Whoogle Search
Self-hosted proxy for Google results without ads or tracking; the project has ended.
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Whoogle Search has been discontinued. The maintainer announced in July 2026 that Whoogle no longer returns results and archived the repository in August 2026.
About Whoogle Search
Whoogle Search was a popular self-hosted, open-source front end that fetched Google results and showed them without ads, JavaScript or tracking. People ran it on a home server or a cheap cloud instance, often alongside SearXNG, to keep Google's result quality while cutting out its profiling. Over 2025 and 2026 Google steadily closed off the ways Whoogle retrieved results, including the no-JavaScript results it relied on and the Custom Search fallback. In July 2026 the maintainer announced that Whoogle no longer returns search results, stopped taking contributions, and archived the repository in August 2026. It was MIT-licensed and free. Existing installations will not work, so anyone still running it should move to a maintained option. SearXNG is the closest replacement for self-hosters, and Startpage offers hosted access to Google-sourced results.
Best for: No one for new installs; existing users should migrate to a maintained engine.
Pros and cons
What works
- Was a simple way to get Google results without ads or tracking
- Lightweight and easy to deploy
- MIT licensed
Why people leave
- No longer returns search results
- Repository archived and no longer maintained
- Depended entirely on Google allowing access
Top Whoogle Search alternatives
See all 4- 1
SearXNG66.5The maintained self-hosted choice, querying many engines including Google where possible.
- 2
Startpage62.6Hosted, private access to Google-sourced results with nothing to run.
- 3
YaCy59.6Self-hosted search with its own index, so no dependence on Google.
- 4
DuckDuckGo57.2Simple hosted private search for those done with self-hosting.
Why people left Whoogle Search
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Reviews
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Whoogle Search: common questions
Is Whoogle Search free?
Yes. Whoogle Search is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.
Is Whoogle Search open source?
Yes. The source code is on GitHub at benbusby/whoogle-search. You can also run it on your own server.
What platforms does Whoogle Search run on?
Whoogle Search is available for Self-hosted.
What are the best alternatives to Whoogle Search?
The highest-ranked Whoogle Search alternatives right now are SearXNG, Startpage and YaCy. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.