Microsoft Bing alternatives: 12 search engines tools compared
People look for a Bing alternative for three reasons the vendor's own pages support: Microsoft retired its standalone Bing Search APIs on 11 August 2025, Bing uses queries and clicks to tune results and can personalise ads, and several engines that look independent still buy Bing results. Most go to an own-index engine, a paid ad-free one, or Google.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Microsoft Bing in our search engines ranking are Brave Search, Kagi and Mojeek. We open the ranking with smaller vendors and put the established brands from fourth place onward. Choose Brave Search if you want a non-Bing index and an API that replaces the retired Bing one. These 12 products are all in Best Search Engines in 2026; the notes say how each one compares with Microsoft Bing.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Pricing: No user price stated; the standalone Search APIs were retired
Established in: United States
Built for: Users and site owners who want Microsoft's search and its webmaster tools
Not for: Developers wanting a plain search API without Azure
01
Why buyers look past Microsoft Bing
01
The developer route closed
Microsoft's lifecycle page says the Bing Search APIs retired on 11 August 2025, that existing instances were decommissioned completely and that new sign-up ended. It points customers to Grounding with Bing Search inside Azure AI Agents. A team that fed a product from a plain Bing endpoint now needs a different supplier or an Azure agent set-up.
02
Queries and clicks feed the product
Microsoft's privacy statement lists search queries and commands as collected data and says queries and clicks in Bing are used to improve search results. Ads can be personalised with information collected over time, and opting out is done through Microsoft's personalised ads settings. Signed-in users manage history on the privacy dashboard; others do it in Bing settings.
03
Other engines may be Bing underneath
DuckDuckGo's help page says its traditional links and images are largely sourced from Bing, and Ecosia names Microsoft Bing as one of three partners beside Google and EUSP. Choosing such a front end changes the privacy layer, not necessarily the index. Brave says even supposedly private engines rely on big tech for results.
Chinese-language engine with a Chinese-only privacy statement
you need to study or reach Chinese-language searchers
#9
03
What each one does differently
1
Brave Search
United States · Ad-supported site; ad-free Premium option; API $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 monthly credit
Brave states that its results come from its own index and that its API has zero dependencies on Google or Bing, which makes it the sharpest contrast to a Bing-fed engine. The consumer site is ad-supported with an ad-free Premium tier (price not read). Its API sells at $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 monthly credit.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want a non-Bing index and an API that replaces the retired Bing one.
United States · Trial of 100 searches; $5, $10 and $25 monthly tiers; unused months credited
Kagi charges users instead of advertisers: Starter is $5 a month for 300 searches, Professional $10 for unlimited searches, Ultimate $25 with premium AI models, and a trial gives 100 searches. Results mix its own Teclis and TinyGem indexes with anonymised calls to other providers, so it is not Bing-free by design.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you will pay a monthly fee to remove ads and tracking from the results page.
United Kingdom · No user price shown; API £2 or £3 per 1,000 requests, no minimum commitment
Mojeek crawls the web itself from the UK and says its index passed nine billion pages in 2025, so none of its organic results are borrowed from Microsoft. Developers can buy its Web Search API from £2 per 1,000 requests on the Startup plan. The index is far smaller than Bing's, and the pages we read show no user price.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want a small UK-run crawler with a pay-as-you-go API instead of Bing's.
Not stated by the vendor · Free with ads from Microsoft, Tripadvisor and Yelp; optional Plus and Pro subscription
DuckDuckGo is the closest route for someone who wants less tracking but still the Bing result set: its help page says traditional links and images are largely sourced from Bing, alongside its own DuckDuckBot crawler. Partner requests are proxied through its servers so no IP address passes on. A paid subscription with Plus and Pro plans exists.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want Bing-sourced links with proxied requests and no search profile.
Not stated by the vendor · Free; paid by ad clicks through Google AdSense and Microsoft Advertising
Ecosia is run by Ecosia GmbH as a not-for-profit social business and puts 100% of profits into climate action. Its results and ads come from Microsoft Bing, Google and EUSP depending on location, device and consent, and EUSP is only available in France. It therefore changes your Bing exposure only in part, and users can check which provider answered.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want to keep a Bing-class result set while funding tree planting.
France · Free to use; AI answers and Summary need a free account
Qwant's about page promises that search history is not stored or resold, and that its AI answers and one-click page Summary are free and unlimited once an account exists. Advanced features share some data with partners, which you can refuse. The page we could read does not say which index feeds the organic results.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want an EU-marketed engine with optional AI answers behind an account.
Germany · About €5 for roughly two months of ad-free use with a key; free access is ad-supported
MetaGer is a metasearch engine run by the non-profit SUMA-EV in Hanover, combining results from several engines plus small indexes of its own, and its source code is public. Searching with a key removes ads: about 500 tokens (€5) usually last around two months. Because it blends other engines, some Bing material can still appear.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want an open-source metasearch run by a German association, paid by token.
Marginalia is an independent open source engine from Sweden, built by one developer on a custom crawler and index under the AGPL licence. It prioritises non-commercial pages and drops AI, and keeps IP logs for up to 24 hours. Its own about page calls it a niche tool and the wrong place for trustworthy facts.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you want to discover small personal sites, not replace Bing for everyday queries.
United States · Free to users, funded by advertising; no price stated
Google Search is the other full-scale index, so it replaces Bing for coverage but not for data collection. The terms name Google Ireland Limited as the provider in the EEA and Switzerland. Signed-in search history can be switched off in My Activity, and AI Overviews appear whenever Google's systems judge them helpful.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if coverage and familiarity matter more to you than avoiding another large ad-funded index.
