Ecosia - Private Web Browser 17+

My best browser & search engine

I recently started using Ecosia as my go-to search engine, and I have to say, I’m really impressed. It’s not just another browser; it’s a tool that helps the planet while you surf the web. Every time I search for something, I know that my clicks are helping to plant trees around the world. That’s a pretty amazing feeling!

The user experience is straightforward and user-friendly. I find that the search results are on par with what I get from other major search engines. Plus, the interface is clean, which makes it easy to navigate. I didn’t have to adjust much to get used to it, which is always a plus.

What I love most is Ecosia’s commitment to transparency. They show you how many trees have been planted thanks to user searches, and you can track where the funds are going. It really feels good to be part of something bigger, especially when it comes to fighting climate change.

Performance-wise, Ecosia does the job just fine. Pages load quickly, and I haven’t experienced any major issues while browsing. Sure, it might not have every single feature that some other browsers offer, but the fact that my searches contribute to reforestation projects makes it all worth it.

Overall, I think Ecosia is a fantastic choice if you want to make a positive impact without changing your browsing habits too much. I’m excited to see how they grow and hope more people will join in supporting this green initiative. Let’s help Ecosia thrive—one search at a time!

Developer Response ,

Thank you for the incredibly detailed review and support 🌳

Used to be good

I love the goal of this browser, and I used to love the browser itself, but whatever changes have been made recently have made it nearly useless.
The browser /used/ to produce useful results, but now it absolutely does /not/. It now shuffles results for some reason, which can make a nightmare out of finding specific sites more than once, and it’s rather insistently trying to push AI-based searching -though, in fairness, it keeps that in a separate tab as of the date of review.
Most frustratingly, the search engine seems to only /sorta/ search according to my query, ignoring search operators and autocorrecting with no indication that it did so and without any option to un-autocorrect the search: If I search something like, say, ‘“seedless orange” stores near me’ with the intent of getting only results that include the phrase ‘seedless orange’, the results will /still/ include things like ‘seedless watermelon store’ and ‘orange paint store’. If I search something like ‘James Foxx’ (who doesn’t exist afaik) it’ll kick up like 3 results before filling basically every other result with links about actor /Jamie/ Foxx and I can’t find any way to undo this issue when it happens.
I haven’t had these issues with any other search engine and, for the meager number of trees my searches are planting, I honestly believe at this point I’d be better off just throwing $20 at a reforestation charity or something.

It works I guess

Overall it’s really not a terrible browser, but it’s not very good either. It felt a little clunky to use, and I found that things didn’t load super well on it. The thing I really disliked the most though was their image selection. When you looked up something, a lot of the times the images didn’t correlate, or there was a very minimal selection, which was disappointing.
Also, I used it for almost a week, and the marker that said how many trees you planted never changed for me, it always just stayed at zero. Could be an issue on my part, but if the whole pull of the thing is to be more eco-friendly and to plant trees, then it’s a little disappointing when it doesn’t seem to be happening.
If it’s something you feel strongly about, and you want to stick with it, go for it. Like I said, it’s not a terrible browser, and I love the idea of it, I just feel like the execution could be better.
(Also, I hate to be that person, but I’m a little skeptical if they’re putting their money where their mouth is. It’s a little hard to believe that they can sustainably plant all these trees just from your searches alone. In the end, I feel like it’s better to just stick to another browser.)