Startpage – European search engine

Netherlands Search engines

Dutch private search engine that delivers Google-quality results while stripping out the tracking, profiling, and targeted ads. Operated from the Netherlands under EU privacy law, with an Anonymous View proxy for private browsing.

Quick facts

Headquarters Zeist, Netherlands
Company Surfboard Holding B.V.
Founded 2006
Ownership Corporate
Hosting 🇳🇱 Netherlands
Infrastructure Own infrastructure
Data jurisdiction EU
Open source No
GDPR Compliant
Pricing Free · from Free
Free tier Yes
Platforms Web, iOS, Android
Languages
ENDEFRESITNLPTPL
What people like

Search results are pulled straight from Google, so quality doesn't take the usual hit that comes with switching to a smaller search index. The Anonymous View proxy lets you open a result without the site ever seeing your IP.

Worth knowing

You're dependent on Google's index rather than an independent one, and there's no image or maps search anywhere near as capable as Google's own.

68 · Mostly European
Search with Startpage

Why does it score 68?

Legal jurisdiction
EU member-state HQ
Why this score?

Incorporated in Zeist, Netherlands – a full EU member state.

30/30
Ownership & control
Acquired/corporate, non-EU parent
Why this score?

Majority-owned since 2019 by US adtech company System1, so it scores 0 here despite day-to-day operations sitting under Dutch and EU privacy law.

0/25
Data sovereignty
Own infrastructure
Why this score?

Startpage runs its own infrastructure rather than a third-party cloud.

30/30
Accountability & trust
GDPR compliant
Why this score?

GDPR-compliant, but the platform isn't open source, which keeps the accountability score modest.

8/15
EuroPoints total
68/100
How we calculate EuroPoints →

See how they compare

Startpage
EuroPoints
68 Mostly European
45 Mixed Origins
86 Strongly European
Legal jurisdiction
EU member-state HQ30/30
HQ outside Europe0/30
EU member-state HQ30/30
Ownership & control
Acquired/corporate, non-EU parent0/25
Independent ownership25/25
Independent ownership25/25
Data sovereignty
Own infrastructure30/30
Mixed infrastructure (−5 US jurisdiction)7/30
Mixed infra, all EU/EFTA-hosted18/30
Accountability & trust
GDPR compliant8/15
GDPR compliant8/15
GDPR compliant8/15
Independence bonus
—
Bootstrapped, no outside investors5/5
Bootstrapped, no outside investors5/5
Headquarters
Zeist, Netherlands
Palo Alto, United States
Berlin, Germany
Founded
2006
2018
2009
Open source
No
No
No
Infrastructure
Own infrastructure
Mixed infrastructure
Mixed infrastructure
GDPR
✓
✓
✓
Free tier
✓
✗
✓
Pricing
Free · from Free
Paid · from $5/mo
Free · from Free
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Web, iOS, Android
Web, iOS, Android
Languages
en, de, fr, es, it, nl, pt, pl
en, de, fr, es, it, pt, nl, ja, zh, ko, ru
en, de, fr, es, it, nl, pt, pl