Want to Ditch Google Search? Try These 5 Other Free Search Engines


On May 19, Google announced at its Google I/O developers conference it was making major steps in combining Google Search with its advanced AI tools. Robby Stein, Google’s vice president of product for Search, said at the time that Search is moving into an “agentic” era. But if you don’t like the direction Google Search is heading, there are other search engines you can try for free.

These search engines have some advantages over Google, like more privacy. But the main drawback to these alternate search engines is they may lack comprehensive results. That means you might have to look through more results on these other search engines compared to with Google. I found it helpful to be more specific with my search queries when using these other engines.

It’s also important to note that even if you use these search engines within Google’s Chrome browser, you may not get the full benefit of some of these other engines. Here are five other free search engines to use instead of Google Search.

Brave 

brave browser

Sarah Tew/CNET

Brave is a privacy-focused search engine that blocks trackers, and it uses Google as a fallback option. What that means is if your Brave search doesn’t return a lot of results, you can enable the search engine to anonymously check Google for the same query.

Brave also offers other features, like a VPN, a crypto wallet and its own AI assistant named Leo. And Brave said your AI usage is private and secure as well. You don’t even need to create or log into an account to use Leo.

You can try Brave for free.

DuckDuckGo

duckduckgo logo on padlock on tablet screen

Getty Images/DuckDuckGo/Viva Tung/CNET

DuckDuckGo is another privacy-focused search engine, and it has touted itself as the anti-Google. While Google collects and stores data on you to create personalized search results, DuckDuckGo doesn’t track what you do and actively blocks external trackers.

Over the past few years, DuckDuckGo also expanded the free tools it offers to people. Now it offers tools like an App Tracking Protection for Android users, its own VPN — that our experts said was great for general privacy and streaming — and an AI tool called DuckAssist.

You can try DuckDuckGo for free.

Ecosia

The Ecosia logo on a green background.

Ecosia

This private, Berlin-based search engine is also a green option. Ecosia writes online it has planted over 250 million trees and produces more clean energy than it takes to power all its searches and AI queries. The company also writes online that all its profits go toward climate action.

However, Ecosia writes in its privacy policy it does use Google and Microsoft Bing to provide you with results. CNBC reported in 2024 that Ecosia and Paris-based search engine Qwant partnered to create a European search index in order to reduce dependence on US companies.

You can try Ecosia for free.

Qwant

The Qwant logo on a smartphone.

Sopa Images via Getty Images

This French-based search engine writes online it doesn’t retain your search data or sell your personal data, making it a good alternative to Google. In addition to search, Qwant also offers a feature called Qwant Junior, which it writes online is meant to help children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old safely explore the internet. 

You should know that Qwant has integrated AI into its engine in what it calls Flash Answers. But you can deactivate it from your Settings menu without jumping through hoops. Historically, Qwant has used Bing’s search API, which lets companies access Bing’s search infrastructure. But according to CNBC, the company partnered with Berlin-based search engine Ecosia in 2024 to build a European search index in order to reduce dependence on US companies.

You can try Qwant for free.

Startpage

computer

Startpage

Startpage is a search engine that’s also a search aggregator. That means it partners with other companies like Google and Microsoft Bing to bring you search results.

Despite those partnerships, Startpage said it doesn’t share any of your personal information with its partners and it submits your search requests anonymously. Startpage said it also doesn’t use tracking cookies, and it doesn’t review or access cookies you might have from other websites. Think of Startpage as a way to use Google and Bing without either getting ahold of your data.

You can try Startpage for free.

Watch this: Watch Google Unveil Its Biggest Updates at Google I/O 2026 in 13 Minutes

For more on other search engines, here’s what to know about DuckDuckGo and Brave Search





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What are the controllers and their types?

