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.
People who want their everyday web searching to fund environmental action, including anyone looking for a privacy-respecting alternative to mainstream search engines.
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.
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.
Why people leave Ecosia
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Search engines checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Search engines checklist | Ecosia | Brave Search | Kagi | DuckDuckGo | Mojeek | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Independent index | ||||||
| No tracking | ||||||
| Bangs / shortcuts | ||||||
| AI answers | ||||||
| Ad-free option | ||||||
| Customizable ranking | ||||||
| Self-hostable | ||||||
| Maps & local results | ||||||
| Image & video search | ||||||
| Paid tier value |
Every fact and feature listed for Ecosia is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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Starts at Free verified 2026-07-10
offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":0,"priceCurrency":"USD""
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ecosia-private-web-browser/id670881887 -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-10
offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":0,"priceCurrency":"USD"" — Free; ecosia.org pricing pages Cloudflare-blocked (403), App Store confirms free.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ecosia-private-web-browser/id670881887 -
Platforms Web verified 2026-07-10
Web search service.
Go to https://www.ecosia.org.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/349-ecosia-settings -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
we’ve planted over 231 million trees in 40+ countries and we’re just getting started.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/406-about-ecosia -
Independent index No verified 2026-07-10
Search results and related ads on Ecosia come from our partners Microsoft Bing, Google and EUSP (European Search Perspective).
https://support.ecosia.org/article/579-search-results-providers -
No tracking Yes verified 2026-07-10
We don’t track you . We care about trees, not your data.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/406-about-ecosia -
Bangs / shortcuts Yes verified 2026-07-10
you can either use a # or ! at the beginning or end of your search query to help you find what you need.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/22-shortcuts -
AI answers Yes verified 2026-07-10
Ecosia Search includes two generative AI features: AI Overviews and AI Chat.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/1006-ai-search -
Ad-free option No verified 2026-07-10
No paid ad-free tier documented; ecosia.org/plus 403s and no Ecosia Plus article exists.
These ads are what allow us to fund tree‑planting and other climate projects.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/397-ads-on-ecosia -
Customizable ranking Partial verified 2026-07-10
Choose among underlying providers (Bing/Google/EUSP); no algorithm tuning.
If multiple providers are available, a Preferred search provider option will appear in your Ecosia settings.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/349-ecosia-settings -
Self-hostable No verified 2026-07-10
Hosted service on third-party search partnerships; not self-hostable.
Search results and related ads on Ecosia come from our partners Microsoft Bing, Google and EUSP (European Search Perspective).
https://support.ecosia.org/article/579-search-results-providers -
Maps & local results Yes verified 2026-07-10
Maps — 5 avenue anatole france
https://support.ecosia.org/article/447-search-features -
Image & video search Yes verified 2026-07-10
On the Images tab, you can filter by: Size (small, medium, large) Colour (colour, black & white, transparent)
https://support.ecosia.org/article/447-search-features -
Paid tier value No verified 2026-07-10
No paid tier; ad-funded only.
These ads are what allow us to fund tree‑planting and other climate projects.
https://support.ecosia.org/article/397-ads-on-ecosia
FAQ
Yes. Brave Search, DuckDuckGo and Google have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.