1. Go to **Settings > Search engine** 2.Click **Manage search engines** 3. Add your private engine and set it as **default**

1. Open your search engine site 2. Click the **magnifying glass** in the URL bar 3. Select **Add search engine**

The most private search engines in 2025: Search without being tracked

How to compare features, block trackers, and search without being followed

Author: Benjamin Nemeroff

July 3, 20256 mins Read

Search engines are where we begin almost every online journey. But they’re also one of the biggest privacy risks. If you're using a mainstream engine like Google, you're giving away a detailed map of your interests, habits, and even your location to a Big Tech data collectors out there.

If you want to break free from this surveillance model, private search engines offer a safer path. This article explores the best private search engines available in 2025 — and how pairing one with NymVPN gives you complete control over your digital footprint.

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What makes a search engine "private" exactly?

Private search engines are designed to give you results without collecting your personal data. But privacy isn't a single switch: it’s a combination of technical and policy choices. Here's what the most private search engines usually have in common:

No logging: They don’t store your IP address, search queries, or browser fingerprint
Open-source code: Some engines allow anyone to inspect how they work
No third-party ads: This eliminates scripts and pixels which can be used to track your activity
Decentralized or self-hosted options: Some engines allow you to run your own version
Jurisdictional advantage: Servers located in countries with strong digital privacy protections

If your search engine doesn’t meet these standards, it’s likely leaking a lot more data than you think. Want to know what really exposes your identity online? It’s not just cookies: it’s metadata. That includes your IP address, time of connection, and device fingerprint, all of which can be logged even if the search engine says it doesn’t track you.

Comparing the most private search engines

To help you choose the best option, here’s a breakdown of top private search engines, how they store data, and where they’re hosted:

Each of these search engines has strengths and trade-offs. For example, Startpage provides Google-level results without trackers, while YaCy is fully decentralized. So choose based on how much control and anonymity you need.

Can you trust private search engines?

Using a private search engine is a big privacy win — but it doesn’t make you invisible. Most private engines don’t track your searches, but they also don’t mask your IP, protect you from DNS leaks, or hide your traffic metadata.

That’s why pairing a search engine with a privacy-first VPN is essential. It’s the difference between clearing your tracks and never leaving any to begin with.

How to set a private search engine as default

So you’ve picked your private search engine. Now make sure it’s the one your browser uses by default. Here’s how to update it quickly.

Chrome

Go to Settings > Search engine 2.Click Manage search engines
Add your private engine and set it as default

Firefox

Open your search engine site
Click the magnifying glass in the URL bar
Select Add search engine

You should also review other browser settings to limit fingerprinting and telemetry.

Open source vs. closed source: Why it matters

Transparency is a key part of trust in any privacy tool. Open-source search engines allow anyone to inspect the code, identify vulnerabilities, and verify claims about how data is handled.

Closed-source alternatives, by contrast, require blind trust: you can’t see how the code handles your data behind the scenes. For those who want full transparency, open-source engines like SearXNG and YaCy stand out to the Nym team.

For more on why this matters, read Nym’s guide What is open source?

Build a privacy stack with a VPN

Even if a search engine doesn’t track your activity, metadata like your IP address can still reveal who you are and what you're doing online. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) works alongside private search engines to hide your network location, encrypt your connection, and prevent surveillance by ISPs or third parties. Unfortunately, For truly anonymous search, you need both.

Unfortunately, with most VPNs your IP is hidden, but metadata can still leak. That’s why we built NymVPN, to be more than a VPN.

Why add NymVPN?

NymVPN isn’t a typical VPN. It’s built on a decentralized mixnet that routes your traffic through multiple servers, mixing it with other people’s traffic and cover traffic. This prevents any observer — even at the network level — from knowing who you are, what you’re doing, or when.

If you care about anonymity beyond the browser, NymVPN is the privacy layer your search engine is missing:

Hides your IP address from search engines and ISPs
Prevents DNS and metadata leaks
Resists censorship through VPN targetting
No logging, because NymVPN can’t log.

Together with a private search engine, NymVPN helps you stay anonymous, even on a hostile internet.

Private search engines: FAQs

How do private search engines make money without ads?

Many rely on affiliate links, donations, or paid partnerships with privacy-friendly organizations. For example, Startpage shows non-tracking ads, and SearXNG can be run without any monetization.

Can a private search engine stop targeted ads?

Not entirely. While it won’t track you or sell your data, advertisers can still target you through cookies from other websites. Use browser extensions and privacy-focused tools like NymVPN to block third-party tracking more completely.

Are search engines like Brave Search private?

Brave Search is more private than Google but doesn’t go as far as SearXNG or YaCy in terms of decentralization and transparency. It does not log search queries, but it’s still evolving.

Will using a private search engine affect my search results?

Yes, but often in a good way. You may get more neutral results since private search engines don’t personalize based on your data. However, you might lose some localized or tailored suggestions.