Someone (average smartphone user) complained to me the other day that there isn’t a clear solution to navigating the web because it’s either ai slop or the results are poor.
And I kinda agree, nowadays you do have to put in some more effort to get what you’re looking for.
And so I told them I’d compile a list of which search engines are best for what purpose.
So far I have:
Startpage: works, but does a poor job of finding product codes and whatnot.
Duckduckgo: gives more general results afaik
Ecosia: works great but relies on bing
I have tried things like qwant ect but haven’t really settled on those.
Any other suggestions?
I’d tell em to use udm14 but it’s still google so I’d rather keep that as a plan B.
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I pay for Kagi. The results are good oob and you can downrank/ban websites.
and you can downrank/ban websites.
Holy shit, I’ve been wanting that for years. I’ll have to check them out.
Edit: Aaaand they have a built in AI despite calling themselves “human-focussed”. That’s a turnoff. If I’m paying for a search engine, I’d prefer to have a subscription option with the AI stripped out so I’m not subsidizing it for others.
Plus, I’m thinking about it I’m not exactly on board with needing an account with a search engine. That makes it super easy to track you. Meanwhile, using noai.duckduckgo anonymously via a VPN is way more private
you might want to check ublacklist
I’m not exactly on board with needing an account with a search engine. That makes it super easy to track you.
https://help.kagi.com/kagi/privacy/privacy-pass.html
they have a built in AI despite calling themselves “human-focussed”
Because it’s a tool that can serve humans. Not strictly search-related, but their AI-based translation tool is genuinely great and very useful to me.
https://help.kagi.com/kagi/why-kagi/ai-philosophy.html
You don’t have to use built-in AI, it only triggers when you explicitly ask for it and you can completely disable it in the settings.
They also have anti-slop filters, BTW: https://help.kagi.com/kagi/features/slopstop.html
Finally, not sure what models the search summarizer and the translation tool use, but the assistant lets you use open weights model like Kimi, GLM, DeepSeek et al.
You don’t have to use built-in AI
I don’t care. It’s bundled in with even the basic plan, which means you’re paying for it, even if you don’t use it. And no, it’s not magically better to use open models.
I don’t get how this concept is so hard to understand.
- No need to be combative.
- It is better to use open models.
1: I clearly established a boundary and you insisted on pushing it. Learn to take a fucking hint.
2: You know what’s even better? Not using AI at all.
- I see, sorry for mistaking you for a reasonable person.
I feel bad for anyone you’ve ever had a relationship with. You act like an abuser.
Edit: Seriously? You downvoted all of my comments? You just keep getting more petty
I use Kagi for personal devices. I wish there was an open source alternative, but there’s not. So I’m stuck.
For work or other devices, I use Qwant.
Kagi. Once you try it you’ll never go back.
I never understood the hype about it. I tried it for a while then my trial expired. I cannot say I miss it. It was okay, nothing that blew my mind
same here, never found anything on kagi which I cannot using any other search engine.
If you only searched without exploring its various options and features, that makes sense. When you start blocking, boosting, and pinning domains; start exploring lenses and everything, it’s benefits become obvious.
That was exactly what I did, but I still found the quality of its searches ultimately no better than a standard Google search with a basic ad blocker purging the sponsors and AI summaries. Not worth half its price, especially when the guy getting the money is as nutty as he is.
Kagi. Not cheap but I seriously cant go back. Its really good for what I need - actual results at the top of the first page, based purely on what I searched for. What a concept. My needs are basic to be clear.
Searxng with custom engine weights and a proper filter of upranks/downranks domains give me as good results as kagi !
Is there a guide somewhere for this?
No there is none unfortunately, but i’m in the process of making one! For now my settings are these. And i made a quick tool to compare results from a searxng instance to a list of desired results, you can find it here. If you want help with that, i’d be glad to help !! :)
EDIT: more details in my settings example
Yandex for reverse image search or piracy content
The noai DDG for everything else.
Unfortunately I have notice for the last couple of months that some simple things I can’t just find the answer and the shit AI suggestion baked in the google search is giving me better results and I don’t think that is the AI that got better.
https://noai.duckduckgo.com/ is a decent way of avoiding some ai generated junk.
They should have turn it into the default and remove AI or make it opt-in.
yea true, bet atleast you have the option to opt out…? 🥀
I’ve been using degoog.org for a few months and frankly the experience has been flawless. I’m thinking of self-hosting it.
I use duckduckgo on Firefox and mullvad browser, I also use it on my phones, but in my ungoogled chromium I’m trying out startpage.
