# Alternatives to Google

The index everyone measures against.

Google ranks #5 of 7 in Search engines, with an Alt Score of 50. It is proprietary, free from Free and available on the web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/google/
Category: Search engines

## Where Google stands out

- **Independent index** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Anyone looking to find information, websites, or answers on the internet — from casual users to researchers and professionals doing everyday lookups.
- **What you get**: A ranked list of relevant web pages, images, videos, news, and maps results for a given query, often paired with direct answers, knowledge panels, or AI-generated summaries above the links. Results are personalized based on location, search history, and device.
- **How it works**: A user types or speaks a query into the search box; Google matches it against its index of crawled web pages and returns ranked results, letting the user click through to a source or read an on-page answer directly.

## Profile

- **License**: Proprietary (verified 2026-07-10)
- **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 | [Ecosia](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ecosia.md) | 60 | ? | 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 | Google | Brave Search | Kagi | DuckDuckGo | Ecosia | 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 | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | Yes |
| No tracking | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bangs / shortcuts | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| 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 Google. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Ads help us keep Search accessible – but they're the only thing we sell. We don't charge anyone to be in our search index, and we don't accept payment for search result rankings.”
- **License**: Proprietary — <https://policies.google.com/terms> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of our services or software.”
- **Starts at**: Free — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Ads help us keep Search accessible – but they're the only thing we sell.”
- **Platforms**: Web — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/112511> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Web-based service.
  - Quote: “Go to Google.com.”
- **Status**: active — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Google Search is gradually making AI Overviews available to more users, in more languages and regions.”
- **Independent index**: Yes — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/organizing-information/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Most of our Search index is built through the work of software known as crawlers. These automatically visit publicly accessible webpages and follow links on those pages, much like you would if you wer”
- **No tracking**: No — <https://safety.google/intl/en/safety/ads-data/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Google uses your information to show you ads that we think are relevant to your interests based on your activities or help you discover something new.”
- **Bangs / shortcuts**: No — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Documented operators (quotes, site:, -exclude, before:/after:) include no bang-style shortcuts.
  - Quote: “Here are some popular operators:”
- **AI answers**: Yes — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “AI Overviews can take the work out of searching by providing an AI-generated snapshot with key information and links to dig deeper.”
- **Ad-free option**: No — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: No ad-free tier; ads are the sole monetization for Search.
  - Quote: “Ads help us keep Search accessible – but they're the only thing we sell.”
- **Customizable ranking**: Partial — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/179386> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Location/context settings influence results; no direct control of the ranking algorithm.
  - Quote: “You can update your location settings as you use Google services to get the search results you want and control your privacy in a way that's right for you.”
- **Self-hostable**: No — <https://policies.google.com/terms> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of our services or software.”
- **Maps & local results**: Yes — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/features/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Search contains maps when appropriate that can help you get to where you want to go, or more easily locate local businesses and information.”
- **Image & video search**: Yes — <https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/112511> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: Video results also supported (support.google.com/websearch/answer/11216447: 'You can find video results for most searches on Google Search').
  - Quote: “To find a page or an answer to a question, you can search for a related image on Google Images.”
- **Paid tier value**: No — <https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Note: No paid tier for Search; ad-supported and free.
  - Quote: “We don't charge anyone to be in our search index, and we don't accept payment for search result rankings.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/