Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

DuckDuckGo: Bang VS Whoogle Search

Compare DuckDuckGo: Bang VS Whoogle Search and see what are their differences

DuckDuckGo: Bang logo DuckDuckGo: Bang

Search thousands of sites directly from DuckDuckGo

Whoogle Search logo Whoogle Search

Self-hosted, ad-free, privacy-respecting Google meta-search engine
  • DuckDuckGo: Bang Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-16
  • Whoogle Search Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24

DuckDuckGo: Bang features and specs

  • Speed
    Bang shortcuts allow you to quickly navigate to specific websites or search engines, saving time by bypassing the need for additional navigation steps.
  • Customization
    Users can customize their search experience by using various !bang commands to directly access the content or websites they prefer.
  • Privacy
    Bang commands also benefit from DuckDuckGo's privacy-focused approach, meaning less tracking and fewer ads compared to traditional search engines.
  • Versatility
    With thousands of bang commands available, users can perform a wide array of specific tasks and searches directly from DuckDuckGo.

Possible disadvantages of DuckDuckGo: Bang

  • Learning Curve
    New users might find it difficult to memorize and efficiently use the numerous bang commands, requiring time to learn.
  • Dependence on Availability
    The usefulness of bang commands depends on the availability and support of third-party websites; if a site stops supporting or changes its structure, the related bang may no longer work.
  • Inconsistent Experience
    Not all bang commands work flawlessly, and users might experience variability in results and reliability across different websites.
  • Limited Scope
    While bang commands are extensive, they may not cover every possible website or search need, limiting their overall utility for some users.

Whoogle Search features and specs

  • Privacy
    Whoogle Search does not track user data or log searches, offering a privacy-centric alternative to mainstream search engines.
  • Customization
    Users can customize their search experience, including features like setting a default language, safe search levels, and a custom default region.
  • Ad-Free
    Whoogle delivers search results without any ads, ensuring a clutter-free user experience.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, the code can be audited for security and privacy, and developers can contribute to or modify the project as needed.
  • Self-Hosted Option
    Whoogle offers the ability to self-host the search engine, giving users full control over their data and setup.

Possible disadvantages of Whoogle Search

  • Limited Features
    Compared to major search engines, Whoogle lacks some advanced features like image search, news aggregation, and other specialized searches.
  • Performance
    Depending on the hosting environment, Whoogle may not perform as quickly or efficiently as well-optimized commercial search engines.
  • Maintenance
    Self-hosting Whoogle requires technical knowledge for setup and maintenance, which can be a barrier for non-technical users.
  • Dependency on Google
    Although Whoogle itself is privacy-focused, it still relies on Google's search results, which means that any data fetched is still coming from Google's infrastructure.
  • Security
    As an open-source and potentially self-hosted solution, the security of the Whoogle instance is dependent on the timely application of updates and security patches by the user.

Analysis of DuckDuckGo: Bang

Overall verdict

  • Yes, DuckDuckGo: Bang is considered a useful and valuable feature, especially for users who prioritize privacy and efficiency in web searches. It enhances the user experience without tracking user data, aligning with DuckDuckGo's strong privacy-centric philosophy.

Why this product is good

  • DuckDuckGo's Bang feature allows users to perform a search on a specific website directly from DuckDuckGo. By typing an exclamation mark followed by a site-specific shortcut (e.g., !w for Wikipedia), users can quickly redirect their query to that site’s search engine. This feature is appreciated for its speed, convenience, and ability to bypass extra steps, like visiting the homepage and using their internal search functionalities.

Recommended for

  • Users who value their online privacy and want to minimize data tracking.
  • People who frequently search within specific websites and desire a shortcut to do so.
  • Users looking for a quick and efficient way to navigate directly to search results on certain platforms.

DuckDuckGo: Bang videos

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Whoogle Search videos

Whoogle it! Get Search Results WITHOUT Ads with this Self-Hosted Search Engine

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to DuckDuckGo: Bang and Whoogle Search)
Search Engine
64 64%
36% 36
Internet Search
57 57%
43% 43
Web Search
64 64%
36% 36
iPhone
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, DuckDuckGo: Bang should be more popular than Whoogle Search. It has been mentiond 202 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

DuckDuckGo: Bang mentions (202)

  • Try Switching to Kagi
    You can search the official python docs on DDG with !python. So if you search for "!python sum", it takes you right there. They have a lot of other "bangs" that work really well, too: https://duckduckgo.com/bangs. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Ecosia is teaming up with Qwant to build a European search index
    Yes but surely you don't want to recreate (and maintain!) this whole list by hand? https://duckduckgo.com/bangs#:~:text=13%2C568%20bangs%20and%20counting I hear you about the search engine redirect, though. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Kagi Snaps
    "Snaps is an exclusive Kagi Search feature that allows you to easily limit search results to a specific website..." WTF is this marketing bullshit?! Default Google Search is useless now and I'm rooting for Kagi, but this untruth is decidedly NOT the way to "win". Google's "site:" search has been around for years: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/monitor-debug/search-operators/all-search-site Not... - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Gaining access to anyones browser without them even visiting a website
    People have already given many ideas, but if you use DuckDuckGo they have bangs for searching various python docs. Here's a page that lets you search which ones are available: https://duckduckgo.com/bangs. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • How to Turn Off AI Overview in Google and Set "Web" as Default
    And when you do need google, you can always just add `!g` to your search query. There are a bunch of other useful ones [0], my favorite is probably `!w` [0] https://duckduckgo.com/bangs. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
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Whoogle Search mentions (63)

  • Redirect google searches to whoogle
    I deployed whoogle search at home. For laptops it is rather easy to define it as the default search for alfred and the respective browser, but for iOS devices I have not found a way (except some rather clunky and intrusive extensions) to change the default search engine beyond what Apple tells you. Is there a way to to this via pfSense or pihole? So whenever someone searches in the address bar in safari on iOS... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Do search parameters no longer work? (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo...)
    I host an instance of Whoogle Search that I use and never looked back. It's like someone brought Google back to the golden age. No (direct) tracking, no ads, complete control over the results. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Daily General Discussion - February 8, 2023
    You know what this community needs? Our own community whoogle server. Source: over 2 years ago
  • DuckDuckGo now protects you even better from Google's prying eyes
    Whoogle for the win; https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What’s a good privacy search engine?
    I use whoogle with still uses Google under the hood but strips any PII out of the requests, I also run mine on a publicly hosted server. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing DuckDuckGo: Bang and Whoogle Search, you can also consider the following products

DuckDuckGo - The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.

Brave Search - Private search that puts you first, not big tech

Kagi - Kagi is a privacy-focused, user-centric search engine. Great search experience starts with Kagi!

Searx - Open source metasearch engine

YaCy - YaCy is a free search engine that anyone can use to build a search portal for their intranet or to...

Google - Google Search, also referred to as Google Web Search or simply Google, is a web search engine developed by Google. It is the most used search engine on the World Wide Web