What Are Dark Web Search Engines and How to Find Them?

May 6, 2022

6 minute read

What Are Dark Web Search Engines and How to Find Them?

Let’s take a closer look at what a dark web search engine is, how to find them and what are some of the best dark web search engines out there.

The web is full of information. To find that information, you need search engines. The dark web search engine is one of the best ways to find information that is hidden from the public. There are many different dark web search engines, and they each have their specialty.

To understand what they do, their strengths, and how to find them, you need to know a little bit about the dark web (also known as the hidden web). The dark web is a network of Onion websites and services that are only accessible through the Tor browser.

There are many uses for the dark web, but one of the most common is finding hidden information. That’s where dark web search engines come in. They let you find sites that aren’t easily accessible by the general public but are useful for finding information about things like hacking, drugs, leaked data, and other activities a lot of which can be illegal.

Let’s take a closer look at what a dark web search engine is, how to find them and what are some of the best dark web search engines out there.

What is a Dark Web Search Engine?

A dark web search engine is a tool that lets you find hidden information on the dark web. There are many different types of dark web search engines, and each has its specialty. For example, some have better searching capabilities than others. Some specialize in finding surveillance tools or tips and tricks for journalists to tackle government-led surveillance and censorship while some search engines will find sites with illegal content like drugs or cybercrime activities. Others are more generalized and will find almost anything on the dark web.

How to Find Dark Web Search Engines

There are many dark web search engines, which can be a bit overwhelming. You will be able to find them by doing a little research. However, there are some common searches that you can do to help with your search. One of the most popular is “Dark Web Search Engine” on Google. This will give you a list of websites that allow you to search the dark web.

But since you are on Hackread.com, you don’t have to Google it. We got you. Here are 5 best dark web search engines:

Best Dark Web Search Engine in 2022

As mentioned earlier, there are several dark web search engines with different searching algorithms. We are listing 5 of the best dark web search engines that are known for displaying appropriate and desired results.

Ahmia.fi

Ahmia.fi remains reliable and also has a policy against any “abuse material”, something different from many other dark web search engines that also index websites featuring child sexual abuse content. Ahmia is also available on the surface web and supports searches on the i2p network as well. You can visit Ahmia’s .Onion domain here.

The Hidden Wiki

The Hidden Wiki is not a literal search engine but it is very useful. You see, whenever you make a search query on a dark web search engine, you’re bound to see 20 spammy links and then maybe 1 legitimate one. This can make it a time-consuming process to search.

However, this Wiki helps solve this by providing a directory list of websites on the dark web allowing you to easily access them. A surface web version is also available. Other websites that offer similar content include TorLinks and OnionLinks. You can visit The Hidden Wiki by following its .Onion link here.

Haystak

Claiming to have indexed over 1.5 billion pages which includes more than 260,000 websites, Haystak indeed would stand out to be a resourceful engine on the list. It also has a paid version which offers several additional features such as searching using regular expressions, browsing now-defunct onion sites, and accessing their API.

You can’t bet them to have your best interests at hand though considering one of these features allows you to access a database of stolen credit card information and email addresses as well. You can visit Haystak by following its .Onion link here.

Torch

This one too is one of those search engines that have lasted for long enough(since 1996) but the search results are not impressive. In the query above, I wanted to know Facebook’s onion URL, a very simple piece of information. Yet, it reported everything but that showing how far these search engines have to go to improve.

On the other hand, it is fast and can come in handy regardless. Nevertheless, you can visit Torch by following its .Onion link here.

DuckDuckGo

A long-time foe of Google; you’re bound to find this on almost every dark web search engine list. Yet, it reports surface web search results in more than those from the dark web and so the only good point we’re left with is the anonymity it offers. We couldn’t find 1 dark web search result through a couple of random queries.

So DuckDuckGo deserves our honorable mention kudos to its privacy-focused rather than business-oriented vision. You can visit DuckDuckGo by visiting its .Onion link here.

How Safe Are Dark Web Search Engines?

Even though dark web search engines are useful for finding information that isn’t accessible to the general public, they can be dangerous. If you are going to use a dark web search engine, it’s important to make sure you don’t use it from your normal computer. You might accidentally be putting your passwords, crypto funds, and other personal information at risk with these search engines.

Plus, some sites on the dark web may have malware that can infect your computer and steal information. However, what’s worse is that some results can lead to highly explicit and disturbing content that you may not be ready for such as child abuse, gore, torture, violence, threatening, terrorism, or other types of illicit content.

Therefore, keep your searches legal and limited to what you are looking for and avoid using proxies as hackers can easily infect them with malware or use them to steal your crypto funds.

The safest way to access a dark web search engine is through an anonymous browser like Tor. This browser will help protect your identity and personal data while browsing the dark web. It is also recommended that along with the Tor browser you should connect your device to a VPN.

Those who are not interested in the Tor browser can use an alternative browser such as:

12P
Whonix
Globus
Freepto
Disconnect

A full list of Tor browser alternatives is available here.

How to Use Dark Web Search Engines

Dark web search engines use complex software to crawl the dark web and index all of the information they find. Once indexed, these search engines allow you to find that information through a search engine interface.

However, not all dark web search engines are created equal. To maximize your searching ability, it’s important to understand what each dark web search engine is best at finding. Some popular dark web search engines include Grams or The Hidden Wiki, each one has its strengths and weaknesses.

For example, Grams search engine is infamously known for illegal drugs while The Hidden Wiki is better for things like eBooks and articles about privacy. No matter which dark web search engine you choose, it will provide you with access to sites that are hidden from the general public but are useful for finding specific types of information.

Summing up

To remain safe, be sure to steer clear of search results that may lead you to illegal sites. Always use a reliable VPN and keep your Tor browser up to date to avoid cyber criminals from snooping in.

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