What is Qwant?
| Category | Search engines |
|---|---|
| Company | QWANT SAS |
| Headquarters | France (EU) |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Ownership | Synfonium (Klaba family 75%, Caisse des Dépôts 25%) |
| Price | Free · free plan: yes |
| Platforms | Web · iOS · Android · browser extensions |
| Open source | No |
| Data hosted in | France · OVH |
| Alternative to | Google Search |
Who is behind Qwant
Qwant is a French search engine run by QWANT SAS in Paris. It was founded in 2011 and since 2023 has been owned by Synfonium, a holding of OVHcloud founders Octave and Miroslaw Klaba (75%) and the French state bank Caisse des Dépôts (25%). That makes Qwant one of the few search engines in Europe with entirely European owners.
Qwant is built around privacy: it does not use advertising cookies by default, shows contextual rather than personalised ads, and keeps very little data about your searches. Together with Ecosia it owns the European Search Perspective (EUSP), a joint venture building an independent European web index called Staan.
Where Qwant hosts your data
Qwant’s website runs on OVH servers in France (AS16276), and its legal notice names Qwant itself as the host. Where Qwant uses Microsoft for results, Microsoft receives pseudonymised data.
| Domain | Used for | Hosting provider | ASN | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| www.qwant.com | website | OVH SAS | AS16276 | France |
Checked 25 Oct 2026. Hosting can change – report a change.
Where Qwant’s results come from
Qwant uses its own European index, Staan, which it builds with Ecosia and also uses for AI summaries. Its privacy policy says Microsoft provides search results where Qwant has no answer of its own. Qwant has not published a current figure for the share of results from its own index; Ecosia, its partner, says most of its French traffic now runs on the shared index.
Privacy and features
Without your consent, Qwant keeps only a salted hash of your IP address, with the salt changed at least every three months. Request logs are kept for three days and aggregated statistics for 25 months. Microsoft keeps the full IP address of searches it serves for six months. Qwant offers web, image and news search, AI short answers and page summaries (free with an account), apps for iPhone and Android, extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, and Qwant Junior, an ad-free version for children. It is available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Qwant pricing
Qwant is free. It earns money from contextual ads supplied by Microsoft, shown next to results. Its joint venture with Ecosia, EUSP, also sells access to the Staan index to other companies.
What users say about Qwant
On Trustpilot Qwant has 2.8/5 from 44 reviews (checked 25 October 2026) – a small sample for a search engine of this size.
Pros and cons
Pros of Qwant
- Strong EU independence – European owners and servers in France
- Excellent privacy – no ad cookies by default, logs kept 3 days
- Own European index, Staan, built with Ecosia
- Safe Qwant Junior version for children without ads
- Useful AI summaries and extensions for every browser
Cons of Qwant
- No current figure on how many results come from its own index
- Weaker results than Google in some topics
- Ads and part of the results still come from Microsoft
Verdict on Qwant
Verdict: Qwant is the most European search engine you can use today: French owners, French servers, very little logging and its own index in the making. It still leans on Microsoft for part of its results and ads, but if privacy and independence are why you are leaving Google, it is an excellent choice. Best for: privacy-minded users who want a European search engine with European servers. Not for: people who rely on Google-level results in niche topics.
Qwant is ranked #2 in Best European alternatives to Google Search and in Best European search engines.
Similar European search engines
Qwant: FAQ
Is Qwant a French company?
Yes. Qwant is run by QWANT SAS in Paris and owned by Synfonium, a holding of the Klaba family (75%) and the French state bank Caisse des Dépôts (25%).
Does Qwant use Bing?
Partly. Qwant uses its own European index, Staan, and its privacy policy says Microsoft provides results where Qwant has no answer of its own. Ads also come from Microsoft.
Is Qwant better than Google?
For privacy, yes: no advertising cookies by default, minimal logging and European owners. For result quality in niche topics, Google is still ahead.
Is Qwant free?
Yes. Qwant is free to use and earns money from contextual ads. AI summaries are free with a Qwant account.
Rate Qwant
Based on public pricing, documentation and user reviews · Changelog · Oct 2026: first version