Swisscows

Swisscows is a web search engine run by Swisscows AG, a stock corporation registered in Egnach, Switzerland. Searching is free and paid for by advertising, with ads supplied through a partner called System1. The homepage says it runs on the company's own search index and cooperates with Brave.

A paid tier, Swisscows Pro, is described as entirely ad-free and anonymous, and it adds source filtering. The company states that it keeps no IP address, search history or user profiles, which is a claim we could not test. Standard results filter pornographic and sexual content. The pages we read mention Swiss servers, give no Pro price and mention no API.

• Own search index. According to the homepage, results come from the company's own index, and it also names Brave as a cooperation partner. How the two are combined, and in what proportion, is not explained.
• Ad-free Pro tier. Swisscows Pro is the paid option, described as entirely ad-free. The standard service shows ads supplied by System1, so Pro is the route for people who do not want advertising next to their results.
• Source filters in Pro. Pro subscribers can steer which sources they see, for instance hiding social media or highlighting scientific articles. The pages give these as examples, so the full list of filter options is not known from what we read.
• Stated privacy practice. The company says it stores nothing, shares nothing and builds no profiles, and keeps no IP address, search history or user profiles. These are statements on its own site, and we have no independent audit to cite.
• Content filtering. The standard search filters pornographic and sexual content. That makes the engine a candidate for households and classrooms, although the pages do not describe how strict the filter is or whether it can be switched off.

• A household that wants a family-friendly default. Because standard search filters sexual content, a parent can set it as the browser default without extra software. The pages do not describe parental controls beyond that filter, so it is a starting point only.
• A researcher who wants fewer social posts. In Pro, filtering sources lets a student hide social media or highlight scientific articles. This changes what appears first, though the pages do not say how sources are classified.
• A privacy-minded user preferring Swiss registration. Someone who wants a search provider with a Swiss registered office can check the imprint, which gives the Egnach address. The no-logging statement is the company's word, so cautious users should read its privacy terms.

The pages we read do not describe a setup procedure, so nothing here is confirmed about browser extensions or default-search installation. You can open swisscows.com and search straight away, because the free service needs no payment. To remove ads you would look at Swisscows Pro, where the page shows no price.

Related products named on the homepage are a VPN, Swisscows.email, Edelcloud and TeleGuard, again without prices. A practical way to judge it is to run your usual queries for a few days and compare how relevant the results feel against your current engine.

Swisscows AG, registered in Egnach, Switzerland, funds standard search through advertising delivered by System1, a partner that the page says needs some usage data.

Pro removes ads and adds source filtering but shows no price on the pages read. The company says it keeps no IP address or search history, a claim we could not test, and its homepage names Brave as a cooperation partner.

In our search engines ranking Swisscows stands at #16 of 16: only SearXNG ranks higher in the list, and nothing follows it. After the challenger places, Swisscows is one of the established names, ranked in order and without a score.

Counting headquarters, 6 out of 16 sit in Europe; for Swisscows that is Switzerland.

Pricing as recorded: Ad-funded for users; ad-free Pro tier offered, price not shown on the pages read.

Searching is free for users and funded by advertising delivered through System1, which the page says needs some usage data to be processed. Swisscows Pro is the paid option, described as entirely ad-free and fully anonymous, and no price is shown on the pages we read. Neither a billing period nor a trial is mentioned. The homepage also lists a VPN, Swisscows.email, Edelcloud and TeleGuard without prices. Since the Pro amount is unknown, anyone budgeting for an ad-free engine needs to open the Pro sign-up page and see the figure there before deciding.

Where this comes from: the vendor pages at swisscows.com, checked for Best Search Engines in 2026 on 7 November 2026.

The standard search filters pornographic and sexual content, and Pro lets users hide social media or highlight scientific articles.

The company states it keeps no IP address, search history or profiles, and mentions Swiss servers.

Search runs on its own index, with a stated cooperation with Brave.

No API is mentioned, and no parent company is named.

The imprint names Swisscows AG, with its registered address at Bucherstrasse 2, 9322 Egnach, Switzerland, and the company describes itself as Swiss. Swiss servers are mentioned on the homepage.

For Pro, the company claims no storage, no sharing and no profiles, and says it keeps no IP address, search history or user profiles. On the free tier, ads via System1 involve processing some usage data. The pages do not mention certifications, audits or an ownership statement.

Integrations the vendor names (6):

• Brave (search cooperation)
• System1 (advertising partner)
• Swisscows VPN
• Swisscows.email
• Edelcloud
• TeleGuard

Also in our records:

• No API is mentioned, and no parent company is named.

Closest by traits, not by rank: 5 products from the same list that overlap most with Swisscows.

• Kagi (#1 of 16): Subscription search with no ads and monthly search allowances by tier. Suits: People who will pay monthly for ad-free results and personal ranking settings. (United States)
• Mojeek (#2 of 16): UK crawler with its own index, no tracking and a metered API. Watch out: its own reported count is nine billion pages, so niche queries may return fewer useful results. (United Kingdom)
• Brave Search (#3 of 16): Independent index from the Brave browser company, with a paid API. Suits: Developers and users who want an independent index and an optional ad-free paid tier. (United States)
• Qwant (#5 of 16): Paris-based engine with its own crawler, partner results and optional AI summaries. Watch out: part of the results come through third-party interfaces such as Microsoft Bing.
• SearXNG (#15 of 16): Metasearch engine that queries many services without tracking its users.

Read from the vendor’s own pages on 7 November 2026.

• swisscows.com/en/imprint: operator Swisscows AG, Egnach address, self-description as a Swiss company
• swisscows.com: advertising via System1, Pro tier, privacy claims, source filters, own index with Brave, related products
• swisscows.com/en/about: absence of any ownership or acquisition statement

We test for four things rather than for features: setup time, price in practice, exit and audience. Swisscows ends up at #16 among 16. The editorial process sets out how facts are gathered and how commercial links are handled.