Qwant
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use Qwant if EU-hosted privacy and not feeding Google matter more than best-in-class results.
Comparison
Qwant vs DuckDuckGo
Qwant lands on Depends, and DuckDuckGo lands on Worth it.
DuckDuckGo
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
The free search, browser, and Duck.ai are easy wins for privacy-minded individuals.
| Compare | Qwant | DuckDuckGo |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Privacy-first everyday searchers | Privacy-first everyday searchers |
| Who it's not for | Researchers and professionals needing Google-grade result depth | Google power users needing maps, shopping, and deep filters |
| Privacy | Privacy-first, EU-hosted design with no public CVEs found, but the CNIL found Qwant processes personal data and issued a compliance reminder.⁶ | Generally rated safe; runs a HackerOne bug bounty, but has shipped past browser CVEs and a Microsoft tracker controversy. |
| Support quality | No public support evidence found | No support-quality evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Users praise the privacy and EU angle but repeatedly complain that result quality trails Google.⁸ | Users generally like the privacy defaults, but some find the browser noisy, less strict than advertised, and weaker than Google for results. |
| Biggest gotcha | Results partly come from Bing; any partnership change could silently alter quality⁵ | is free but has usage limits; heavy AI chat pushes you into the paid plan |
Pick Qwant when
- Privacy-first everyday searchers
- EU users prioritizing data sovereignty
- Degoogle and BuyFromEU switchers
- Casual home and office search
When Qwant is not a fit
- Researchers and professionals needing Google-grade result depth
- Anyone unwilling to accept Bing-powered underlying results
- Businesses wanting a supported enterprise search product . it is consumer-only
Pick DuckDuckGo when
- Privacy-first everyday searchers
- Users fleeing AI-saturated Google results
- Zero-config privacy seekers
- One-bundle VPN + AI + tracker blocking
When DuckDuckGo is not a fit
- Google power users needing maps, shopping, and deep filters
- Anyone needing browser extensions . the DuckDuckGo browser doesn't support them
- Enterprises wanting a managed browser with admin controls
- Users who won't tolerate any Microsoft data pathways
Sources
- Qwant official siteqwant.comofficial
- Qwant - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgofficial
news
news
- Qwant and Microsoft partnershipnews.microsoft.comnews
- CNIL considers Qwant processes personal data365trust.mesecurity
news
review
- Qwant is too often a total mess - Redditreddit.comreview
- Qwant Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.comreview
- Qwant search engine review - TechRadartechradar.comreview
- Qwant funding and financials - CB Insightscbinsights.comnews
- Qwant app - Google Playplay.google.comreview
- Resurrecting Qwant: new owners bet on GenAIfrenchtechjournal.comnews
- How much does DuckDuckGo cost?duckduckgo.comofficial
- DuckDuckGo Pro plansduckduckgo.comofficial