# Alternatives to Ecosia Search that plants trees. Ecosia ranks #4 of 7 in Search engines, with an Alt Score of 60. It is free from Free and available on the web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ecosia/ Category: Search engines ## Overview - **Who it's for**: People who want their everyday web searching to fund environmental action, including anyone looking for a privacy-respecting alternative to mainstream search engines. - **What you get**: A regular web search engine (results powered by partners like Microsoft/Bing, alongside Ecosia's own developing index) that works like Google or Bing for everyday queries. Ecosia is a steward-owned, not-for-profit company that puts the large majority of its ad profits into tree planting, reforestation, renewable energy, and other climate projects instead of paying shareholders. It doesn't build personal ad-profiles from your search history, and it publishes monthly financial and impact reports for transparency. Also available as browser extensions and its own Chromium-based browser. - **How it works**: You search the web through ecosia.org (or the browser/extension) just as you would with any other search engine, and Ecosia earns revenue from the ads shown alongside results. It then funnels the majority of that ad income into funding tree-planting and climate projects run with local partners around the world. ## Profile - **License**: ? - **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-10) - **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-10) - **Platforms**: Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [Brave Search](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/brave-search.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web | | 2 | [Kagi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kagi.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web | | 3 | [DuckDuckGo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/duckduckgo.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Web | | 4 | [Google](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/google.md) | 50 | Proprietary | Web | | 5 | [Mojeek](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/mojeek.md) | 46 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 6 | [Startpage](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/startpage.md) | 24 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Search engines checklist | Ecosia | Brave Search | Kagi | DuckDuckGo | Google | Mojeek | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Subscription | Free | Free | Free | | Starts at | Free | $3.00/month | $5/mo | Free | Free | Free | | License | ? | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | | Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android | | Independent index | No | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes | | No tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Bangs / shortcuts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | | AI answers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Ad-free option | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | | Customizable ranking | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | | Self-hostable | No | No | No | No | No | No | | Maps & local results | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | | Image & video search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | | Paid tier value | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ## Sources Sources for Ecosia. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":0,"priceCurrency":"USD"" - **Pricing model**: Free — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":0,"priceCurrency":"USD"" — Free; ecosia.org pricing pages Cloudflare-blocked (403), App Store confirms free. - **Platforms**: Web — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Web search service. - Quote: “Go to https://www.ecosia.org.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “we’ve planted over 231 million trees in 40+ countries and we’re just getting started.” - **Independent index**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Search results and related ads on Ecosia come from our partners Microsoft Bing, Google and EUSP (European Search Perspective).” - **No tracking**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “We don’t track you . We care about trees, not your data.” - **Bangs / shortcuts**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “you can either use a # or ! at the beginning or end of your search query to help you find what you need.” - **AI answers**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Ecosia Search includes two generative AI features: AI Overviews and AI Chat.” - **Ad-free option**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: No paid ad-free tier documented; ecosia.org/plus 403s and no Ecosia Plus article exists. - Quote: “These ads are what allow us to fund tree‑planting and other climate projects.” - **Customizable ranking**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Choose among underlying providers (Bing/Google/EUSP); no algorithm tuning. - Quote: “If multiple providers are available, a Preferred search provider option will appear in your Ecosia settings.” - **Self-hostable**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: Hosted service on third-party search partnerships; not self-hostable. - Quote: “Search results and related ads on Ecosia come from our partners Microsoft Bing, Google and EUSP (European Search Perspective).” - **Maps & local results**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “Maps — 5 avenue anatole france” - **Image & video search**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-10) - Quote: “On the Images tab, you can filter by: Size (small, medium, large) Colour (colour, black & white, transparent)” - **Paid tier value**: No — (verified 2026-07-10) - Note: No paid tier; ad-funded only. - Quote: “These ads are what allow us to fund tree‑planting and other climate projects.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/