A Search Engine Quietly Builds a Chatbot
The experience of trying Duck.ai for the first time doesn’t feel like stepping into a futuristic lab. It’s quiet. Unassuming. Tucked behind a “Chat” button on DuckDuckGo’s search results. There are no splash pages, no animations, and no requests for logins or phone numbers. That silence speaks volumes.
While giants like Google and Microsoft announce AI integrations with fanfare, DuckDuckGo has quietly assembled a tool that lets users speak to powerful language models in a private environment. You don’t need an account. Your data stays on your device. And the models respond—quickly, without the need for cookies or user tracking.
The decision to embed Duck.ai directly into the search experience, rather than wall it off behind a separate app, gives it a different character. It feels functional, not aspirational. For many, that may be a welcome change.
What’s Under the Hood
Duck.ai isn’t a model itself. It’s an interface to some of the world’s best-known large language models. At no cost, users can query:
- Claude 3.5 Haiku (Anthropic)
- GPT-4o mini and GPT-5 mini (OpenAI)
- Llama 4 Scout (Meta)
- Mistral Small 3 24B (Mistral AI)
Each of these options brings something slightly different. Claude leans toward careful reasoning. GPT’s mini versions offer speed and flexibility. Llama and Mistral carry open-source DNA. Users can toggle between them on the fly.
DuckDuckGo also offers a paid subscription at £9.99 per month, which unlocks upgraded versions of these models: GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4.5, and Llama 4 Maverick. These are the versions competing with ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro.
The subscription also includes a VPN, identity theft support, and personal data removal tools. Those additional services push it toward a bundle more than just a chatbot.
A Different Approach to Privacy
DuckDuckGo has built its reputation on resisting surveillance. That ethos carries over into Duck.ai. Conversations are processed without linking to a user identity. All histories are stored locally. Chats are automatically cleared after 30 entries or by using the “Fire Button.
This design sets it apart from offerings by Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, where usage data is typically stored and may be used for training purposes unless users opt out.
In a time where privacy in AI interactions is not guaranteed, Duck.ai’s approach is deliberate. Whether that alone is a strong enough feature to change user behaviour remains to be seen. But for a segment of the internet’s population, it’s not a feature—it’s a requirement.
How It Performs in Practice
In a test by Vice’s technology desk, Duck.ai’s responses were described as being on par with Google’s AI Overview summaries. That comparison was based on speed, clarity, and the general helpfulness of answers to broad queries.
There’s no voice input. No code execution. But what it does, it does well. It responds quickly. It can summarise long texts. It can rephrase, draft, or translate. And it rarely tries to overstep with unnecessary elaboration.
Vice’s anecdotal feedback matches our own experience across browsers and devices. The interface works without friction. It’s light, almost too light, and intentionally so.
What You Can Do With It
Using Duck.ai is a matter of opening DuckDuckGo, typing a query, and selecting the “Chat” option. From there, you can enter a chat mode with your choice of AI model. There’s no onboarding. No walkthrough. The tool assumes you’ll figure it out—and in most cases, you do.
You can drop a block of text and ask it to summarise. You can draft a quick reply to an email. Translate content in a snap. Switch models if one isn’t quite delivering. All of it happens in-browser.
For people who’ve used ChatGPT, the comparison is natural. Duck.ai doesn’t offer the same depth in terms of context memory or model continuity. But it also doesn’t ask who you are.
What It Leaves Out — Now Updated
Until recently, Duck.ai did not support image generation. That changed in mid-December 2025. Users can now access a “New Image” feature available in the sidebar.
Free users get limited daily access to image creation tools. Paid subscribers receive higher usage limits. The feature remains in beta but is live across supported browsers.
Duck.ai also doesn’t support plug-ins, code execution, or voice interaction. It remains a text-focused tool.
[Unverified] I do not have access to region-specific availability for the image tool.
Why This Approach Matters
In a space increasingly dominated by centralised platforms and data collection, Duck.ai offers a distinct alternative. It shows that it is possible to integrate generative AI into daily tools without compromising on anonymity.
This matters in more places than the UK or Europe. Global users—especially in regions where data rights are unclear—often lack meaningful choice in how their interactions with AI are stored or used.
Duck.ai’s default privacy stance may not appeal to everyone. But for users who have become wary of surveillance-based design, it offers something worth trying.
The Subscription Question
Is it worth paying for? That depends on what you expect.
If your use of generative AI is occasional—rewriting a passage, translating a snippet of text—the free version will likely suffice. If you rely on AI for heavy creative lifting, the upgraded models in the paid tier will offer more depth.
Unlike standalone GPT or Claude subscriptions, DuckDuckGo’s package bundles tools. Whether or not the VPN or identity protection matters to you will influence the value.
There’s no free trial, but there’s also no contract. You can upgrade or cancel monthly.
A Global Alternative, Quietly Built
Duck.ai might not be widely known yet. But in building a tool that asks for no account, shares no data, and still gives users access to the most in-demand AI models globally, DuckDuckGo has made a point.
Power doesn’t have to come with a profile. Intelligence doesn’t have to come with a trade-off.
And for those who’ve been waiting for a quieter way to work with AI—something that responds without recording—Duck.ai might be enough.