DuckDuckGo AI Chat

DuckDuckGo AI Chat (marketed as Duck.ai) is a privacy-focused conversational AI platform developed by the privacy-centric technology company, DuckDuckGo. Launched in June 2024, it represents the company’s strategic expansion into the artificial intelligence space, extending its core philosophy of “private by design” beyond search.

A pivotal milestone was its development as a direct response to growing user concerns about data privacy when using mainstream AI chatbots. Duck.ai is engineered to provide anonymised access to a curated selection of leading large language models (LLMs) by acting as a privacy proxy. This means DuckDuckGo handles all requests on the user’s behalf, stripping away personally identifiable metadata before any query reaches the AI model providers. By 2025, it had cemented its position as a leading choice for users seeking to explore AI capabilities without compromising their personal information.

Features and Functionality

DuckDuckGo AI Chat combines multi-model access with robust, privacy-preserving technology:

• Multi-Model Access: Provides free, anonymised access to a selection of popular AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 3.3, and Mistral’s Small 3. This allows users to compare responses and choose the best model for their specific task, be it coding, writing, or research.

• Privacy Proxy Technology: This is the core functionality. DuckDuckGo removes all user metadata, including IP addresses, before forwarding prompts to the AI model providers. The requests appear to come from DuckDuckGo itself, not the individual user, ensuring complete anonymity.

• Local Chat Storage: Features a “Recent Chats” function that stores conversation history locally on the user’s device—not on DuckDuckGo’s or any third-party servers. Chats can be easily deleted individually or all at once using the signature “Fire Button”.

• No Account Required: The service is completely free to use within a generous daily limit and does not require users to create an account or sign in, eliminating another vector for data collection.

• Seamless Search Integration: Deeply integrated with the DuckDuckGo search engine and browser. Users can easily jump from traditional search results into an AI chat for follow-up questions or initiate chats using !ai and !chat bang commands.

• Strict Data Handling Agreements: DuckDuckGo has contractual agreements with all its AI model partners prohibiting them from using prompts and outputs to train or improve their models. Any data temporarily stored by providers for operational purposes must be deleted within 30 days.

Pros & Cons Table

Overall Rating

4.3 / 5 ★★★★☆

DuckDuckGo AI Chat is an exceptional privacy-focused AI chatbot that delivers on its core promise of providing useful AI interactions without surveillance. It excels in anonymity, ease of use, and offering a choice of models. It is held back by its lack of advanced features found in competitors, such as image generation and cross-device syncing, and its restriction of top-tier models to a paid plan. It is the ideal choice for privacy-conscious users, students, and researchers but may be less suitable for professionals needing the most powerful AI models or a fully featured workspace.

Key Reviews

• ZDNet (2025): “DuckDuckGo’s AI beats Perplexity in one big way – and it’s free to use.” The review praised its multi-model approach and privacy protections, with the author stating they found themselves “favoring it more and more over Perplexity” because of the ability to choose the LLM.

• The Verge (2024): Highlighted that Duck.ai saves users from “jumping through a settings menu just to opt out” of data training, commending its privacy-first default settings.

• Geekflare (2024): In a comparison with Bing Copilot, the review concluded that “DuckDuckGo AI Chat is best for those who want the choice of AI models and privacy,” but noted that “Copilot is simply more productive and better” in terms of features and integration.

Summary: Key Points

• 🏆 Core Strength: Industry-leading privacy. Its proxy technology and strict data agreements make it the most anonymous way to access popular AI models.

• 🚀 Key Differentiator: Multi-model access from a single, private interface. The ability to easily switch between GPT-4o mini, Claude Haiku, and Llama 3.3 is a unique offering.

• 🎯 Ideal For:

  • Privacy advocates and anyone uncomfortable with their queries being used for AI training.

  • Students and casual users looking for a free, no-fuss introduction to AI chatbots.

  • Users who want a quick, private way to draft emails, summarise text, or generate simple code snippets.

• ⚠️ Important Considerations:

  • It is not a full AI suite. For image generation, data analysis, or long, complex projects, other tools may be more appropriate.

  • Remember your chats are local. If you clear your browser history or switch devices, your chat history will be lost.

  • The free models are capable but not the most advanced. For access to the very best models like GPT-4o, a subscription is required.

• 💰 Pricing:

  • Free: Access to standard models (GPT-4o mini, Claude 3.5 Haiku, Llama 3.3, Mistral Small 3) within a daily limit.

  • DuckDuckGo Subscription: Paid subscribers get access to more advanced models like GPT-4o, GPT-5, and Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

• 🛠️ Alternatives: Perplexity AI is a strong competitor for research and web-grounded answers. Bing Copilot is better for a free, multi-modal (text+image) experience. ChatGPT remains the most popular and feature-rich standalone chatbot.