Search engines: European providers compared

Privacy-friendly search engines from Europe – without tracking or user profiles, some with their own index. European alternatives to Google Search.

Recommendations

Qwant

France

Confidence: high

French privacy-friendly search engine with its own European index – no tracking or user profiles, EU-hosted.

MetaGer

Germany

Confidence: high

Non-profit German metasearch engine (SUMA-EV) – open source, no IP storage, servers only in Germany.

EUOpen Source

Ecosia

Germany

Confidence: high

German public-benefit search engine that plants trees with its profits – privacy-friendly, but uses Bing as its search backend.

Comparison table

Providers	Score	Headquarters	Pricing
Qwant	88	France	Free (contextual, non-personalised ads)
MetaGer	88	Germany	Free (non-profit, donations/membership; membership ad-free)
Ecosia	70	Germany	Free (ad-funded; profits for climate action)

Selection criteria

Key questions are whether the search engine has its own index or relies on external (often US) backends, how privacy and server location are handled, and whether added value (e.g. climate action, open source) matters to you.

Data protection & compliance

Search engines process queries that can be highly revealing. Look for no-logging, no user profiles, an EU server location and – for maximum independence – an own European index rather than a US backend.

The Sovereignty Score is an editorial orientation aid, not legal advice.

Typical use cases

Web search without tracking or ad profiles
Independence from Google/Bing as default
Search with an EU server location
Search with added value (climate action, open source)

Pricing guidance

Free for users (funded by contextual, non-personalised ads, donations or memberships).

Providers in this category

3 results

Qwant

France

Confidence: high

French privacy-friendly search engine with its own European index – no tracking or user profiles, EU-hosted.

MetaGer

Germany

Confidence: high

Non-profit German metasearch engine (SUMA-EV) – open source, no IP storage, servers only in Germany.

EUOpen Source

Ecosia

Germany

Confidence: high

German public-benefit search engine that plants trees with its profits – privacy-friendly, but uses Bing as its search backend.

Related alternative pages

Google Suche Alternative

Frequently asked questions

Do European search engines have their own index?

Partly. Qwant is building its own European index; Ecosia and metasearch engines like MetaGer (also) rely on external indexes like Bing – while remaining privacy-friendly.

The Sovereignty Score is an editorial orientation aid, not legal advice. How we rate.