Is more privacy focused and you can configue it easierly

    Show more comments
    3 of 5 comments
    DuckDuckGo Icon
    Searx icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Searx is a great DuckDuckGo alternative.

    • Searx is the most popular Linux & Self-Hosted alternative to DuckDuckGo.

    • Searx is the most popular Open Source alternative to DuckDuckGo.

    • Searx is Free and Open SourceDuckDuckGo is Free and Proprietary
    • Searx is Customizable, Decentralized and Privacy focusedDuckDuckGo is not according to our users
  2. SearXNG icon

    SearXNG

     101 likes
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    SearXNG is a free internet metasearch engine which aggregates results from various search services and databases. Users are neither tracked nor profiled.

    105 SearXNG alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Arch Linux
    • Fedora
    • Ubuntu
    • Debian
    • Docker
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    SearXNG screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Meta-Search
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Dark Mode
    5.  Self-hosted search
    6.  Decentralized
    7.  No registration required
    8.  No Logs

    SearXNG VS DuckDuckGo

     
    Comments about SearXNG as an Alternative to DuckDuckGo
    youlk1234
    Aug 6, 2024
    0

    Cool, but you need your own server to set it up, which costs money...

    DuckDuckGo Icon
    SearXNG icon

    • Almost everyone thinks SearXNG is a great DuckDuckGo alternative.

    • SearXNG is Free and Open SourceDuckDuckGo is Free and Proprietary
    • SearXNG is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightDuckDuckGo is not according to our users
  4. YaCy icon

    YaCy

     141 likes
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    YaCy is a free search engine that anyone can use to build a search portal for their intranet or to help search the public internet. When contributing to the world-wide peer network, the scale of YaCy is limited only by the number of users in the world and can index billions of...

    93 YaCy alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    YaCy screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Decentralized
    2.  Peer-To-Peer
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  No registration required
    6.  No Logs
    7.  Dark Mode

    YaCy VS DuckDuckGo

     
    Comments about YaCy as an Alternative to DuckDuckGo
    HonestJohn
    Positive Apr 1, 2019
    7

    I use almost excusively DuckDuckGo nowadays but YaCy is my ideal. Fully open source, fully decentralized search engine. Unfurtunatelly is still is kind of beta-alpha product, however if you desire true alternative to the "do(n't) be evil" serach engine, you should keep an eye on it.

    Guest
    Negative Oct 16, 2023
    0

    I don't want to install something...

    DuckDuckGo Icon
    YaCy icon

    • Almost everyone thinks YaCy is a great DuckDuckGo alternative.

    • YaCy is the most popular Windows & Mac alternative to DuckDuckGo.

    • YaCy is Free and Open SourceDuckDuckGo is Free and Proprietary
    • YaCy is Decentralized, Privacy focused and LightweightDuckDuckGo is not according to our users
  5. MetaGer icon

    MetaGer

     56 likes
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    MetaGer is an open source metasearch engine focused on protecting users' privacy. Based in Germany, and hosted as a cooperation between the German NGO 'SUMA-EV - Association for Free Access to Knowledge' and the University of Hannover, the system is built on 24...

    91 MetaGer alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • F-Droid
    • Tor
    Homepage. With dark mode.

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Meta-Search
    2.  Dark Mode
    3.  Work without JavaScript
    4.  No Tracking
    5.  No registration required
    6.  Built-In Proxy
    7.  Anonymous Proxy
    8.  Tor

    MetaGer VS DuckDuckGo

     
  6. Stract icon

    Stract

     28 likes
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    Stract is an open source search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. It's a search engine made for hackers and tinkerers just like ourselves.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online
    Stract screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  No registration required
    2.  Dark Mode
    3.  Bangs
    4.  Indexed search
    5.  No Logs
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  No Tracking
    8. Wikipedia icon  Wikipedia integration

    Stract VS DuckDuckGo

     
    Comments about Stract as an Alternative to DuckDuckGo
    youlk1234
    Positive Aug 6, 2024
    0

    Useful, i switched to it recently. To me, the most useful features are the bangs. !w for example brings you directlly to Wikipedia

    DuckDuckGo Icon
    Stract icon
    • Stract is Free and Open SourceDuckDuckGo is Free and Proprietary
    • Stract is Privacy focused and LightweightDuckDuckGo is not according to our users
  7. Whoogle Search icon

    Whoogle Search

     29 likes
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    Get Google search results, but without any ads, javascript, AMP links, cookies, or IP address tracking. Easily deployable in one click as a Docker app, and customizable with a single config file. Quick and simple to implement as a primary search engine replacement on both...

    93 Whoogle Search alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Whoogle Search screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Self-hosted search
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  No Logs
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Decentralized
    8.  Block Trackers
    9.  Meta-Search

    Whoogle Search VS DuckDuckGo

     
  9. 4get icon

    4get

     18 likes
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    This is a metasearch engine that gets results from other engines, and strips away all of the tracking parameters and Microsoft bullshit they add. Most of the other alternatives to Google jack themselves off about being ""privacy respecting"" or whatever the...

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • CA flagCanada

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Tor
    Search settings retrieved from main instance.

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  No registration required
    2.  Dark Mode
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  No Tracking
    5.  Anonymous Proxy
    6.  No Logs
    7.  Block Trackers
    8.  No Coding Required

    4get VS DuckDuckGo

     
  10. Mwmbl Search icon

    Mwmbl Search

     12 likes
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    Mwmbl is a non-profit, ad-free, free-libre and free-lunch search engine with a focus on useability and speed. At the moment it is little more than an idea together with a proof of concept implementation of the web front-end and search technology on a small index.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Online
    Main Page

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  Crowdsourced
    3.  Non profit
    4.  Browser extension
    5.  Distributed
    6.  Community-based
    7.  Instant Answers

    Mwmbl Search VS DuckDuckGo

     
    Comments about Mwmbl Search as an Alternative to DuckDuckGo
    youlk1234
    Positive Aug 6, 2024
    0

    It doesn't just crawl the whole web, just the sites YOU ASK...

    DuckDuckGo Icon
    Mwmbl Search icon
    • Mwmbl Search is Free and Open SourceDuckDuckGo is Free and Proprietary
    • Mwmbl Search is Privacy focusedDuckDuckGo is not according to our users
8 of 32 DuckDuckGo alternatives