# Ecosia Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/ecosia/ 16 people recommended Ecosia in Hacker News comments, 6 had mixed feelings and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 12 months, in 17 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** More people criticize it than recommend it. Free search engine many find decent for everyday queries, and it donates to nonprofits. Critics say it depends on Google and Bing results and pushes unwanted AI search. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Depends on Google or Bing (5 comments in the sample): "they do share user IP addresses with their search partners (Google and Microsoft" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45857701)) "It goes well with their greenwashing "search engine" (API to bing and google" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46135022)) "Ecosia has none, redirects to Google, its main competitor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804279)) - Pushes unwanted AI search (4 comments in the sample): "But I find how prominent / hard to avoid their AI search is, reeeeaaally annoying." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46130845)) "there's a button for "AI Search" but no button for normal search" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46148473)) "get rid of the new AI tab they've added" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48267186)) - Weaker results than Google (3 comments in the sample): "It's a noble effort, but they're so late to the game that it's hard to see them making a significant dent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46730659)) "I have tried to use ecosia, start page, duckduckgo, etc. Was never happy with those results" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48298055)) "I try Ecosia first, but their indexing is garbage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46052483)) - Greenwashing concerns about its green claims (1 comment in the sample): "It's typical greenwashing though. Plant a few trees so you don't have to feel bad about the energy use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051214)) ## Why people recommend it - Decent results for most searches (4 comments in the sample): "I use and enjoy Ecosia, it works pretty well for most use cases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48268084)) "It's not perfect but is decent for most general searches" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47490656)) "It gives really decent results for the time being" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156439)) - Better than Google for some (3 comments in the sample): "Whether DuckDuckGo, Kagi, Ecosia or anything else, they are all objectively and verifiably better search engines than Google" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46306254)) "All of them are better than google in finding relevant results." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45817765)) "At that point Ecosia became they better search engine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45822087)) - Money goes to good causes (2 comments in the sample): "if i know i'm helping the community in some way or doing something meaningful just by querying through ecosia" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49163529)) "They collaborate with a lot of nonprofits around the world so its also a good jumping off point" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49052487)) ## Other search engines people recommend - [Kagi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kagi/): 589 recommend, 99 mixed, 198 criticize - [DuckDuckGo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/duckduckgo/): 213 recommend, 52 mixed, 183 criticize - [Google Search](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-search/): 185 recommend, 98 mixed, 976 criticize - [Hister](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hister/): 69 recommend, 8 mixed, 8 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.ecosia.org/) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Ecosia", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ecosia/ (16 recommend, 6 mixed, 21 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.