DuckDuckGo Enhances Subscription with Advanced AI Models, Challenging Competitors

DuckDuckGo adds access to advanced models to it subscription plan | TechCrunch

Privacy-focused consumer tech company DuckDuckGo launched a subscription plan last year that bundled a VPN service, personal information removal, and identity theft restoration. The company said Thursday that the subscription now gives users access to the latest AI models through Duck.ai without paying extra. "These bigger models are better at following detailed instructions, maintaining context through extended chats, and delivering deeper, more nuanced responses. The DuckDuckGo subscription offers a way to use some of these models, but with more privacy," the company said in a post. This is a good opportunity for who want to access the latest models without sticking to a single provider. Alternatively, Quora's Poe also offers access to a bouquet of models. You can buy Poe's subscription starting at $5 per month. DuckDuckGo says that it will continue to add costlier plans to its paid product that offer "larger and more highly advanced models." It didn't specify whether the current plan has any usage limits.

DuckDuckGo's subscription now offers some of the latest chatbots from OpenAI and Anthropic

Since the start of last summer, DuckDuckGo has offered a handful of AI chatbots from OpenAI, Anthropic and others directly through its browser. And while it's mostly low-cost models like GPT-4o mini and Claude 3.5 Haiku on offer, the feature, Duck.ai, allows you to use those tools without sacrificing your privacy. As a service, that appears to have resonated with DuckDuckGo users, and now the company is reorienting its Privacy Pro subscription around access to more advanced models from those providers. The good news? The price of the service -- either $10 per month or $100 billed annually -- remains unchanged, and you still get all the previous perks included in the package. What is changing is the name. It's now simply known as the DuckDuckGo subscription, and, in addition to offering access to the company's own VPN, as well as its personal information removal and identity protection services, it allows you to use some of the latest models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta. The full list features GPT-4o, GPT-5, Sonnet 4.0 and Llama 4 Maverick. As before, any conversations you have with those chatbots through DuckDuckGo are anonymized and your data won't be used for training future systems. "Today, we're expanding Duck.ai by giving DuckDuckGo subscribers access to more advanced AI models, covered by the same strong protections," said DuckDuckGo. "The base version of Duck.ai is not changing; it's still free to use, with no account necessary. We're just adding more models for subscribers." If you don't want to use the new AI perks, you don't have to; DuckDuckGo allows users to hide all the AI buttons found in its browser's search, desktop and mobile settings. That said, the company notes it's exploring the option of offering higher subscription tiers with access to even more advanced AI models in the future.

DuckDuckGo's paid plan now includes advanced AI models like GPT-5

With Duck.ai, paid subscribers to DuckDuckGo have access to advanced AI chatbots while maintaining privacy. DuckDuckGo is now expanding its paid subscription with access to several of the most advanced AI models on the market. Subscribers can now access OpenAI's GPT-4o and GPT-5, Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4, and Meta's Llama Maverick via the Duck.ai service. To protect privacy, Duck.ai hides the user's IP address from the AI model providers, and chat logs are saved locally and aren't used to train the AI models. In addition, there's a special "Fire Button" that lets users instantly delete previous conversations and chat histories. The price of the subscription remains unchanged at $9.99/month or $99/year. In addition to the new AI features, the subscription also includes a VPN service, tools to remove personal information from the web, and identity theft assistance. The free (basic) version of Duck.ai remains unaffected and can still be used without logging in or paying.

DuckDuckGo Takes Aim at Google and Perplexity with New AI Subscription - Phandroid

DuckDuckGo just dropped some serious competition into the AI search game. The privacy-focused search engine announced that its $9.99 monthly subscription now includes access to premium AI models like GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4, and Meta's Llama Maverick. This feels like a direct shot at Google's AI Overviews and Perplexity's pricey Comet browser, positioning DuckDuckGo as the privacy-first alternative for users who want advanced AI without the tracking baggage. The DuckDuckGo AI subscription builds on the company's existing Duck.ai service, which already offers free access to basic models like GPT-4o mini and Claude 3.5 Haiku. What's different now is that subscribers get the heavy-hitting models that actually compete with what Google and Perplexity are pushing. Google's been rolling out AI Overviews to over a billion users, with their AI Mode expanding to 180+ countries. Meanwhile, Perplexity launched Comet, an AI-powered browser that costs $200 per month for premium access because at the moment, it is only available to Perplexity Max subscribers. DuckDuckGo's $9.99 price point sits right in the sweet spot between Google's "free but tracked" model and Perplexity's premium pricing. The timing isn't coincidental. Google's AI features now appear in over 13% of searches and are growing fast. Perplexity's CEO has been making bold claims about replacing human workers with AI agents. DuckDuckGo seems to be betting that there's a significant chunk of users who want advanced AI capabilities without sacrificing their privacy or paying through the nose. What makes the DuckDuckGo AI subscription interesting is the privacy angle. Your conversations stay anonymous, data isn't used for training, and you don't need to sign up for accounts with AI giants to get access. For users already frustrated with how to remain anonymous on the internet, this could be exactly what they're looking for. The subscription also bundles in DuckDuckGo's VPN, Personal Information Removal, and Identity Theft Restoration services. It's basically DuckDuckGo's play to become your one-stop privacy shop, now with AI thrown into the mix. The company hints that even more advanced models and higher-tier subscriptions are coming, suggesting they're serious about competing long-term.