Google’s place as the world’s go-to search platform could change. As results get more riddled with ads, clickbaity websites, and sketchy sources, people are turning to places like TikTok and Reddit for more trustworthy answers to questions like “What’s the best two-person camping tent?” or “How can I combat jet lag coming back from Europe?”
My favorite all-in-one AI search tool, ChatGPT-4o, can help with those questions, but there are even better Google alternatives out there. Here are three of them — two for general computer users and one for kids.
#1: Perplexity
What Perplexity does: Unlike when you Google something, after you ask Perplexity a question, it gives you a host of robust results. First, you’ll see an excellent, concise summary of the answer — but it also links you directly to the article sources where it got the information. These sources are typically well-known publications like newspapers and magazines. Perplexity also shows you images, graphics, and videos related to your answer. Here’s an example.
Why Perplexity is fantastic:
- There are no ads on Perplexity’s free or paid models.
- It’s an easy, user-friendly way to get information without having to weed through Google results and ads.
- You can toggle Perplexity’s focus to different modes: “ALL” searches the entire web; “ACADEMIC” searches databases of scientific and scholarly articles; “REDDIT” searches Reddit boards for discussions and opinions; and “VIDEO” searches places like YouTube and Vevo.
When to use Perplexity: This is for the AI beginner who wants better, trusted search results. This tool has almost entirely replaced Googling for me when it comes to searches other than straightforward questions like “What are Dozen Bakery’s hours on Wednesdays?” “When is Memorial Day 2025?” or “Who do the Titans play at home next season?”
“Pro” cost: $16.67 per month when billed annually | $20 per month when billed monthly
#2: You.com
What You.com does: There hasn’t been much chatter about You.com, but some AI experts and tech reviews call it an even more robust alternative to Perplexity and Google. You.com is similar to Perplexity in that it gives real-time search results conversationally, succinctly, and with cited sources. The fundamental differences are its inclusion of even more models than Perplexity (15 to Perplexity’s six) and its focus on privacy and personalization.
Why You.com is awesome:
- You.com focuses heavily on user privacy. With just one click, all the text and data you input is safe — unlike Googling a product only to immediately get dozens of paid ads.
- A paid You.com subscription has access to almost every major and latest language model (GPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.), so you can stop paying for other AI tools. You can toggle for it to respond using one of those models (for example, Claude 3 Opus is better at writing than GPT-4o), or you can keep “SMART” mode on to synthesize all. “RESEARCH” mode helps search academic papers.
- You.com also makes personalization super easy. You can tell it who you are, where you are, what you like, and the type of responses you want. With the paid version, you can tell it which types of news sources you do or don’t want it to cite. For example, you can remove Wikipedia articles from search results or ask it to rank TechCrunch articles higher.
When to use You.com: If privacy and personalization are top concerns, this is your search engine. This fantastic all-in-one AI tool includes dozens of other AI platforms in one subscription.
“YouPro” cost: $15 per month when billed annually | $20 per month when billed monthly
#3: Kiddle
What Kiddle does: Kiddle has been around for a while as a kid-safe Google. While it’s not a cutting-edge AI tool, it uses customized Google filters (but is not affiliated with Google) to weed out inappropriate content and show safe, child-appropriate results.
Why Kiddle is awesome:
- When you or your little one asks Kiddle a question, the first three search results (after the sponsored ads in grey) usually come from editor-selected sites specifically chosen for kids and written in simple language. The following few results come from safe sites but are not necessarily made for kids, and the rest come from Google’s safe search that blocks adult content.
- Fonts and thumbnail images are larger than regular websites.
- They don’t collect any info or data, and privacy is essential.
- Their “KPedia” encyclopedia has lots of content and images that can be used freely for education and personal use.
When to use Kiddle: It’s usually used in school-aged kids’ academic settings, such as for homework or library research, but it’s safe to let kids research topics they’re interested in.
Cost: Free, but note that there are ads as in regular Google search results.
I hope you’ll try out some of these alternatives to Google. See you next month for more AI lessons! Send all your AI questions and concerns to [email protected]!
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