7 Best European Alternatives to Google Search (2026), Compared

The best European alternative to Google Search is Ecosia (Germany): its results are as good as the big engines’, it builds its own European index together with Qwant, and its profits go to climate projects. If you want a search engine with its own index and servers in France, pick Qwant.

I wrote this ranking for people who want good search results without sending every query to Google LLC, a US company that handled 88.97% of searches in Europe in September 2026 (StatCounter). Google Search is free because it is an advertising business: in Q2 2026 “Google Search & other” brought in $63.27 billion. When you are signed in, Google stores the terms you search for, your IP address and location with your Google Account. The engines below are run by companies in Europe. Some still buy part of their results from Bing or Google, so for each one I say exactly where the results come from, who owns it and what you lose compared with Google.

What are the best European alternatives to Google Search?

If you only have a minute: these are the European search engines I would switch to from Google, in order. Each one is reviewed in detail below.

1. Ecosia (Germany) – good results, own European index, profits to climate action. Best for most people leaving Google.
2. Qwant (France) – own index, servers in France, no ad cookies by default. Best for privacy and EU independence.
3. Startpage (Netherlands) – Google’s results without Google tracking you. Best if you want Google-quality results.
4. MetaGer (Germany) – a non-profit, open-source metasearch engine. Best for transparency.
5. Swisscows (Switzerland) – no tracking and a built-in family filter. Best for families and schools.
6. Mojeek (UK) – a fully independent index that records no IP addresses. Best for independent results.
7. Seznam (Czech Republic) – its own index and maps, built for Czech. Best for Czech searches.

Google Search alternatives compared

Prices from public pricing pages. Affiliate links and sponsored placements are labelled.

“Data hosted in” shows where each search engine’s website is served from (DNS and ASN lookup, 25 Oct 2026).

How I compared the Google Search alternatives

I looked at the search engines run by companies in Europe and kept seven. I left out DuckDuckGo and Brave Search because they are US companies, and Yandex because it is Russian. The order is driven by how good the results are compared with Google, then by privacy, then by how independent the engine is. Concretely, I weighed five things:

• Jurisdiction and ownership – where the company is registered and who owns it.
• Where the results come from – an own index, a European index, or results bought from Bing or Google.
• Privacy – what is logged, for how long, and whether ads are personalised.
• Features – images, news, maps, AI answers, apps and browser extensions.
• What users say – ratings on Trustpilot, read together with the number of reviews.

All data comes from the engines’ own about, privacy and help pages, Trustpilot and, for Startpage’s ownership, published reporting, checked on 25 October 2026.

The best European alternatives to Google Search, reviewed

Every search engine below gets the same treatment: who is behind it, where its results come from, what users say, what it replaces from Google and what it does not, its pros and cons, and my opinion on who should switch to it.

1. Ecosia

The easiest switch from Google – good results, a growing European index and profits for the climate

Ecosia GmbH is based in Berlin and was founded in 2009 by Christian Kroll. Since 2018 it has been steward-owned: its shares cannot be sold at a profit or owned by outsiders, and no profits can be taken out of the company. Ecosia says 100% of its profits go to climate action, mainly tree planting. Its website runs behind Cloudflare.

Where the results come from. Ecosia’s privacy page says its results and ads come from Microsoft Bing or Google, with Google being rolled out as the default for eligible users. Since August 2025 more and more results come from the European Search Perspective (EUSP), the European index Ecosia builds with Qwant: Ecosia says most of its traffic in France now uses it, and it has been live in Germany since 30 July 2026.

What users say. Ecosia has 3.4/5 from 321 reviews on Trustpilot – the best score in this list.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. You keep fast, familiar results, image and news search, AI overviews and an AI search chat, and Ecosia has its own browser. Ads are not personalised, IP addresses are anonymised within seven days, and non-essential cookies are set only with your consent. What you lose: Ecosia is not fully independent yet – outside the EUSP share, the results still come from Bing or Google – and there are no Google-style services like Maps or Gmail behind it.

Facts: HQ Germany (Berlin) · founded 2009 · free · steward-owned, profits to climate action · results: Bing or Google plus the EUSP index · ads from Google and Microsoft, not personalised · AI chat built mainly on Mistral.

Switching from Google: easy – set Ecosia as the default search engine in your browser or install the Ecosia browser.

My take: If you want to leave Google and notice as little as possible, this is the one. The results are as good as you are used to, the company cannot be sold, and every search pays for climate projects. The European index it builds with Qwant is growing fast, which makes Ecosia more independent every month. Best for: anyone leaving Google who wants the same quality with a European company. Not for: people who want a search engine fully independent from Google and Bing.

