Replaces Google Search
European alternatives to Google Search
Search engines operated from Europe
Browse the category: Search engines · Web browsers
Google Search is the search engine of Alphabet and the starting point for most web traffic. It ranks pages from its own index, answers many questions directly on the results page, and supports search across images, news, maps, shopping and video. The service is free to use and funded by advertising placed alongside and above the organic results.
Search queries are a running record of what you are curious about, worried about or planning to buy, and they feed the advertising profile attached to your account. A European alternative to Google Search runs that query through an EU or EFTA operator instead. Qwant and Mojeek build and run their own indexes, Ecosia is a search engine that puts its advertising income towards tree planting, and swisscows and metaGer offer search with an explicit privacy stance.
European options 6
Our pick
Qwant
Privacy focused search engine from France
Qwant is a search engine from France that does not store or sell data about the people using it. Results come from the Bing index mixed with an index Qwant builds itself, so the service does not depend on Google. There is also a separate search engine for children.
FranceEU hostedFree plan
Ecosia
Search engine from Germany that funds conservation
GermanyFree plan♻
Mojeek
Independent search engine from the United Kingdom
United KingdomFree plan
GOOD
Non-profit search engine from Germany
GermanyEU hosted♻
swisscows
Private search engine from Switzerland
SwitzerlandEFTA hostedFree plan
metaGer
German metasearch engine run by a non-profit
GermanyEU hosted♻Questions
How do I change my default search engine?
Every major browser lets you set the default in its settings, and most of these engines can be added in a couple of clicks. Qwant, Ecosia and Mojeek describe the steps for each browser on their own sites.
Do these engines have their own index?
Some do and some combine their own crawling with results from partners. Mojeek is known for running an independent index, and metaGer aggregates results from several sources.
Are these search engines free to use?
All of the engines listed here are free to use, funded through advertising or donations. Qwant, Ecosia and swisscows explain their funding models publicly, which is worth reading if it matters to you.