Startpage

What hackers pick instead

• KagiA paid search engine people choose for cleaner results without ads or tracking, with domain blocking, customization and opt-in AI answers; critics object to its Yandex data and pricing.732recommend
• DuckDuckGoA free, privacy-focused search engine that many find good enough now that Google has declined, with options to turn off AI; critics find results weaker than Google's.286recommend
• SearXNGSelf-hosted metasearch engine that blends results from many engines without ads, tracking or AI summaries. Common caveat: upstream engines often rate limit or block it.76recommend
• Brave SearchPeople recommend it as a private search engine with its own independent index, optional AI answers, and no forced AI. Critics say its results are sometimes weaker than Google's.67recommend
• QwantRecommended as a European alternative to Google that sometimes gives better results, though critics say it omits results Google finds and copies Google's interface.22recommend

Every quote

The 28 most detailed of 37 comments. Each links to the original.

1. 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

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Leak confirms OpenAI is preparing ads on ChatGPT for public roll out”

2. you can still use the Google index via other search indexes that can fetch Google results without JS (for example Startpage still works)

   Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser”

3. The Google index is still accessible from many other "proxy search engines" that still work without JS, one example is Startpage.

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Dillo Browser Release 3.3.0”

4. Startpage has been great for me. Though I haven't trusted it as much since it was bought by an advertisement company

   Mixed · May 2026 · in “Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore”

5. Startpage is a disenshittifier for Google. I switched to it some years ago because of exactly that feature

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore”

6. the "visit anonymously" functionality offered by Startpage gets around the problem in a pinch

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “VPN location claims don't match real traffic exits”

7. ad-syndication bundle with no changes to result presentation - the model Startpage uses

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Waiting for dawn in search: Search index, Google rulings and impact on Kagi”

8. text ads will remain visible on our default search partner's page - currently Startpage

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “15 Years of Forking”

9. Startpage took me some time to get used to. It's not as good as Google, but whatever.

   Mixed · Mar 2026 · in “Migrating to the EU”

10. I've been using non-Gulag search engines for many (5+) years now.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore”

11. Brave/Startpage is a second but DDG is so good

    Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Waiting for dawn in search: Search index, Google rulings and impact on Kagi”

12. doing anonymous searches in google

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Apparently Google hates us now”

13. I use !s for my fallback.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode”

14. Was never happy with those results and always ended up back at Google search.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode”

15. they stink vs. Google even though Startpage is proxying them

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore”

16. Startpage is owned by an American advertising company

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Migrating to the EU”

17. Let me just add startpage to blocked domains list.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Is startpage.com mining Bitcoin when you open it?”

18. I only run into issues with Brave/Startpage

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “SearXNG in Rust”

19. for any search where I actually need information and not sales or marketing bullshit

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Google Search as you know it is over”

20. google (and startpage, by extension) is stil great for showing local stuff

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Back to Kagi”

21. All of them are better than google in finding relevant results.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Google Removed 749M Anna's Archive URLs from Its Search Results”

22. I am able to search the web using my browser with startpage.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser”

23. I really liked the customization of "Startpage"

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore”

24. I like it better than DDG, but less than Brave.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Apparently Google hates us now”

25. I had to move to startpage.com for that.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “FFmpeg to Google: Fund us or stop sending bugs”

26. Our system has detected the type of high-volume traffic coming from your internet connection that is normally associated with bots and scrapers.

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Dillo Browser Release 3.3.0”

27. started making themselves impossible to use when they started aggressively blocking access via VPNs

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?”

28. but blocks you completely and only shows the form where you can say why you think they are wrong.

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?”