Brave Search
Privacy-focused search engine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brave Search is an independent web search engine developed by Brave Software, Inc., the company best known for creating the privacy-focused Brave web browser. Designed to provide search results without relying on large technology conglomerates, Brave Search emphasizes user privacy by avoiding tracking, profiling, or the use of personal data for advertising purposes. It was launched in 2021 following Brave's acquisition of the open-source search engine project Tailcat from the German company Cliqz GmbH.[2]
.svg){kind=logo}
| |
 Screenshot of Brave Search | |
| Formerly | Tailcat |
|---|---|
Type of site | Web search engine |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Created by | Brave Software, Inc. |
| Products | Search API |
| URL | search |
| Registration | Optional[1] |
| Launched | June 2022 |
| Current status | Online |
Brave Search avoids tracking or profiling users and allows them to view independent search results through its "Goggles" and "Discussions" features.[3]
The search engine serves as the default search provider in the Brave browser in several regions, though users can switch to other search engines if desired. Brave Search is also accessible as a standalone web service at search.brave.com.[4]
History
Brave Search was developed following the acquisition of Tailcat, a privacy-focused search engine from Cliqz, a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media based in Germany.[5][6][7][8]
In October 2021, Brave Search was made the default search engine for Brave browser users in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom (replacing Google Search), France (replacing Qwant) and Germany (replacing DuckDuckGo).[9]
In June 2022, Brave Search ended its beta stage and was fully released along with an announcement that within its year-long beta testing period, it surpassed 2.5 billion total queries.[8][10][11][12]
In October 2025, Brave browser had 100 million monthly active users.[13]
Features
Brave Search uses its own web index to generate search results with the aid of the WDP project.[14] However, the user can allow the Brave browser to anonymously check Google for the same query.[13]
Discussions
A feature that shows conversations related to the search query, such as comments on the website Reddit.[15]
Goggles
A feature that allows users to apply their own rules and filters to a search.[16]
Search API
In May of 2023, Brave announced that it had launched a search API.[17] Brave Search API is an interface that allows developers to integrate search functionalities from the Brave Search engine into their applications.[18]
Answer with AI
A large language model that automatically responds to some search queries, aided by content from web pages in the search results.[19]
Brave Search Premium
Data collection
User data including IP addresses are not collected from Brave Search users by default.[20] However, Brave Search implements some level of data collection when users opt in through the Web Discovery Project (WDP).[21] No account is required for this function, as it is done in the browser.[22]
