MevaSearch vs Startpage: two private search engines compared

Who is behind Startpage and MevaSearch

Startpage launched in the Netherlands in 2006. It is owned by the Dutch company Surfboard Holding BV, based in The Hague. In 2019 the American advertising company System1 invested in it through its subsidiary Privacy One Group. The size of its stake has not been disclosed, and Startpage says System1 is interested in ad revenue, not user data.

MevaSearch is a Polish search engine developed by WebOrbiton and created by its owner, Igor Oprządek. It focuses on one thing, search, and is funded only by subscriptions. There are no ads, we do not build user profiles and we do not keep a search history linked to your account.

Where the results come from

Startpage has no index of its own. A first layer of servers strips your IP address and other identifying data from the query, and the anonymised query is then sent to outside result providers, above all Google. Video results come from the YouTube API. As a result, you get results close to Google’s, but without personalisation.

MevaSearch uses Brave. It combines results from the Brave Search API with its own Polish index WebAtlas and Wikipedia, and when you want to see more, it adds results from the independent Mojeek index. For technical, scientific or book related queries, specialist sources appear as well, including Stack Overflow, MDN, OpenAlex, Europe PMC, Zenodo, Open Library, Codeberg and the CIRCL vulnerability database for CVE numbers.

Ads

Startpage is funded by ads. Its results pages include labelled sponsored links taken from platforms such as Google AdSense, and the first three positions above the results can be ads. They are matched to the query you type, not to your history, and to prevent click fraud Startpage shares some technical data that, according to the company, cannot identify you.

MevaSearch has no ads at all, so there are no sponsored links above the results and your searches never reach an ad network.

Anonymous View and CloakView

Startpage’s most interesting feature is Anonymous View. A button next to each result opens the page through a Startpage proxy server, so the website does not see your IP address. Startpage also offers the Private Browser app for iOS and Android.

MevaSearch has a similar tool. Every result has a CloakView button that opens the page through MevaSearch, so the website does not connect to you directly, and the page’s scripts are removed. On top of that, NetKrypton warns you about scam websites, results are marked when a link is dead, and tracking parameters are removed from links.

Privacy in detail

Startpage says it does not log your searches or record your IP address for search. It uses only two cookies: one that remembers your settings for 90 days and one set after a CAPTCHA check that lasts up to 7 days. Its statistics are aggregated, such as the number of visits from a given browser. Startpage has also introduced accounts and a paid subscription, and some of the companies handling accounts and payments may transfer data outside Europe, including to the United States.

MevaSearch requires an account because it is a paid service, but it does not build a user profile, does not keep a search history linked to your account and does not work with ad networks.

AI

On the pages we checked, Startpage does not describe any AI features.

At MevaSearch, every AI feature runs on Claude by Anthropic. That covers short summaries above the results, MevaSearch AI chat, which remembers the conversation and cites a source for each piece of information, related searches and photo search. Requests reach Anthropic from our servers without any account details, and under Anthropic’s commercial terms, data sent through its API is not used to train its models. AI answers are included in every plan, from 200 a month on Lite to 3,000 on Pro.

Prices

Startpage is free, and ads cover its costs. We did not find the price of its new subscription on the pages we checked.

MevaSearch Lite costs 4.99 dollars a month and includes 500 searches and 200 AI answers. Plus costs 14.99 dollars for 1,500 searches, 1,000 AI answers and two extra profiles. Pro costs 24.99 dollars and gives you unlimited searches, 3,000 AI answers and four profiles. The Lite plan comes with a free trial of 3 days, and MevaSearch prices include VAT.

Where Startpage is stronger

Startpage is free, needs no account and gives you results close to Google’s without tracking. Anonymous View lets you browse whole websites without revealing your IP address, and the company has been around since 2006 and is subject to EU law. If you like Google’s results and only want to cut out the tracking, Startpage is a convenient choice.

What makes MevaSearch stand out

MevaSearch gives everyone search without ads from the first query, with no sponsored links and no ties to advertising companies. On top of that you get AI answers with sources, specialist results for developers and researchers, NetKrypton warnings about scam websites, the option to pin or hide domains, !bang shortcuts, dead link markers and removal of tracking parameters from links. There are also separate tabs for images, videos, news, music and podcasts, family profiles, a plan for businesses and an interface in 19 languages.

Which one should you choose

If you want free results close to Google’s without tracking and you do not mind ads matched to your query, Startpage is a good choice. If you would rather pay and see no ads at all, with AI by Anthropic, specialist sources and family profiles, MevaSearch will suit you better.

With the 3 day trial of MevaSearch Lite, you can compare both search engines side by side.