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.
Comparison
Startpage vs Mojeek
Startpage and Mojeek both land on Depends.
Mojeek
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use it if privacy and an independent index matter more than raw result quality; it is free, so testing costs nothing.
| Compare | Startpage | Mojeek |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Privacy-minded everyday searchers | Privacy-first searchers |
| Who it's not for | Businesses shopping for team software . consumer tool, not SaaS | Anyone needing Google-grade results |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.11 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; minimal logging disclosed despite no-tracking policy. |
| Support quality | No support evidence found. | No evidence in sources |
| Public sentiment | Reddit users broadly like the privacy concept but question the closed-source ownership and report recent reliability problems. | Privacy-minded users praise the independent index, but many say results need query tweaking and trail Google. |
| Biggest gotcha | Ownership changed in 2019; critics questioned whether the privacy stance survived the sale⁷ | 'No tracking' still involves limited logging, e.g. timestamps. Read the privacy fine print. |
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
Pick Mojeek when
- Privacy-first searchers
- Degoogle users
- UK/EU users wanting an independent index
- Developers needing a no-tracking search API
When Mojeek is not a fit
- Anyone needing Google-grade results
- Zero-log purists
- Set-and-forget users unwilling to tweak queries
- Buyers wanting published enterprise pricing or SLAs
Sources
official
- How Startpage Worksstartpage.comofficial
- Anonymous View by Startpagestartpage.comofficial
- Startpage - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- Startpage Review: Is It Better Than DuckDuckGo? - FamiSafefamisafe.wondershare.comreview
review
news
news
review
security
- Lesson 5: Threat Modeling and OSINT - Chuck Easttomchuckeasttom.comsecurity
news
- Startpage Search Engine | Firefox Support Forumsupport.mozilla.orgreview
- Mojeek official sitemojeek.comofficial
- Mojeek . European Alternativeseuropean-alternatives.eureview