I have used SearXNG for a while, but I switched to LibreX after the search engine started glitching. Recently, though, LibreX has stopped returning any results. I am currently on Mojeek, but the results aren’t that great.
I have also tried Qwant, but I wasn’t too keen on it. Startpage will be impractical, as I use a VPN and this engine often blocks me because of it. I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons. MetaGer has too many important features behind its paywall. I’m not sure about DuckDuckGo, but I could use it if there was no other option.
Any suggestions, or am I being too picky?
Why are people so against DDG here? Just wondering because I use it and think it’s fine
US-based meaning 3 letter agencies can get your data without a court order and that you aren’t protected by the GDPR if you don’t live in the EU
Anything US based should be avoided.
General good practice
They track their users, even though not tracking users is supposed to be their thing.
DDG is basically Bing
I’m wondering the same. ddg has been great for me.
US is a big red flag
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I think they got bought out by Microsoft or something, so naturally people are weary of it now.
They use bing results but they most certainly weren’t bought by Microsoft. They have a deal with Microsoft to use their results without tracking. At least to my knowledge. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.
Oh right, thanks I wasn’t sure I just knew they made some deal with Microsoft
They had been contractually obligated to allow certain MS ad cookies/trackers as part of a big money deal, but I believe they were able to get those requirements removed and it’s actually zero trackers now.
I primarily use DuckDuckGo, and occasionally have to use a !bang to get to the Startpage or Google.
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Been a happy Kagi user for 6+ months now. No more Pinterest and other blogspam in my searches
Aren’t they fundamentally anti privacy? You have to be logged in so they can correlate literally everything you search for or click on with a credit card number and real name…
They ask a bit of trust on that, but their FAQ also has an appeal to reason:
I have privacy concerns over linking my search queries with my credit card. Why should I trust you?
We do not log search queries. Queries you type are never associated with your account. The simple reason is we don’t have any reason to do so, as it would only be a liability for us. We are in the business of selling search results, not user data.
(For the record, I use Kagi)
That’s asking for a hell of a lot of trust in them… wouldn’t be the first, or last, time companies lie about these things.
Yeah. I don’t think something that requires payment is inherently private. Even when paying for a service with something like Monero, you are still required to log into an account to use it.
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You could absolutely have a profile built about you on a VPN. VPNs don’t necessarilly have to be telling the truth when they say they don’t keep logs. You are entrusting the VPN with all of your internet traffic, which just passes the responsability from the ISP to the VPN provider.
I do use a VPN, but I am aware of its flaws.
Tor and/or I2P is what people should be using if they require absolute privacy (like if they’re a whistleblower).
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If SearXNG worked for you, why not use a more stable instance?
What issues did you have with SearXNG?
You could try to self host it, or even just run it on your local machine.
Shameless plug on how to set it up locally, and how to set up custom filters (to block junk websites and redirect reddit to the old interface).
It stopped returning results. I tried other instances: same problems. However, I think the issue may have been fixed.
I am currently on an iPhone, and I’m not really in a position to self-host (although I did try to set up a FreedomBox the other day).
Ah fair enough.
I started by having it on my laptop, and used it only there. Liked it so much that I’m renting a VPS around $5 a month to have it on all my devices.
But to be fair, I’m also hosting other things on that VPS (SearXNG is very light), so it’s multi-purpose.
Who do you like for VPS hosting?
Went with linode since it was reasonably priced and popular. But might move if something better comes along.
I have all the server setup done with ansible, so it’s super easy to reproduce everything in a new machine.
I recommend Oracle Cloud Always Free - 4 Arm cores, 24GB RAM, 200GB storage. I’ve used it before they sanctioned Russia and it worked fine (but if hardware fails your data will stay but you will be at the bottom of the queue for replacement)
Hetzner.
Can you tell us why Qwant wasn’t a good choice for you? I heard they work hard on respecting privacy while providing good results… So I am curious about your experience
The engine occasionally throws up a “Sorry, we’ve detected unusual traffic from your IP address” and then I have to type in my query again after solving the captcha. They’re also based in France, which is bringing in anti-encryption laws and suchlike, so (unless I’m an idiot, which is not unlikely) the risk of something compromising Qwant is rising a bit.
On top of that, it’s the only privacy-respecting search engine not to achieve an A grade on ToS;DR.
I really enjoy Ecosia. They also plant trees if you whitelist your adblocker they need to make money to plant trees which I have done
And their ads are very tame imo.
Isn’t it basically bing?
I use Startpage, it’s based within the EU and a proxy for Google results!
Vpn block…
What?
It was mentioned in OP’s post: Startpage tends to block those coming in from VPNs.
Why wpuld they do that? Unless they want to track you…
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I’m using nord and ive not faced that issue yet
You’re right, I’ve totally read over it. Sorry :) Can’t imagine a VPN is blocking it as I use it all the time, with and without a VPN. Maybe it’s your VPN provider?
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Google results
which these days are very very bad! especially if you search something tech/programming related.
Can anyone else endorse this? Looking for an alternative to duckduckgo. Thanks
Try Brave search
Qwant and kagi have been a great pair. Brave search was good, but they had some controversy a bit back.
I tried using SearXNG for a few weeks but I kept needing to chance instances. I’m using DuckDuckGo for now.
You can self host for a better experience
Swisscows maybe
I’m using https://metager.de/ it’s German and sometimes the results lean towards that but in 99% of cases it doesn’t matter.
There’s an English version out there, but some essential features are paid, such as enabling moderate safesearch or adding Mojeek as an engine.
I use a self hosted instance of Whoogle. It threw up an error a few days back. Got stuck in Google captcha(probably an IP issue). Now it has reset and it is smooth sailing.
Yeah, it is simply Google results, but I think it’s fine…
I have to say I used Random Searx a lot, startpage as Backup. And as VPNs are getting mainstream, it gets a pain in the ass. Mullvad Leta sucks too kinda. Now I use duckduckgo alone and actually never need my specially configured SearXNG search providers, although useful.
I have to say, I use a lot of search engines. Using the “Add custom search” Addon on Firefox you can easily add any URL containing a search word to your browser.
I maintain some lists of search engines that need updating.