Visit ecosia.org →

2. Qwant

The French search engine with its own index, servers in France and no ad cookies by default

QWANT SAS is based in Paris and was founded in 2011. Since 2023 it has been owned by Synfonium, a holding of the OVHcloud founders Octave and Miroslaw Klaba (75%) and the French state bank Caisse des Dépôts (25%). Qwant runs its website on OVH servers in France.

Where the results come from. Qwant co-owns the European index EUSP (Staan) with Ecosia and uses it, among other things, for its AI summaries. Its privacy policy says Microsoft provides search results where Qwant has no answer of its own. Qwant has not published a current share of results from its own index.

What users say. Qwant has 2.8/5 from 44 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. You get web, image and news search, AI short answers and page summaries, apps for iPhone and Android, and extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Qwant Junior is an ad-free version for children. Without your consent Qwant keeps only a salted hash of your IP address, request logs are kept for three days, and there are no advertising cookies by default. What you lose: results in some topics are weaker than Google’s, and ads still come from Microsoft.

Facts: HQ France (Paris) · founded 2011 · free · owned by Synfonium (Klaba family 75%, Caisse des Dépôts 25%) · results: own EUSP index plus Microsoft · contextual ads from Microsoft · available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Switching from Google: easy – install the extension or set Qwant as your default search engine.

My take: Qwant is my pick if the reason you are leaving Google is privacy and European independence. Its owners are European, its servers are in France and it logs very little. It sits second because, for everyday searches, Ecosia’s results feel closer to Google. Best for: privacy-minded users who want a European engine with European servers. Not for: people who rely on Google-level results in niche topics.

Visit qwant.com →

3. Startpage

Google’s results without Google tracking you – from the Netherlands

Startpage is based in The Hague, the Netherlands, and has been running since 1998 (first as Ixquick). In October 2019 the US ad-tech company System1 took a majority stake through Privacy One Group, according to published reporting. Its website resolves to Amazon Web Services servers registered in the US.

Where the results come from. Startpage pays Google for its search results and shows them to you through its own servers, so Google does not see who is searching.

What users say. Startpage has 2.2/5 from 95 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. You keep Google’s result quality, which no other engine here can offer, plus a free Privacy Protection browser extension that blocks trackers. What you lose: Google’s extras such as personalised results and Maps integration, and the European angle is weaker – the majority owner is a US ad-tech company and the website runs on Amazon’s cloud.

Facts: HQ Netherlands (The Hague) · running since 1998 · free · majority-owned by System1 (USA) since 2019 · results: Google, through a proxy · contextual ads · free Privacy Protection extension.

Switching from Google: easy – the results look like Google’s.

My take: Startpage is the best option if result quality is what keeps you on Google. But it is a privacy layer on top of Google, owned by a US company, so it does little for European independence – which is why it is third. Best for: people who want Google's results without Google's tracking. Not for: anyone leaving Google to support a European company.

Visit startpage.com →

4. MetaGer

A non-profit, open-source metasearch engine from Hanover

MetaGer was created in 1996 at the University of Hanover and has been run since 2012 by SUMA-EV, a German charitable association for free access to knowledge. It runs on rented servers at Hetzner in Germany.

Where the results come from. MetaGer is a metasearch engine: it combines results from Mojeek, Brave Search and Google (via Serper) for the web, and from other sources for images and news.

What users say. MetaGer has 2.5/5 from only 8 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. You get web, image, news, product and science search, an “Open anonymously” proxy for result pages, and access over Tor. MetaGer does not save or share your IP address and keeps results only for a few hours. The code is open source (AGPL). What you lose: there are ads unless you buy a key, the results depend on other engines, including Google, and the interface is plain.

Facts: HQ Germany (Hanover) · created 1996 · non-profit (SUMA-EV) · free with ads; ad-free with prepaid tokens (about €5 lasts around two months) · results: Mojeek, Brave and Google · open source · servers at Hetzner, Germany.

Switching from Google: easy – set it as the default search engine.

My take: MetaGer is the most transparent search engine in Europe: non-profit, open source and German. It mixes other engines’ results rather than building its own, which is why it sits behind Ecosia, Qwant and Startpage. Best for: people who value a non-profit, transparent search engine. Not for: people who want a polished, Google-like experience.

Visit metager.org →

5. Swisscows

A Swiss search engine without tracking and with a built-in family filter

Swisscows AG is based in Egnach, Switzerland. Its privacy policy says its headquarters and servers are in Switzerland, and its website runs on the network of Iway AG in Switzerland.

Where the results come from. Swisscows says it is a search engine with its own search index. It does not say on its own pages how much of the results come from partners.

