Ecosiavs
MetaGer
On our sovereignty score, MetaGer leads (88 vs 70). Both are European Search engines providers – which fits better depends on your priorities below.
Score comparison
| Ecosia | MetaGer | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty | 70 | 88 |
| Privacy | 80 | 92 |
| Open Source | 10 | 85 |
| Business fit | 72 | 62 |
| Migration ease | 45 | 45 |
| Pricing transparency | 82 | 80 |
| Enterprise readiness | 66 | 56 |
Features & facts
| Ecosia | MetaGer | |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Germany | Germany |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | No | No |
| Cloud/SaaS | Yes | Yes |
| EU data residency | Yes | Yes |
| DPA / AV-Vertrag | unknown | unknown |
| ISO 27001 | unknown | unknown |
| Data location | Germany (company); search results via Microsoft Bing (US backend) | Germany (servers exclusively in DE) |
| From | on request | on request |
| Founded | 2009 | 1996 |
Ecosia
Germany
German public-benefit search engine that plants trees with its profits – privacy-friendly, but uses Bing as its search backend.
Strengths
- German, public-benefit company (steward-owned)
- 100% of profits for climate action, transparent reports
- No personal profiles, GDPR
- Very easy switch from Google
Weaknesses
- No own index – results via Microsoft Bing (US backend)
- Not open source, no self-hosting
- Consider data flows to the search backend
MetaGer
Germany
Non-profit German metasearch engine (SUMA-EV) – open source, no IP storage, servers only in Germany.
Strengths
- Non-profit (SUMA-EV), open source (AGPLv3)
- No IP storage, anonymising proxy
- Servers exclusively in Germany, renewable energy
- Independent, without commercial interests
Weaknesses
- Metasearch without its own index (uses external engines)
- Small non-profit operation, fewer convenience features
- Full feature set partly tied to membership
Choose Ecosia if…
- Users who value climate action and a fair mission
- Privacy-conscious users who don't need an own index
- Organisations with a sustainability focus
Choose MetaGer if…
- Maximally privacy-conscious users
- People who prefer open source and non-profit
- Research without a filter bubble or tracking
Scores are editorial orientation, not legal advice. Details are based on public provider information and are not independently verified.