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E

Search engine

Ecosia

Search the web while supporting a mission (and reducing some

)

Privacy score 65 Free Technical: Beginner
Visit website

Ecosia is a

that reduces and profiling. It helps you keep more control over your data.

Web

Who is this for?

✓ Good for you if:

  • • You want a simple search default with a social/environmental mission
  • • You want less than many mainstream defaults
  • • You want a mainstream-like search experience
  • • You want an easy switch that works in any browser

⚠ Think twice if:

  • • You want maximum privacy/anonymity for searches
  • • You want a fully independent
  • • You want zero ads in search results
  • • You want a service focused purely on privacy (not mission + ads)

Overview

Ecosia is a privacy-focused search engine

that uses its advertising revenue to plant trees around the world. When you search on Ecosia, you get privacy-focused results without tracking, and the money from ads goes toward planting trees instead of building advertising profiles. Ecosia doesn't create personal profiles about you, doesn't sell your data to advertisers, and doesn't use external tracking tools. Your searches are anonymized after 7 days, meaning they're not permanently linked to you. Ecosia gets its search results through a partnership with Bing, but it maintains strong privacy protections. The service is based in Germany, which has strong privacy laws, and it publishes monthly reports showing exactly how much money goes to tree planting. Ecosia is free to use and available as a default search option in many browsers. It's a great choice if you want to support environmental causes while maintaining your privacy online.

Privacy highlight

Privacy-focused search with environmental mission. Anonymizes searches after 7 days, no permanent profiles, German

.

Quick facts

Country:
🇩🇪 Germany
Pricing:
Free
Platform:
Web
Technical:
Beginner
:
No
:
Minimal telemetry
:
No
Open-source status:
Closed source
:
No
:
No

Key features

Security & encryption Click to expand
No
Encryption protocols
,
Ecosia uses standard / () for all connections. The service does not require user keys as it operates as a web-based . All search queries are transmitted over encrypted connections. Ecosia does not store keys for user data because it anonymizes searches after 7 days and does not create permanent user profiles. The service uses standard web security practices including certificate validation and secure connections.
Offline support
No
Telemetry & tracking Click to expand
Minimal telemetry
No
Ip no
Ecosia collects minimal data for service operation. The service does not create personal profiles, does not sell user data, and does not use external tools. Ecosia anonymizes searches after 7 days, meaning search queries are not permanently linked to users. The service may collect aggregated, anonymized statistics for service improvement, but these do not contain personally identifiable information. Ecosia does not use third-party tools that track users across websites.
Jurisdiction & compliance Click to expand
Ecosia is based in Germany. Search queries are processed on Ecosia servers in Germany and Europe. The service anonymizes searches after 7 days, so there is minimal long-term data residency concern. Ecosia operates under German privacy laws and GDPR requirements.
Ecosia anonymizes all searches after 7 days, meaning search queries are not permanently stored or linked to users. The service does not create permanent user profiles. Ecosia does not store IP addresses or personal information beyond the 7-day period. The service operates under German privacy laws and requirements. Users can request deletion of any stored data.
Legal frameworks
GDPR (where applicable). Ecosia is based in Germany and operates under German privacy laws.
Revenue sources
Ads
Editorial signals Click to expand
65
Trust score
72
Trust breakdown (0–10)
Encryption: 85, Audits: 70, Open source: 50, Telemetry: 80, Jurisdiction: 90, Transparency: 85, Trackers: 90
Editorial notes
Usability: 90, Performance: 85, Family friendly: 90
User experience Click to expand
Signup requirements
No account or signup required. Ecosia works without registration, email, or personal information. Users can simply visit the website and start searching.
Onboarding difficulty (1-5)
1
Accessibility features
Ecosia includes accessibility features such as keyboard navigation and screen reader support. The web interface follows accessibility guidelines and can be used with assistive technologies.
Backup & portability Click to expand
No
Migration tools
No migration tools needed - Ecosia works as a web-based search engine. Users can simply switch their default search engine to Ecosia.
No account recovery needed - no accounts are required. Ecosia works without user accounts.

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