What is Brave Search?
Brave Search is the search engine from Brave Software, the company behind the Brave browser. Unlike many alternatives it runs on its own independent web index rather than reselling Google or Bing results, and it does not build a profile of your searches.
Answers written by AI appear at the top of many results and link to their sources, and an Ask mode lets you ask follow-up questions in a chat. Goggles let you re-rank results with your own rules, and there are tabs for images, news and videos. It works in any browser, not just Brave. Free users see ads that use only the query, country and device type.
Main Features
- Independent web index
- AI answers with linked sources
- Ask mode for follow-up questions
- Goggles to customise how results are ranked
- No tracking or search profiling
- Works in any browser
How to Get Started with Brave Search
- Go to search.brave.com, or set it as your default search engine.
- Type a query as you would on any search engine.
- Read the AI answer at the top and open the cited sources.
- Use Ask to continue with follow-up questions.
Brave Search Pricing
Brave Search is free to use with privacy-preserving ads. Search Premium removes ads for about $3 a month, and the Brave Search API for developers is billed by usage.
Who Should Use It?
- People who want a private Google alternative
- Users who like AI summaries with sources
- Brave browser users
- Researchers who want more control over results
Brave Search Alternatives
- Perplexity AI: AI answer engine that searches the web and cites sources.
- Kagi: Ad-free paid search engine with AI tools.
- Duck.ai: DuckDuckGo's private AI chat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Brave Search free?
Yes, it is free with privacy-preserving ads. An optional Search Premium plan removes ads for about $3 a month.
Do I need the Brave browser to use Brave Search?
No. You can use search.brave.com in any browser.
Does Brave Search use AI?
Yes. It shows AI-written answers with source links for many queries and has an Ask mode for chat-style follow-ups.