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Swisscows

Switzerland-based web search from Swisscows AG. Family-safe, non-profiling search with Swiss servers, a paid ad-free Pro tier, and a documented Brave results cooperation.

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Swisscows is a web search service operated by Swisscows AG in Egnach, Switzerland. The company is a subsidiary of Hulbee AG and launched the consumer search product in 2014. The operator is a Swiss stock corporation (commercial register CHE-220.068.700) and states that it is subject to Swiss law and also complies with the GDPR.

The product exists as a family-safe, privacy-positioned alternative to Google-class search. Swisscows says it does not build personal search profiles, does not use identifying cookies or fingerprinting, and hosts its own servers in Switzerland. On the free tier it still monetizes with third-party search ads. The privacy policy states that Microsoft Bing and Google ads are embedded as iFrames and that personal data is sent to those providers when the frames load. The homepage instead names System1 as the advertising partner and says that advertising is not data-secure.

The concrete differentiator for buyers is the combination of a Swiss legal entity, a default block on pornographic and violent results, a Swisscows Pro mode that removes ads and lets users include or exclude result sources, and an official claim of cooperation with Brave plus an in-house semantic index. In a 2020 Deutsche Welle interview, CEO Andreas Wiebe said results were then a hybrid: about 20 to 25 percent from Swisscows own index and the rest from Bing. The current site no longer states a Bing share. Treat the index mix as something to reconfirm.

Swiss-operatedFamily-safe filterAd-free Pro tierHybrid index

Shortlist Swisscows when you want a Swiss-operated, family-safe search default and can accept a hybrid index plus a paid ad-free tier. Skip when you need a fully independent European index, a published B2B DPA, or a search path with no US advertising or result partners. Consider Qwant or Startpage instead.

Key capabilities

Company materials describe Swisscows Search, Semantics, visualization, and a crawler that indexes web pages and documents. Homepage copy also cites an index-based country search. Coverage and freshness of that own index are not independently measured.

The official FAQ says result quality comes from cooperation with Brave plus Swisscows semantics. It does not publish what share of queries is forwarded, what Brave receives, or whether Bing is still used. Confirm the current mix before treating this as an independent European index.

Swisscows states that pornographic and violent content is neither indexed nor shown. It partners with the KeyShift Association on media-education material for parents and schools. This is a product limit, not a toggle: adult or investigative queries are the wrong use case.

Pro is a paid subscription that the site says removes ads and lets users include, demote, or hide result sources (for example social platforms versus scientific or news sites). The same page invites companies, schools, and institutions to request an organisation-specific ad-free setup.

A result preview window can show a page before you leave Swisscows and, according to the company blog, surface tracker counts. Official install guides cover Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, and Tor, with iOS and Android apps for the same search product.

Auf einen Blick

HQ
Egnach, Switzerland
Legal entity
Swisscows AG (subsidiary of Hulbee AG)
Commercial register
CHE-220.068.700 (Canton of Thurgau)
Launch
2014 (consumer search)
Commercial model
Free ad-supported search plus optional Pro subscription
Self-host / open source
No public self-host package; not open source

Best fit when

  • Schools and families that want pornographic and violent results filtered by default
  • Teams that need a Swiss legal entity rather than a US search parent
  • Users willing to use Swisscows Pro so Bing and Google ad iFrames are not part of the page
  • Organisations already evaluating Swisscows email, VPN, or TeleGuard as a suite

Poor fit when

  • Buyers who require a published independent no-logs or security audit
  • Teams that need a documented B2B DPA and named subprocessor list before rollout
  • Users who need unfiltered adult or investigative search results
  • Procurement that forbids any US ad or index partner on the data path

Consider instead when

  • When: You need a large US web index behind a privacy proxy and can accept Google as the result source

    Consider: Startpage (Netherlands)

    Different legal entity and a clearer Google-backend model than Swisscows current Brave-plus-own-index wording.

  • When: You want a French-operated public search brand rather than a Swiss family-safe filter

    Consider: Qwant

    Still diligence Qwant index partners separately. Neither product is in the catalog as a peer page yet.

