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Add to SafariWhen comparing DuckDuckGo vs Opera GX, the Slant community recommends DuckDuckGo for most people. In the question“What are the best macOS web browsers?” DuckDuckGo is ranked 14th while Opera GX is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose DuckDuckGo is:
DuckDuckGo does not collect or share any personal information. Their [privacy page][1] has a great rundown on why privacy is important. The most important repercussion of this is that DDG doesn't use the data collected to tailor results, avoiding exposure to the "[Filter Bubble][2]". [1]: https://duckduckgo.com/privacy [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_bubble
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Very protective of user privacy
DuckDuckGo does not collect or share any personal information. Their privacy page has a great rundown on why privacy is important. The most important repercussion of this is that DDG doesn't use the data collected to tailor results, avoiding exposure to the "Filter Bubble".
Pro Infinite scroll of search results
DuckDuckGo results page is an infinite scrolling page, so you don't need to be clicking through pages.
Pro Ads are non-obstructive and don't track you
The ads are clearly labelled as ads and are non-obstructive. The ads are based on the searched keywords and there's no tracking involved on their visibility. You just need to remember that the site the ad links to might track you.
Pro Can disable advertisements
The search engine allows freely disabling ads.
Pro Allows searching from specific sites using bangs
Bangs are commands that allow searching via a different website's local search engine, using keywords or abbreviations with an exclamation mark (!). For example searching "world war ii !wiki" will automatically redirect to Wikipedia.org and show results for the query "world war ii" there, instead of DuckDuckGo, using Wikipedia's search engine.
The more common sites have shortened alternatives for these commands. Such as !g for Google, !i for images and !yt Youtube.
The whole list of bangs can be found by typing "!bang" in DuckDuckGo.
Pro Has a wide spectrum of instant answers
For select queries DDG pops up a box that supplies the exact answer. For example, searching "stopwatch" will pop up a stopwatch, asking for "words like..." will show a list of related words, typing "password" will generate a password, etc.
Pro Many customization options for appearance
DDG allows customizing almost any aspect of the search engine's appearance including fonts, page width, alignment, header behavior, site icons, etc and has a selection of premade themes available as well.
Pro Lets you watch YouTube videos from the site
Duckduckgo lets you watch videos right from their site, so you can have more privacy than watching on youtube.com.
Pro Has a .onion site
Only accessible from Tor.
Pro Sometimes results are better than Google
Sometimes the search results are better. Most of the times, they're at least as good as.
Pro Has many fun features
For example, if you search "Color Picker" , you see a color picker.
Pro Can function without JavaScript
Of course, it's nicer when enabled, but it's not required. Some browsers are too limited (mobile, terminal) or turn it off for security reasons (tor, etc.), and DDG still works.
Pro Good for Linux users
DuckDuckGo has an API with some websites. With the help of this API, if you search for a fix of a problem in Linux, you can easily find an answer to the problem. For example, if you search for "How to update linux", you will get a message like this:
How to install updates via command line
Try this:
sudo apt-get update # Fetches the list of available updates
sudo apt-get upgrade # Strictly upgrades the current packages
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade # Installs updates (new ones)
--SirCharlo
Pro No filter bubble
DuckDuckGo does not filter your search’s with the data that they have. You get to see everything the Internet has to offer in a safe, private way.
Pro It's mainstream
This is the biggest private search engine there is
Pro Lets you go to other sites
You can go to the Wikipedia page for pigs by doing !w pig.
Pro Customizable
Browser is highly customizable, with dual colors, sounds, effects, bookmarks and tabs and much more.
Pro Built-in adblocker
Pro Built-in tracker blocker
Pro GX Control
Lets you limit the network traffic, RAM and CPU usage of the browser.
Pro Built-in messenger services
It has built-in Whatsapp, Telegram, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and much more and this feature itself is better than most of the browsers out there.
Pro Built in music player
It has a built in music player which you can listen to Spotify, Youtube Music and Apple Music in the background.
Pro Very fast
Using the chromium engine, this browser is as fast as Chrome and Edge.
Pro Lots of Add-Ons
Opera Store and Chrome Store is available for this browser with millions of add-ons.
Pro It is good for gaming
Pro Opera Sync
You can sync everything via other devices and it is password protected apart from a standart login.
Pro Built-in news reader
Apart from other browsers like Edge which forces you to read only their feed, you can add any feed and news channel, and read them anytime.
Pro GX Cleaner
Lets you clean browser data easiliy.
Pro GX Corner
It's a page designed for game lovers with news, prices, deals and much more about the latest games.