United States · No price shown to users; portal funded by advertising
Yahoo Search lives inside the wider Yahoo account, where signed-in users can view, delete or turn off their search history and preferences save to the device when not signed in. The help pages we read do not name the supplier of its organic results, so we cannot say whether it differs from Bing.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you already use a Yahoo account and want its history and SafeSearch controls.
Yandex Search is offered by YANDEX LLC, whose privacy policy gives a Moscow head office and a Bucharest representative for EEA data-protection purposes. The user agreement follows Russian law and the Russian text prevails. It has an indexing FAQ for site owners and an AI search option. Weigh the jurisdiction before making it a default.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you need a Russian-language index or must reach Yandex searchers as a site owner.
Baidu's search page and privacy statement are in Chinese, and the statement has a section on cross-border transfer of personal information. The home page carries a Chinese ICP licence number and a link to an English About Baidu page. It suits research on Chinese-language search and is unsuitable if you cannot read its policy.
Switch from Microsoft Bing if you need to study or reach Chinese-language searchers.
Staying with Bing is reasonable for someone who already lives in the Microsoft account and Edge, since Bing pays Microsoft Rewards of up to 5 points per search for signed-in users and the Edge pairing lists enhanced privacy features. It also suits anyone whose main need is a mainstream index with Safe Search settings and AI-generated answers, and who accepts the data use described in the privacy statement.
05
What moving off Microsoft Bing involves
01
Settle which job Bing was doing
A browser default, an API feed and an ads channel are three separate moves. Changing the default search engine in a browser takes a minute, but the API retirement means a pipeline needs a vendor that sells a search API, such as Brave at $5 per 1,000 requests or Mojeek from £2 per 1,000. Write down which of the three you are replacing before comparing engines.
02
Clear history and the points balance first
Signed-in users can view and clear stored search and chat history on the Microsoft privacy dashboard, and others in Bing settings. Spend any Microsoft Rewards points before leaving, because the points depend on searching in Bing while signed in. Then change the default in each browser and each device, since there is no single switch.
06
Questions about replacing Microsoft Bing
7 answers
What is the best alternative to Microsoft Bing as a search engine?
It depends on the reason for leaving. For a non-Bing index, Brave Search states that its API has zero dependencies on Google or Bing and sells at $5 per 1,000 requests, and Mojeek crawls the web itself with an API from £2 per 1,000 requests.
For an ad-free results page, Kagi starts at $5 a month for 300 searches.
Can I still buy the Bing Search API?
No. Microsoft's lifecycle page says the Bing Search APIs retired on 11 August 2025, with existing instances decommissioned and no new sign-ups. Microsoft recommends Grounding with Bing Search as part of Azure AI Agents, which is a different, agent-oriented service.
Does DuckDuckGo use Bing?
Its help page says traditional links and images are largely sourced from Bing, with its own crawler DuckDuckBot and instant-answer sources added on top. It also says partner requests are proxied through its servers so partners do not receive your IP address.
Which alternatives run their own index?
Mojeek says it indexes more than nine billion pages with its own crawler, Marginalia runs its own crawler and index in Sweden, and Brave says its results come from its own index. Kagi uses its own Teclis and TinyGem indexes plus calls to other providers.
Is there a cheap way to remove ads from search?
MetaGer says about 500 tokens (€5) usually last around two months with a key, and Kagi's Starter plan is $5 a month. Brave offers an ad-free Premium tier, but we did not read its price.
Which alternative should a developer replace the Bing API with?
Brave's Search API costs $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 of free credit each month and 50 queries per second. Mojeek's Startup plan is £2 per 1,000 requests at 5 queries per second and 100,000 a day, and its Business plan is £3 per 1,000.
Are Yandex and Baidu realistic replacements for Bing?
Only for specific jobs. Yandex's user agreement follows Russian law, and Baidu's site and privacy statement are in Chinese. Both fit research on Russian or Chinese search markets better than they fit a general default.
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Sources
Checked 5 November 2026
Bing Search APIs retirement notice: Bing Search APIs retired 11 August 2025, instances decommissioned, no new sign-up, Grounding with Bing Search in Azure AI Agents as replacement.
Microsoft privacy statement: Search queries collected, queries and clicks in Bing used to improve results, personalised ads, history controls, Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited as controller in the EEA, UK and Switzerland.
Bing on Microsoft: Bing described as AI-powered search and answer engine, up to 5 Rewards points per search, Safe Search.
Brave Search API: $5 per 1,000 requests with $5 monthly credit, 50 queries per second, zero dependencies on Google or Bing, Answers at $4 per 1,000.
What is Brave Search: Own independent index, ad-free Premium option, claim that supposedly private engines rely on big tech.
Brave Search help: Ad-supported search, Goggles, no big-tech dependency statement.
Kagi pricing: 100-search trial, Starter $5 for 300 searches, Professional $10 unlimited, Ultimate $25, unused month credit.
Kagi search sources: Own Teclis and TinyGem indexes plus anonymised calls to other result providers.
Kagi company page: Founded in 2018 in Palo Alto by Vladimir Prelovac.
Mojeek about: Own crawler and index, nine billion pages in 2025, Mojeek Limited registered in England.
Mojeek Web Search API: Startup £2 and Business £3 per 1,000 requests, rate and daily limits, pay as you go.
DuckDuckGo sources help page: Links and images largely sourced from Bing, own crawler DuckDuckBot, proxied partner requests.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Sebastiaan Smits wrote and checked this page, most recently on 5 November 2026. See how we review.