  • When: You need an operator that publicly insists on a fully independent web index

    Consider: Mojeek (United Kingdom)

    Swisscows claims an own crawler but also documents Brave cooperation and, in 2020, a Bing-majority hybrid.

Gerichtsbarkeit & Eigentum

Rechtsträger
Swisscows AG (subsidiary of Hulbee AG), Bucherstrasse 2, 9322 Egnach, CHE-220.068.700
US-Mutter / Kontrolle
Keine bekannte US-Mutter
CLOUD-Act-Exposition (indikativ)
Medium
Hosting / Residenz
Vendor claims own servers in Switzerland, including Swiss Fort Knox I+II operated by SIAG Secure Infostore AG. Privacy policy says stored data is not shared with external technical subcontractors. Free-tier ads load Microsoft Bing and Google iFrames (homepage also names System1). Video results can load from YouTube. Result sourcing currently cites Brave plus an own index; 2020 CEO comments described a Bing-majority hybrid.

No known US parent. Indicative CLOUD Act exposure is medium because of named US advertising partners, YouTube API playback, and unpublished mechanics of the Brave (and historically Bing) result path. Not legal advice.

  • Independent security / no-logs auditNot found
  • ISO 27001Not found
  • SOC 2 / SOC 3Not found
  • GDPR / EU data protectionVendor claimed
  • +3

Considerations & known limitations

  • HighFree-tier ads send data to US platforms

    Privacy policy: Bing and Google ad iFrames transmit personal data when they load. Homepage names System1 and says ads are not data-secure. Pro is the documented mitigation.

  • MediumCurrent result-source mix is unpublished

    Official site now cites Brave plus an own index. A 2020 CEO interview described a Bing-majority hybrid. Query-forwarding mechanics are not documented.

  • MediumNo public independent audit or DPA

    No-logs and no-profiling claims are first-party only. No public SOC 2, no-logs audit, or B2B DPA was found.

  • MediumMarketing no-data slogans versus the privacy policy

    Some pages say Swisscows stores no data. The privacy policy describes spam filtering, self-hosted analytics, account data, and ad-partner transfers. Prefer the policy.

  • LowAdult and violent results are excluded

    Default family filter is a capability for schools and a hard limit for unfiltered research.

Open questions for due diligence

  • Will Swisscows sign a B2B DPA and publish a current subprocessor list covering ads, payments, and any Brave or Bing query forwarding?
  • What share of web results now comes from Brave versus the in-house index, and is Bing still used?
  • Is there an independent no-logs or security audit Swisscows can share under NDA?
  • Which payment processors handle Swisscows Pro and account billing?
  • Which advertising stack is current: System1 (homepage) or Bing and Google iFrames (privacy policy)?
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Häufig gestellte Fragen

Current official FAQ copy names a cooperation with Brave plus Swisscows own index and semantics. It does not publish a split. In August 2020, Deutsche Welle quoted CEO Andreas Wiebe saying about 20 to 25 percent of results then came from the own index and the rest from Bing. Do not assume Bing is still the majority backend, and do not assume the own index is complete. Ask Swisscows for a current architecture note if index independence is a purchase gate.

The privacy policy says Swisscows anonymizes queries, does not create personal profiles, and stores limited anonymous data in a self-hosted analytics system in Switzerland. It also says spam filtering uses incoming query data. On the free tier, Bing and Google ad iFrames load in the page and (per the policy) transmit personal data to those providers automatically. The homepage names System1 instead and says advertising is not data-secure. Video playback can hit YouTube. Swisscows Pro is the documented way to drop advertising.

No public B2B data processing agreement or subprocessor list was found on swisscows.com. The Pro page does invite companies, schools, and institutions to contact Swisscows for an ad-free organisation option. Treat DPA language, subprocessors (ads, payments, any result partner), and retention as open diligence items.

No. Consumer search is a hosted service. Related Hulbee Enterprise Search is a separate business-search product from a sister company, not a public self-host package for swisscows.com. There is no public open-source license for the Swisscows web index.

Not in any public report found during this draft. The privacy policy is first-party. Marketing pages sometimes say Swisscows stores no data, while the policy describes spam filtering, self-hosted analytics, account data, and ad-partner transfers. Prefer the policy over slogans, and request an audit or attestation if this is a control requirement.