Most conservative search engines are not new search engines at all. They are alternatives that market themselves as unbiased, free-speech or privacy-first, and most of them show results from Bing or Google under their own design. Only a few, such as Brave Search and Mojeek, run their own index of the web.
This list stays neutral. It does not take a political side or rate any viewpoint. For each engine it answers three plain questions: who runs it, where its results come from, and how a webmaster gets pages into it. I checked each engine against its own help pages in October 2026, because many older lists still name engines that have closed or changed.
What does "conservative search engine" mean?
The label is informal. No search company uses it as an official category. People use it for three quite different things:
- Privacy-first engines that do not track you or build a profile of your searches.
- "Free speech" or "unbiased" engines that say they filter less than the big engines.
- Family-safe engines that block adult content by default.
Every search engine makes choices. A ranking system has to decide what goes first, and people will always argue about those choices. Google says political leanings do not affect its rankings, and critics from more than one side still dispute how ranking and moderation work. You do not need to settle that debate to use this list. The facts below are about technology, not opinion.
Which conservative search engines still work?
The table shows the engines that were live and documented when this guide was updated. "Own index" means the company crawls the web and stores pages itself, instead of buying results from another engine.
| Engine | Main source of results | Own index? |
|---|---|---|
| DuckDuckGo | Mostly Bing, plus its own crawler | Partly |
| Brave Search | Its own index, with a small share from Google and Bing | Yes |
| Mojeek | Its own index | Yes |
| Startpage | Google results without tracking | No |
| Qwant | Bing plus the new European Staan index | Partly |
DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo is the best known private search engine. Its help page says it "largely" sources normal web links and images from Bing. It also runs its own crawler, DuckDuckBot, and adds data from partners such as Wikipedia. It does not tie your searches to a profile.
For webmasters: if Bing has your pages, DuckDuckGo can usually show them. Bing Webmaster Tools is the place to start.
Brave Search
Brave says it uses its own index, built from scratch. For a small share of queries where it lacks confidence, it fetches results from Google and Bing in an anonymous way and mixes them in. This makes Brave one of the few large engines with a truly separate view of the web.
For webmasters: Brave finds pages by crawling. I found no Brave version of Search Console, so crawlable pages and real links from other sites are your main route in.
Mojeek
Mojeek is a small company in the UK. It started as a personal project in 2004 and now runs its own index of more than nine billion pages, according to its About page. It does not track users. Its crawler is called MojeekBot.
For webmasters: do not block MojeekBot in your robots.txt file. Mojeek ranks pages with its own rules, so results can look very different from Google.
Startpage
Startpage pays to show Google results and strips out the tracking. You get Google's ranking without Google seeing who you are. So Startpage is a privacy tool, not a different index.
For webmasters: your Startpage rankings follow your Google rankings. Nothing extra is needed.
Qwant
Qwant is a French engine. In 2025 it formed a joint venture with Ecosia, called European Search Perspective, and the two launched a shared European index named Staan. TechCrunch reported that they aimed to serve about half of French queries from it. Other results still come from Bing.
For webmasters: Bing Webmaster Tools still matters here, and a clean, crawlable site helps the new index find you.
Engines left off this list
Older lists also name Gibiru, Seekr, MetaGer and Swisscows. I could not confirm from their own pages how each one sources results today, so they are not in the table. If you use them, check their current help pages first.
Where do the results really come from?
The table shows a simple pattern. A handful of big indexes feed many search brands. When you pick an "alternative" engine, you often pick a new design and privacy policy, not new rankings. This matters for webmasters too. If your site is missing from Bing, it will likely be missing from several alternatives at once.
The independent indexes are the exception. Brave, Mojeek and Staan crawl the web on their own. They can show pages that Google or Bing rank low, and they can also miss pages that the big engines know well. For a deeper look at search bias and why independent indexes matter, read our guide to non-liberal search engines and search bias.
How do you get your site listed?
You do not need to submit your site to each engine one by one. Work from the biggest sources down:
- Google Search Console. Add your site and a sitemap. This covers Google and Startpage.
- Bing Webmaster Tools. Add the same sitemap. This covers Bing and much of DuckDuckGo and Qwant.
- IndexNow. This protocol tells several engines about new or changed URLs in one ping. The IndexNow FAQ says a submission goes to all engines that take part, but it does not promise indexing.
- Let independent crawlers in. Check robots.txt so you do not block MojeekBot or other small crawlers by mistake.
- Earn real links. Independent engines find new sites mostly through links from pages they already know.
Our search engine listing guide walks through each console step by step. If you want to compare manual submission with letting crawlers find you, see how listing in search engines works.
Should you optimize for each engine separately?
In most cases, no. The same basics work everywhere: clear titles, useful content, fast pages, and a site that crawlers can reach. Small engines rarely publish ranking rules, so special tricks for them are guesswork.
What you can do is measure. Check your analytics for visits from duckduckgo.com, search.brave.com, mojeek.com and qwant.com. If one sends real traffic, search your main keywords there and see how your pages look. If none sends much, your time is better spent on content.
Conservative search engines are best understood by the index behind them. Most reuse Bing or Google, and a few build their own. Get indexed by Google and Bing, keep your site open to independent crawlers, and you will show up in nearly all of them.
Frequently asked questions
Is DuckDuckGo a conservative search engine?
DuckDuckGo does not describe itself in political terms. It is a privacy-focused engine that mostly uses Bing results plus its own crawler. People of many views use it because it does not track searches.
Which alternative search engines have their own index?
Brave Search and Mojeek run their own indexes. Qwant and Ecosia are building a shared European index called Staan. Most other alternatives show results from Bing or Google.
Do I need to submit my site to every alternative search engine?
No. Submit a sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and those two cover most alternatives. Then make sure robots.txt does not block small crawlers and keep earning real links.
