The Best General Web Search Engines in 2026
We researched general web search engines using information on their official websites, including pricing pages where available, plan tables, and product documentation. Rankings focus on the category’s core job, value for money, and verified features, to help individuals and organizations compare broad indexes for finding webpages and resources across the public internet.
Our top picks
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Top ranked
Google AI Mode#1 of 379.3/10A free conversational search experience with cited web links and optional Google AI upgrades.
Free plan
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Runner-up
Brave Search#2 of 379.2/10An independent search index pairs web search with cited AI answers and ranking controls.
Free plan
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Top-ranked free plan
Qwant#3 of 379.0/10A free search engine with its own indexing, multiple search verticals and optional AI tools.
Free plan
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
The full ranking 37 tools, best first
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Best forPeople who want AI-led answers with cited sources
A free conversational search experience with cited web links and optional Google AI upgrades.
9.3/10★★★★★Visit Google -
Best forPeople seeking independent search plus research tools
An independent search index pairs web search with cited AI answers and ranking controls.
9.2/10★★★★★Visit Brave Search -
Best forPrivacy-minded users wanting broad search coverage
A free search engine with its own indexing, multiple search verticals and optional AI tools.
9.0/10★★★★☆Visit Qwant -
Best forPrivacy-focused users who want mainstream web results
A free metasearch engine that anonymizes queries and offers a proxy for visiting results.
8.9/10★★★★☆Visit Startpage -
Best forPeople seeking a free, independent web index
A free independent search engine with its own index and privacy-focused controls.
8.8/10★★★★☆Visit Mojeek -
Best forUsers wanting general search with familiar content filters
Free general search with familiar content filters and Yahoo Scout AI answers.
- Safe search controls
8.7/10★★★★☆Visit Yahoo Search -
Best forUsers who want metasearch with flexible controls
A free metasearch service with flexible controls and quick-answer tools.
- Region selection
- Language selection
- Safe search controls
8.6/10★★★★☆Visit Dogpile -
Best forUsers seeking regional search and a search API
A free regional search service with a REST API for web and content-specific results.
8.5/10★★★★☆Visit Daum Search -
Best forUsers seeking Vietnamese and local web search
Free web search with Vietnamese local filters, topic pages and experimental AI answers.
- Safe search controls
8.4/10★★★★☆Visit Cốc Cốc -
Best forUsers wanting free search focused on China
Free web search with focused Chinese-language categories and query operators.
- Search operators
8.3/10★★★★☆Visit 360 Search -
Best forUsers needing regional search and advanced query tools
Free web search with regional focus, WeChat content search and advanced query tools.
- Search operators
8.2/10★★★★☆Visit Sogou Search -
Best forUsers seeking precise queries for Czech-language sources
A free web search engine with precise query controls and a regional focus.
- Language selection
- Search operators
8.1/10★★★★☆Visit Seznam Search -
Best forUsers wanting detailed filters for regional results
A free web search service with detailed filters and operators for regional results.
- Language selection
- Safe search controls
- Search operators
8.0/10★★★★☆Visit Rambler Search -
Best forPeople who want cited, conversational web search
A free Bing search experience for conversational answers with source citations.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit site -
Best forPeople willing to pay for private search and control
A paid search engine with privacy controls, source filters and research tools.
7.9/10★★★★☆Visit Kagi -
Best forUsers seeking configurable, anonymous metasearch
A configurable metasearch engine with anonymous proxy access and optional prepaid ad-free searches.
- Region selection
- Language selection
- Safe search controls
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit MetaGer -
Best forSelf-hosters who want configurable metasearch
A configurable metasearch engine for people willing to operate their own instance.
7.8/10★★★★☆Visit SearXNG -
Best forUsers seeking broad regional search categories
A free web search service with broad search categories and an India-focused portal context.
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit Rediff Search -
Best forUsers wanting regional search across varied content
A free Chinese-language search engine spanning web, news, images, video, maps and academic results.
- Search operators
7.7/10★★★★☆Visit ChinaSo -
Best forUsers who want search built into a privacy-focused browser
Ecosia pairs address-bar search with privacy controls in a free desktop and mobile browser.
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Ecosia -
Best forUsers wanting customizable provider-based search
A customizable search service that routes queries through multiple providers.
7.6/10★★★★☆Visit Presearch -
Best forCurious users exploring smaller or older web pages
A free, web-only search engine for exploring lesser-known sites and archived pages.
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit Teclis -
Best forDevelopers seeking filtered web results via API
Yep pairs filtered web search with an API that returns ranked pages and matching passages.
- Region selection
- Language selection
7.5/10★★★★☆Visit Yep -
Best forUsers who want free search that supports projects
A free, partner-powered search engine that turns searches into support for projects.
- Language selection
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit Lilo -
Best forRegional users seeking broad web results
Free regional web search with broad results and specialist content collections.
7.4/10★★★★☆Visit Search ZUM -
Best forMobile users seeking web and app discovery
Free web and app discovery with dedicated searches for shopping, novels and nearby information.
7.3/10★★★★☆Visit Shenma Search -
Best forOpen-source enthusiasts exploring community-run search
A free, ad-free search engine built around a volunteer-crawled index and community curation.
