Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?
I dropped Google Search over 10 years ago because my searches were enshitified and bubble wrapped, and quotes stopped mattering, making it impossible to escape the bubble. As the saying goes, it happened before and will happen again: now DuckDuckGo is enshitifying my searches by bubblification and ignoring quotes. I'm not interested in AI chatbots; I prefer multiple sources and to cross-check information myself. What alternatives are you using or recommending?
I've been using Startpage for a while. It gives Google results without the tracking, and quotes are respected. It's not perfect, but it's a decent middle ground.
Try SearXNG. It's a metasearch engine that aggregates results from multiple sources, and you can self-host it to avoid any filtering or bias. It respects quotes and doesn't bubble-wrap.
I've moved to Kagi. It's a paid search engine that prioritizes privacy and lacks ads. You can customize the results, and it respects quotes. It's not free, but it's worth it for the quality.
For technical searches, I use Marginalia Search. It indexes non-commercial, independent websites, so you get more authentic results without the SEO spam.
I've been using Brave Search. It has its own index and doesn't rely on Bing or Google. It respects quotes and offers a privacy-friendly experience.