What users say. Swisscows has 2.8/5 from 28 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. Swisscows uses no cookies or tracking technologies and builds no profiles. Pornographic and sexual content is neither indexed nor shown, which makes it a good default for children. Swisscows also offers email, a VPN and the TeleGuard messenger. What you lose: the adult-content filter cannot be switched off, results are weaker than Google’s, and the free version shows ads from Microsoft Bing and Google.

Facts: HQ Switzerland (Egnach) · free with ads · Pro CHF 3.50/month or CHF 38/year (ad-free) · no cookies or tracking · family filter always on · servers in Switzerland.

Switching from Google: easy – but expect fewer results for adult topics.

My take: Swisscows is the best European search engine for families: private, Swiss and filtered by default. For general use, the fixed filter and weaker results keep it in fifth place. Best for: families, schools and anyone who wants a filtered search engine. Not for: adults who want unfiltered results.

Visit swisscows.com →

6. Mojeek

A fully independent search index from the UK that records no IP addresses

Mojeek Limited is a British company that operates from Brighton and is funded by private investors. The UK is European but outside the EU and EFTA – I include Mojeek because it is one of the few engines in Europe with a fully independent index. Its website runs on CustodianDC servers in the UK.

Where the results come from. Mojeek uses only its own index, which passed 9 billion pages in 2025. No Bing or Google results are mentioned.

What users say. Mojeek has 2.2/5 from 18 reviews on Trustpilot.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. You get web, image and news search with results nobody else has, because they do not come from Google or Bing. Mojeek replaces your IP address with a two-letter country code, uses no cookies by default and does not track you. What you lose: the index is much smaller than Google’s, so niche and local searches often come up short, and logs without IP addresses are kept indefinitely.

Facts: HQ United Kingdom (Brighton) · free · own independent index (9 billion+ pages) · no IP addresses recorded · ads and a paid search API · servers in the UK.

Switching from Google: moderate – great as a second search engine, harder as your only one.

My take: Mojeek is the most independent search engine here and very private. Its small index makes it a good second search engine rather than a full Google replacement. Best for: people who want results that do not come from Google or Bing. Not for: people who need complete results for every query.

Visit mojeek.com →

7. Seznam

The Czech search engine with its own index and maps

Seznam.cz, a.s. is based in Prague and has been running since 1996. Its founder, Ivo Lukačovič, is the majority owner. Seznam runs its search on its own network in the Czech Republic.

Where the results come from. Seznam crawls the web with its own crawler, SeznamBot, and builds its own index.

What users say. Seznam has 2.7/5 from 23 reviews on Trustpilot, with none in the last 12 months.

What it replaces from Google – and what it doesn’t. In Czech, Seznam is a real alternative to Google, with web, image and video search, maps and an AI assistant. It works only with anonymised IP addresses, and organic results are not personalised even when you are signed in. What you lose: outside Czech the results are much weaker, ads in search results remain even with the paid ad-free subscription, and the AI assistant also uses OpenAI models via Microsoft Azure.

Facts: HQ Czech Republic (Prague) · running since 1996 · founder-owned · free · own index · Sklik ads · ad-free subscription 179 CZK/month (does not remove search ads).

Switching from Google: easy for Czech speakers, not useful otherwise.

My take: Seznam proves a European company can run its own search engine at scale. For Czech searches it is excellent; for everyone else, choose one of the engines above. Best for: Czech speakers and people searching the Czech web. Not for: anyone searching mainly in other languages.

Visit search.seznam.cz →

Where European search engines get their results

This is the most important difference between the engines, and the one their marketing rarely makes clear.

Based on each search engine’s own privacy, about and help pages on 25 October 2026; for Startpage, on published reporting.

How to switch from Google Search to a European search engine

1. Change the default search engine in your browser. Every major browser lets you choose the default search engine in its settings; if yours is not listed, add it from the search engine’s own website.
2. Change it on your phone too. On iPhone, Ecosia is in Safari’s search engine settings; on Android, install the engine’s app or browser.
3. Keep Google as a fallback for a week. Most people stop needing it quickly; note the searches where you still go back, and try a second engine for those.
4. Sign out of Google in your browser. If you still use Google sometimes, searching while signed out keeps those searches out of your Google Account.

Google Search alternatives: FAQ

My verdict: which European search engine to switch to

Most people leaving Google should go to Ecosia: the results feel familiar, the company cannot be sold and its own European index is growing fast. If privacy and European servers matter most, choose Qwant. If only Google’s results will do, Startpage gives you them without the tracking, and for families Swisscows filters adult content by default.

Whatever you choose, change the default search engine on every device – that is the whole switch, and it takes two minutes.