DuckDuckGo Lite
Shares rank 28 of 38 search engines by recommenders
Fast, plain search page that works in text browsers and on slow connections. One critic says it blocks users who look past 200 results.
Fast, plain search page that works in text browsers and on slow connections. One critic says it blocks users who look past 200 results.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fast and works in text browsers
“Very fast and compatible with minimalistic web browser like lynx.”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “Some surprising things about DuckDuckGo” Usable on slow or metered connections
“I use it often when on very slow or metered connections”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Text-Based Web Browsers” Captcha easier than most
“far better that any other captcha I have ever seen”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser” Avoids search bubbles
“if you don't want bubblification”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Blocks deep result pages as bots
“automatically block anyone who looks deeper than 200 search results as a bot”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “DuckDuckGo makes its 'no-AI' search engine easier to access as its traffic booms”
Other search engines people recommend
The four most recommended other search engines, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kagi | 732 | 234 | 76% | 13 | 2 yrs106 owners | Approved |
| Google Search | 315 | 1,039 | 23% | 12 | 20 yrs25 owners | — |
| DuckDuckGo | 286 | 204 | 58% | 12 | 3.5 yrs47 owners | — |
| Hister | 81 | 9 | 90% | 9 | 2 mo17 owners | Approved |
| DuckDuckGo LiteThis page | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“if you don't want bubblification”
“automatically block anyone who looks deeper than 200 search results as a bot”
“I use it often when on very slow or metered connections”
“Very fast and compatible with minimalistic web browser like lynx.”
“far better that any other captcha I have ever seen”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.