Pro My Flow option
The browser has a built-in software which lets you send everything from files to pictures, and messages to yourselves via "My Flow" to your other devices and phones.
Pro Built in dark mode system
Pro Built-in VPN
It's a free service and unlimited (but it leaks your IP address). Perfect and very easy to use.
Pro Built in Ambient Music player and button sounds
The dynamic background music is an ambient downtempo that will immerse you further in your gaming-themed browser. Actively browsing, clicking and typing intensifies the music, for example, while slowly scrolling and reading will take the music down a notch. This dynamic reaction to your activity blends into the background when you’re in focus-mode, so you often don’t notice it until you miss it.
Also when you type via keyboard , a very nice click sound is there to feel like The Matrix computer engineer.
You can switch these sounds off.
Cons
Con No date information in search results
In search results, there are no dates when the pages were published, which doesn't allow you to immediately know if the page is outdated.
Con Downranks misinformation results
Company announced that they are downranking misinformation results about the war by Russia media, after Russian's invasion of Ukraine.
Con Irrelevant search results
They store no information about you (theoretically a pro) but this results in absolutely awful search results, and having to modify your search terms 4-5 times to get what you are looking for.
Con Owner would compromise his service/customer privacy
In a question to Weinberg, “if you were served an NSL or were commanded to compromise your service/customer privacy in any way, would you and could you just pull the plug like Lavabit did or would you run into opposition from shareholders/investors that would prevent you from doing so?” Gabriel Weinberg said: “No one is preventing me from doing that.”
Con Still not better than Google
Results are quite often not as good. They just lack resources to do it, for now.
Con Based in US, so they cannot guarantee there is no backdoor
Con DuckDuckGo has no 3rd party certifications
Con Activism censorship
They started to block results based on activism.
Con Search using language other than English is not so great
Korean would never use it.
Con Referrers
A referrer is an HTTP header field that identifies the address of the webpage (i.e. the URI or IRI) that linked to the resource being requested. By checking the referrer, the new webpage can see where the request originated.” Basically it tells a website where you came from. DDG does give this out.
Con Bing = DuckDuckGo
Duckduckgo depends on Bing for the query.
Con Search results are often unrelated and limited
Common conversions do not work, i.e. searching for 15F to C does not give you the conversion but just a bunch of conversion websites. Very frustrating. It's a simple thing but makes a huge difference to the browsing/searching experience. Also location based only works for the country you're in. Searching for, say, McDonalds only gives country results for McDonalds and no local results such as where a local restaurant may be. Not very helpful.
Con DuckDuckGo has many 'Owners'
DuckDuckGo is owned by Gabriel Weinberg who is is the founder, current CEO and controlling shareholder. Investors/shareholders include Union Square Ventures and several others. DuckDuckGo generates its income from advertising (Bing Ads) and collects affiliate revenue (Amazon, eBay).
Con Needs a clearer vision of the future
What's duck's goal or quest?
Con Shows too few images
When searching for images only, it shows too few of them and only a handful are related to the search terms.
Con Hosted on Amazon servers (EC2)
Con Bangs do not protect user privacy and can be misleading
Using these bangs will instantly connect you to the service you requested. For example typing “!g white cat with green eyes” and hitting return, drops you off on the Google website to display your results (thus logging your IP, search term and browser info immediately). It does not get you Google results inside DuckDuckGo. It is reasonable for DDG users to assume and expect a private search engine warns if there is a risk to that privacy being lost, like it does with Youtube videos but in the case of Bangs this does not happen.
Con Saving settings in Duckduckgo's Cloud still needs improvement
Cloud save and the ability to pull up your settings on any device is a nice idea but the implementation needs work.
Con Doesn't do personalized searches
Since they don't track you the results are not tailored to your interests.
Con Form over function (overall search experience is poor)
It's nice to adjust the settings and all but after a couple of days you will want to go back to a more functional search engine.
Sure DDG looks shiny and !bangs are great but many wouldn't consider it as a viable alternative. Better results for search queries is more important than fancy looking CSS.
Con Owned by a Chinese consortium
Although it has many privacy and security features, Opera is owned by a Chinese company and everything you do online is spied by China probably.
Con GX Control not so effective
RAM, CPU and Network limiter is not so effective.
Con May not be for everyone
It's a gaming themed browser with dark and colorful interface. May not be everyones taste.
Con Opera GX for Android is bad
Slow.
Con Slow opening time
When compared to Edge, Chrome and Brave, this browser starts up a little later due to many features it has inside.
Con Practically spyware
Owned by a Chinese company.
