# Startpage

25 Hacker News commenters recommended Startpage and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Private search that gives anonymous access to Google results and is a popular fallback. Critics say results trail Google and it is owned by an advertising company.

## Why people recommend it

- Anonymous access to Google results (3 comments): "Startpage is a disenshittifier for Google. I switched to it some years ago because of exactly that feature" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48279220)) "the "visit anonymously" functionality offered by Startpage gets around the problem in a pinch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46261940)) "doing anonymous searches in google" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48212716))
- Shows Google index without JavaScript (2 comments): "you can still use the Google index via other search indexes that can fetch Google results without JS (for example Startpage still works)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45827338)) "The Google index is still accessible from many other "proxy search engines" that still work without JS, one example is Startpage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47913665))
- Alternative to Big Tech search (2 comments): "Startpage, DDG, Brave, Ublock, NextDNS, Proton, Mulvad, and all those similar companies and OSS exist literally because people were infuriated at the Big Tech bait-and-switch tactics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46097352)) "I've been using non-Gulag search engines for many (5+) years now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48271564))
- Used as a fallback search (2 comments): "Brave/Startpage is a second but DDG is so good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46712648)) "I use !s for my fallback." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48297522))

## What people warn about

- Results not as good as Google (3 comments): "Startpage took me some time to get used to. It's not as good as Google, but whatever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47488924)) "Was never happy with those results and always ended up back at Google search." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48298055)) "they stink vs. Google even though Startpage is proxying them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266301))
- Shows text ads from partner search (2 comments): "ad-syndication bundle with no changes to result presentation - the model Startpage uses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46708775)) "text ads will remain visible on our default search partner's page - currently Startpage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575551))
- Trust concerns after advertising company ownership (2 comments): "Startpage has been great for me. Though I haven't trusted it as much since it was bought by an advertisement company" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283532)) "Startpage is owned by an American advertising company" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47494108))
- Users block it or hit issues (2 comments): "Let me just add startpage to blocked domains list." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49766488)) "I only run into issues with Brave/Startpage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49162648))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Kagi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kagi.md): 732 recommend
- [DuckDuckGo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/duckduckgo.md): 286 recommend
- [SearXNG](https://hackerapproved.com/p/searxng.md): 76 recommend
- [Brave Search](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-search.md): 67 recommend
- [Qwant](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qwant.md): 22 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.startpage.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Startpage", https://hackerapproved.com/p/startpage/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).