5 Best Search Engines Preferred By SearXNG Power Users

SearXNG users are the tinkers and testers of the private-search world. Many of them self-host SearXNG, a meta-search front end that can query dozens of engines while stripping identifiers, filtering trackers, and reshuffling results. They routinely A/B test queries across engines, tune relevance settings, and compare long-tail recall on technical, academic, and niche searches.

Because they live with the trade-offs every day — privacy vs. freshness, speed vs. depth, general web vs. specialty indexes — their picks reflect hard-won, real-world performance rather than brand recognition. Think of them as the “somms” of search: they taste the web so you don’t have to.

Their perspective matters because:

They pressure-test results on difficult queries where mainstream engines often falter.
They scrutinize privacy policies, ad models, and logging practices instead of taking marketing at face value.
They evaluate consistency over months, not just first impressions.
They understand how engines blend sources and when a result is really Google or Bing in disguise.

Below are the five engines these users gravitate toward right now, and the distinct reasons each earns a spot.

1) Kagi — paid, polished, and purpose-driven

Kagi’s pitch is simple: pay for search, remove ads, and optimize for human usefulness. SearXNG users appreciate that incentive structure because it aligns the product with the searcher, not the advertiser. Kagi’s strengths show up on complex queries, code troubleshooting, indie blogs, and research rabbit holes where freshness, authority, and de-duplication matter more than shopping widgets.

What power users notice:

Clean, ad-free SERPs reduce cognitive load and speed decision-making.
Useful tuning features such as “Lenses,” site-weighting, and global filters to elevate or mute domains.
Strong long-tail recall with less AI mush in the first screen of results.
Fast iteration and transparent product direction, which appeals to people who file bug reports and see improvements land.

Where it struggles:

It’s paid, which is a non-starter for some.
Regional or hyper-local results can be hit-and-miss compared with engines that lean heavily on Google Maps data.

2) Startpage — “private Google” with fewer strings

Startpage often wins when someone wants Google-grade retrieval without being profiled by Google. It acts as a privacy proxy for Google results and tends to excel on mainstream queries, local businesses, and fast fact-finding. Among SearXNG users, it’s the go-to “set and forget” default for families or coworkers who won’t self-host anything but still want less tracking.

Why it earns trust:

Familiar, high-quality rankings on common tasks.
Reasonable controls to tone down sponsored placements.
Minimal friction for people coming from Google who need immediate competence on maps, products, and general info.

Known pain points:

Rate-limits and VPN friction can show up, especially for privacy-minded users who rotate IPs.
It inherits some of Google’s biases and indexing gaps, since that’s the trade-off for Google-like relevance.

3) Brave Search — independent index with pragmatic blending

Brave Search combines its own index with fallback mixing to maintain breadth and freshness. SearXNG users like it as a free primary engine that isn’t just reskinned Bing. On current events and broad tech topics, it’s quick; on commercial queries, it’s less ad-heavy than the usual suspects. It also plays nicely as a SearXNG backend, which is a plus for self-hosters who want diversity in their meta-mix.

What stands out:

Independence: meaningful first-party crawling instead of complete dependence on Bing or Google.
Solid general performance and decent developer-centric results.
Fewer noisy shopping modules compared to ad-maximized engines.

Where it can wobble:

Truly obscure or academic long-tail queries sometimes benefit from additional sources.
Regional accuracy may vary if you block geolocation signals.

4) DuckDuckGo (No AI) — stable, predictable, widely available

For many, DDG is the default private search starter kit. SearXNG users still recommend it for people who value simplicity: usable results, anonymous queries, and a familiar interface. The “No AI” setting is increasingly appreciated by folks who want direct links instead of synthetic answers.

Why it stays in the mix:

Easy switch from Chrome or Safari defaults with minimal learning curve.
Good enough results for daily life, especially when your browser and extensions do the heavy privacy lifting.
Wide device support and reliable uptime.

Common critiques:

Perceived stagnation on difficult queries, where it can trail Google-sourced engines.
Ad density and occasional Bing-like rough edges, prompting some to pair DDG with a second engine for deeper dives.

5) SearXNG (self-hosted or trusted public instances) — the power user’s control panel

Yes, SearXNG is a meta-engine, not a standalone index. But SearXNG users swear by it precisely because it lets them shape search to their values. They can blend Kagi-like signal priorities, Startpage-quality recall, Brave’s independence, and specialty engines for academic or technical content, all inside one private front end they control.

Why it’s indispensable to the community that uses it:

Source diversity: toggle dozens of backends and weight them per query type.
Privacy by design: strip identifiers, break profiling, and rotate requests.
Transparency and tinkering: logs you can audit, knobs you can turn, and behaviors you can explain.

Trade-offs to understand:

Single-user self-hosting can leak patterns to upstream engines unless you configure and use it wisely.
Public instances require trust in the operator; the best ones are often rate-limited to stay healthy.

Honorable mentions, because use-cases differ

Qwant: improving steadily and popular in parts of Europe, with decent maps and news.
Mullvad Leta: VPN-tied proxy that decouples your identity from upstream engines; beloved in hardcore privacy setups.
Marginalia and Wiby: delightful for the indie web, old-school pages, and de-commercialized results.
Presearch and Ecosia: mission-driven alternatives that appeal for reasons beyond pure relevance.

How SearXNG users actually evaluate search

This group doesn’t stop at “felt good.” They run practical drills:

Long-tail tests: error messages, library-specific bugs, and niche academic topics to measure recall beyond page one.
De-duplication checks: how many mirrored scraper sites pollute results compared to original sources.
Freshness vs. authority: can the engine surface the one forum post from last week that solved the problem.
Interface friction: ad density, distracting modules, and AI answers that bury links.
VPN resilience: captchas, blocks, or rate limits that punish private browsing.

Putting it all together — which one should you pick?

If you can pay and want the least friction on tough queries, Kagi usually feels best. If you want Google-like power with less tracking and simple onboarding, Startpage is a strong default. Prefer an independent index and free access with solid day-to-day results? Brave Search is a pragmatic choice. Need something anyone in the family can adopt without explanation? DuckDuckGo keeps things simple. And if you’re the type who enjoys running your own tools, SearXNG is the apex control panel that lets you blend them all.

A practical setup many SearXNG users recommend:

Make a primary engine that fits your tolerance for ads and cost (Kagi or Startpage or Brave).
Keep a secondary engine one shortcut away for tricky queries (for example, Kagi as primary with Startpage or Brave as a fallback).
Use SearXNG as a privacy-first meta-layer when you want to broaden sources or test recall.
For deep research or archival hunts, add a specialty engine like Marginalia or Wiby.

The bottom line

SearXNG users aren’t loyal to logos; they’re loyal to results, privacy, and control. Their top five — Kagi, Startpage, Brave Search, DuckDuckGo (No AI), and SearXNG itself — reflect different philosophies that can complement one another. Choose based on your priorities, pair engines where it helps, and don’t be afraid to switch for the task at hand. That’s exactly how these power users do it, and why their recommendations carry weight.