Salesforce controllers, also known as Visualforce controllers, are used to execute a set of instructions. Controllers specify what happens when a user interacts with the Visualforce Markup components such as Visualforce tags, HTML, fields, etc. When a user clicks on a button or link on a Visualforce page, the associated controllers will display the data related to the user action or component. The controllers have the ability to modify component behavior. They work on an MVC(Model-View-Controller) approach. Salesforce provides the below types of controllers.

  • Standard controllers
  • Standard List Controllers 
  • Custom Controllers

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1.Standard controllers

The standard controllers are the default controllers provided by Salesforce. They contain the same logic and functionality that are used for standard Salesforce pages. Every Salesforce object contains a standard controller that can be queried using the Salesforce Lightning Platform API. When a user interacts with a component on the page, the controller interacts with the database, fetches the relevant data, and displays it on the page. To display the relevant data on the Visualforce page, we need a record ID. So, we need to send an ID as a query string parameter in the page URL. The standard controller has a getter method that returns the record related to the query ID. If a user doesn’t have access to a certain object (or component) on the page, which is associated with a standard controller, it will display an insufficient privileges error message to the user. 

Associating a standard controller with a Visualforce page

To associate a standard controller to a Visualforce page, we have to use the “standardController” attribute on the tag. We should specify the name of any Salesforce object, which can be queried using the Lightning Platform API. Here is the syntax to associate a standard controller to a standard object on a page,

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2.Standard List Controllers

Standard list controllers are used for displaying or act on a set of records on the Visualforce pages. Related lists, list pages, and mass action pages are some of the examples of Salesforce pages that work with a set of records. The following are the objects that can be used with standard list controllers.

  • Account
  • Contract
  • Idea
  • Order
  • Product2
  • Solution
  • User
  • Lead
  • Opportunity
  • Asset
  • Campaign
  • Case
  • Contact
  • Custom objects

Associating a standard list controller with a Visualforce page

Associating a standard list controller is very much similar to associating a standard controller. In the standard list controller, we can set an object through the “standardController” attribute on the tag and then set the recordSetVar attribute on the same component. Here is the syntax to associate a standard list controller with an object on a page,

Once the standard list controller is associated, we can act on a set of records using expression language syntax. We can use a standard list controller to add pagination to a page with the help of the next and previous actions.

Cloud Technologies, salesforce-controllers-description-0, Cloud Technologies, salesforce-controllers-description-1

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3.Custom Controllers

Custom controllers are used to implementing custom logic and data manipulation for a Visualforce page. If we want to perform things like calling an external web service, validate and insert data, we can use a custom controller. The custom controllers override the existing functionality and implement customized navigation through an application. They execute entirely in system mode and users will have full control over the app’s logic. 

Create a Visualforce page that uses a custom controller

To add a custom controller to a Visualforce page, we have to set the “controller” attribute in the tag. When we use a custom controller, we cannot use a standard controller. Here is the syntax to associate a custom controller to a Visualforce page,

Controller Extensions

A controller extension overrides behavior in a standard or custom controller. Any Apex class with a constructor that takes a single argument of type “ApexPages” is referred to as a controller extension. We can implement the functionality of another controller to an apex tag while adding custom logic. Here is an example class for controller extension.


public class myControllerExtension {

//custom code

}

We can extend this controller extension on a Visualforce page like below.
Both the controller extension and custom controller use the action, getter, and setter methods. The custom controllers and controller extension classes ignore user permissions and field-level security as they execute in system mode. So, the custom controllers and controller extensions are mainly used to set organization-wide defaults. Based on the user profile, we can even define whether a user can execute methods in a custom controller or controller extension class. 

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Conclusion

Apex is a complete programming language that we can use to implement effective Visualforce pages. We can use Apex properties, which are a combination of a variable with getter and setter methods. We can implement anything on a Visualforce page with the help of controllers in Apex code. Using controllers, we can implement features like dropdown on a Visual page. They allow you to filter the records displayed on the page. While working with controllers, you should have an eye out for validation rules. You should be able to handle the validation rule exceptions. 

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