Alternatives to MetaGer

A privacy-focused metasearch engine and anonymous browsing service paid for with a prepaid key. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as MetaGer.

  • SearXNG

    Self-hosted metasearch engine that aggregates results without profiling you.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    SearXNG is a free, self-hosted open-source metasearch engine, so you run the instance yourself instead of paying MetaGer with a prepaid key.

  • Startpage

    A web search engine that does not keep search histories and lets you view results anonymously.

    FreeProprietaryWeb

    Startpage is free and also offers anonymous viewing of result pages, but it is closed source and relies on the operator's stated privacy policy.

  • DuckDuckGo Search

    A web search engine that does not track or profile its users.

    FreeProprietaryWeb

    DuckDuckGo Search is free with no account, but it is closed source, shows ads and lacks MetaGer's server-side anonymous browsing.

  • Kagi

    A paid, ad-free web search engine with anti-tracking, result customization and an AI assistant.

    PaidProprietaryAndroidiOSWeb

    Kagi is also paid but requires an account and is closed source, while adding ad-free results, per-site ranking controls and an AI assistant.

  • Brave Search

    A private web search engine built on its own independent index, with optional AI answers.

    FreeProprietaryWeb

    Brave Search is free and uses its own independent index rather than aggregating other engines, with Goggles and optional AI answers.

  • Mojeek

    An independent UK search engine with its own crawler and index that does not track users.

    FreeProprietaryWeb

    Mojeek is free and searches its own independent index instead of metasearching others, though it is closed source with a smaller index.

  • Qwant

    A French web search engine hosted in Europe that says it does not keep search data.

    FreeProprietaryAndroidiOSWeb

    Qwant is free, hosted in Europe and has mobile apps, but it is closed source so its privacy claims cannot be independently checked.

  • Swisscows

    A Swiss private search engine with no tracking and results filtered to be family-friendly.

    FreeProprietaryAndroidiOSWeb

    Swisscows is free and operated from Switzerland with built-in filtering of violent and adult content, but it is closed source.

Also worth comparing

These listings name MetaGer as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • 4get

    A proxying metasearch engine you can use through public instances or host yourself.

    FreeProprietaryWebSelf-hosted

    MetaGer is an open-source metasearch engine run by a non-profit that requires a prepaid key and includes anonymous browsing through a server-side browser.

  • LibreY

    A self-hostable privacy-respecting metasearch engine built without frameworks or JavaScript.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    MetaGer is a hosted open-source metasearch engine run by a non-profit that requires a prepaid key instead of self-hosting, and adds anonymous browsing.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.