Brave Search

Beginner Recommended

The best Google Search alternative is Brave Search. Independent search engine with its own index, no advertising tracking.

Information verified on July 7, 2026

Free (ad-free premium at $3/month) Migration difficulty : Easy (1/5)

This topic is chapter 3 of the book

Replacing Google Search

Here, the big picture. In the book: the full method and the detailed walkthrough.

Discover the book

Description

Brave Search is a search engine using its own web index, unlike most alternatives that rely on Bing or Google. No profiling, no tracking. Results are independent and unfiltered. Available in free (with optional anonymous ads) or premium (ad-free) versions.

My take

I switched engines the day I left Chrome, expecting to be frustrated. It happened very rarely: after a few days, I had forgotten I'd switched at all. The details are in chapter 3.

Key features

Proprietary web index
Zero tracking
Goggles (community filters)
Optional AI summaries
API available

Strengths

+ Independent web index (no Bing/Google dependency)
+ No tracking or profiling
+ Relevant, unfiltered results

Weaknesses

− Index still less complete than Google for very specific queries
− US-based company

Recommended for

Any user seeking an independent engine
Direct Google Search replacement

Brave Search vs Google Search: the comparison

Comparison between Brave Search and Google Search
Criterion	Brave Search	Google Search
Price	Free (ad-free premium at $3/month)	Free
Targeted ads on your data	No	Yes (Google ad profile)
Source code	Proprietary	Proprietary
Migration difficulty	Easy (1/5)	—

Comparison

Brave Search is the recommended engine here: the only mainstream engine with its own index, independent from both Google and Bing. DuckDuckGo relies on Bing, Startpage relays Google, Qwant blends its index with Bing.