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit Mwmbl -
Best forUsers seeking older-style and personal web pages
A free search engine for older-style and personal websites, not the whole web.
- Safe search controls
- Search operators
7.2/10★★★★☆Visit Wiby -
Best forOrganizations wanting a private, self-hosted search portal
A self-hosted, peer-to-peer search engine for teams that want control over their index.
7.1/10★★★★☆Visit YaCy -
Best forUsers needing basic web and media search
A free web search site with dedicated image, video, and news search.
7.0/10★★★★☆Visit WebCrawler -
Best forUsers interested in multi-engine result clustering
A free web search interface for choosing one engine or searching across many.
6.9/10★★★☆☆Visit Yippy -
Best forUsers wanting a simple free search homepage
A free web search homepage with results, news, tools and private-search positioning.
6.8/10★★★☆☆Visit Lycos Search -
Best forPeople seeking Korean-language portal content
A free web search service centered on Korean-language web and portal content.
6.7/10★★★☆☆Visit Nate -
Best forSwiss users seeking local information and practical searches
A free Swiss search portal that pairs regional results with practical local tools.
6.6/10★★★☆☆Visit Search.ch -
Best forAndroid users seeking app discovery and downloads
A free app discovery and distribution service, not a general web search engine.
6.5/10★★★☆☆Visit Baidu -
Best forDevelopers needing Korean-focused search result data
A Korean-focused search API covering NAVER results across content types.
6.4/10★★★☆☆Visit NAVER -
Best forEmail users needing web and mobile mailbox access
A personal email service with useful mailbox tools, but not a general web search engine.
6.2/10★★★☆☆Visit Mail.ru
No tools match those filters.
Compare at a glance
| # | Tool | Free plan | Paid from | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google AI Mode | Yes | $9.99/mo | 9.3 |
| 2 | Brave Search | Yes | $29.99/yr | 9.2 |
| 3 | Qwant | Yes | Free | 9.0 |
| 4 | Startpage | Yes | Free | 8.9 |
| 5 | Mojeek | Yes | Free | 8.8 |
| 6 | Yahoo Search | Yes | Free | 8.7 |
| 7 | Dogpile | Yes | Free | 8.6 |
| 8 | Daum Search | Yes | Free | 8.5 |
| 9 | Cốc Cốc Search | Yes | Free | 8.4 |
| 10 | 360 Search | Yes | Free | 8.3 |
| 11 | Sogou Search | Yes | Free | 8.2 |
| 12 | Seznam Search | Yes | Free | 8.1 |
| 13 | Rambler Search | Yes | Free | 8.0 |
| 14 | Microsoft Copilot Search | Yes | Free | 7.9 |
| 15 | Kagi Search | No | $54/yr | 7.9 |
| 16 | MetaGer | Yes | €5/unit one-time | 7.8 |
| 17 | SearXNG | Yes | Free | 7.8 |
| 18 | Rediff Search | Yes | Free | 7.7 |
| 19 | ChinaSo | Yes | Free | 7.7 |
| 20 | Ecosia Browser | Yes | Free | 7.6 |
| 21 | Presearch | Yes | Free | 7.6 |
| 22 | Teclis | Yes | Free | 7.5 |
| 23 | Yep | No | 7.5 | |
| 24 | Lilo Search | Yes | Free | 7.4 |
| 25 | Search ZUM | Yes | Free | 7.4 |
| 26 | Shenma Search | Yes | Free | 7.3 |
| 27 | Mwmbl | Yes | Free | 7.2 |
| 28 | Wiby | Yes | Free | 7.2 |
| 29 | YaCy | Yes | Free | 7.1 |
| 30 | WebCrawler | Yes | Free | 7.0 |
| 31 | Yippy | Yes | Free | 6.9 |
| 32 | Lycos Search | Yes | Free | 6.8 |
| 33 | Nate Search | Yes | Free | 6.7 |
| 34 | Search.ch | Yes | Free | 6.6 |
| 35 | Baidu Mobile Assistant | Yes | Free | 6.5 |
| 36 | Naver Search API | Free | 6.4 | |
| 37 | Mail.ru | Yes | 6.2 |
Head-to-head All 27 comparisons →
- Google AI Mode vs Qwant
- Google AI Mode vs Startpage
- Google AI Mode vs Mojeek
- Google AI Mode vs Yahoo Search
- Google AI Mode vs Dogpile
- Google AI Mode vs Daum Search
- Brave Search vs Qwant
- Brave Search vs Startpage
- Brave Search vs Mojeek
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How we rank general web search engines
Every tool on this page was researched by iTechGuides Editors from its official website — pricing pages, plan tables and product documentation. We rank on how well each one does this category's core job, what the free or entry plan includes, and where it falls short. Where we have enough verified facts, the score out of 10 is a rubric — job fit, value and how much we could verify — shown with its breakdown on every tool's page; a tool we have not verified enough to score yet shows its rank without a number. Scores are re-checked when a product changes its plans. Read the full editorial policy, or submit a tool we missed.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
Last updated · How we research and update