Qwant
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use Qwant if EU-hosted privacy and not feeding Google matter more than best-in-class results.
Comparison
Qwant vs Startpage
Qwant and Startpage both land on Depends.
Startpage
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use it if you want Google-style results without tracking and accept trusting a closed-source company that changed hands in 2019.
| Compare | Qwant | Startpage |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Privacy-first everyday searchers | Privacy-minded everyday searchers |
| Who it's not for | Researchers and professionals needing Google-grade result depth | Businesses shopping for team software . consumer tool, not SaaS |
| 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 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | No public support evidence found | No support evidence found. |
| Public sentiment | Users praise the privacy and EU angle but repeatedly complain that result quality trails Google.⁸ | Reddit users broadly like the privacy concept but question the closed-source ownership and report recent reliability problems. |
| Biggest gotcha | Results partly come from Bing; any partnership change could silently alter quality⁵ | Ownership changed in 2019; critics questioned whether the privacy stance survived the sale |
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 Startpage when
- Privacy-minded everyday searchers
- Google-quality results without profiling
- OSINT and security researchers
- Degoogle-curious users testing alternatives
When Startpage is not a fit
- Businesses shopping for team software . consumer tool, not SaaS
- Open-source purists who need auditable code
- Anyone needing guaranteed uptime . outage complaints exist
- Buyers wanting an SLA or support contract
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
official
- How Startpage Worksstartpage.comofficial