Kevin's Picks: DuckDuckGo
After weeks of random outages at Startpage, I needed something more reliable. DuckDuckGo is a similar alternative, and now it's my default search engine. Here's why.
After weeks of frustration and head-scratching, I finally made the switch to DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. For a long time, I was a die-hard fan of Startpage.com. It gave me the clean, ad-free Google results I wanted, without all the tracking and clutter. But lately, something changed—and not in a good way.
Startpage Started Struggling
Over the past few weeks, I kept hitting random outages while using Startpage. Sometimes, search results wouldn’t load at all. Other times, it was painfully slow or gave me timeout errors. It wasn’t just one device either, it happened across multiple browsers and devices. At first, I thought it might be a DNS issue or a temporary server hiccup. But after a few weeks of on-and-off performance, I had to admit it: Startpage is no longer reliable.
What I Liked About Startpage
Startpage’s biggest strength is that it uses Google’s search engine but strips out all the extra junk. No ads, no trackers, no weird auto-suggestions that feel like they’re reading your mind. For someone like me who likes Google’s accuracy, but not their data collection, it was the perfect balance.
Why I Landed on DuckDuckGo
As much as I liked Startpage, I need my tools to work consistently. That’s where DuckDuckGo came in. I’ve used it on and off over the years, and it’s always been solid. What made the switch easier this time was that the privacy-focused plugins I use, such as ad blockers and tracker blockers, already support DuckDuckGo out of the box.
Even though DuckDuckGo uses Microsoft Bing under the hood, the results have been decent. Not quite Google-level precision, but totally usable and, more importantly, stable. There have been no outages, no errors, just results.
Their listings do have some ads, but they don’t get in the way. Yes, they can be blocked using ad blockers, but that’s also how they make their money and how their product is free. So please turn off your ad blockers when using either Startpage or DuckDuckGo.
A Quick Comparison: Startpage vs. DuckDuckGo
Startpage gives you Google-quality search results without tracking, which is great if you want top-tier accuracy. It even includes a unique anonymous proxy feature to open websites privately. But it’s not always the most stable platform, and that’s been a real issue lately.
DuckDuckGo, on the other hand, is built on Bing. It integrates really well with privacy tools, also strips out tracking, and keeps things simple. You’ll get a bit less precision in your search results compared to Startpage via Google, but you gain speed, reliability, and broader support.
Final Thoughts
If Startpage gets its act together, I’d consider switching back. I have no loyalty to these products. I use the tools that work and do the job well. Stripped of all the garbage, Google's search results are still hard to beat. But for now, I need reliability more than perfection. DuckDuckGo is fast, private, compatible with all my tools, and most importantly, it just works.
So if you're running into the same weird glitches with Startpage or looking for a search engine that plays nicely with your privacy setup, DuckDuckGo is a solid choice. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done—and sometimes, that’s what matters most.
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