Wiby
Focus: small web and personal websites. Shares search engine and discovery with Marginalia Search. Rated 4.4 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.4Visit
Website
Marginalia Search
An independent search engine that surfaces small, non-commercial websites.
Rating
4.5 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Beginner
Works on
Web
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Marginalia Search?
Marginalia Search is an open source search engine from Sweden that favours personal sites, old pages and non-commercial content over big brands and SEO spam. It is free, uses no AI, keeps no long-term IP logs, and includes an Explore mode for discovering random corners of the web.
Pros: what Marginalia Search does well
- Finds pages big engines bury
- Privacy-friendly by default
- Fun to explore
Cons: where it falls short
- Not built for everyday queries
- Smaller index than Google
Who Marginalia Search is for
Curious people who want to discover the small, human web.
Who can skip it
Anyone who needs shopping, maps or news results.
Marginalia Search alternatives
Not sold on Marginalia Search? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
ooh.directory
Focus: blogs, directory and rss. Shares indie web with Marginalia Search. Rated 4.6 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.6Visit
Search My Site
Focus: small web, indieweb and blogs. Shares search engine with Marginalia Search. Freemium (Marginalia Search: Free). Rated 4.4 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFree planWeb
4.4Visit
Startpage
Focus: private search and anonymous browsing. Shares search engine and privacy with Marginalia Search. Same 4.5 rating.
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.5Visit
Ecosia
Focus: climate and tree planting. Shares search engine and privacy with Marginalia Search. Adds Android and iOS. Rated 4.4 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb, Android
4.4Visit
arXiv
Focus: research papers, preprints and open access. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Rated 4.8 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.8Visit
Free alternatives to Marginalia Search
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Wikipedia
Focus: encyclopedia, reference and research. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.8 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb, iOS
4.8Visit
BBC Bitesize
Focus: revision, gcse and school. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Rated 4.7 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
Google Arts & Culture
Focus: art, museums and culture. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Adds iOS and Android. Rated 4.7 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb, iOS
4.7Visit
Google Scholar
Focus: academic search, citations and research papers. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Rated 4.7 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
Internet Archive
Focus: digital library, wayback machine and archives. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Rated 4.7 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
PubMed
Focus: medical research, papers and citations. Also in Research and Reading, like Marginalia Search. Rated 4.7 (Marginalia Search: 4.5).
WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit
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