SecureDrop is a dark web link that allows whistleblowers on the dark web to communicate and share information with journalists safely and without being tracked. This article lists some of the best dark web websites you can visit securely. Some of these sites are very helpful (but unseen as Google doesn’t show them), while others are just for fun. Using Forest VPN is essential for protecting your privacy while browsing these sites. It encrypts your connection, ensuring anonymity as you explore the dark web. The Russian Market has been around since 2019 and is one of the more prominent dark web marketplaces.

The New York Times
Without these tools, neither Google nor any surface web browser can reach these secure, hidden parts of the internet. Ahmia’s .onion link is a search engine that indexes hidden services on the Tor network, allowing users to find .onion sites safely and efficiently. It filters out harmful and illegal content, focusing on legitimate resources and services. Ahmia has become a trusted tool for navigating the Dark Web, with thousands of users relying on it for its transparency and user-reporting features. Ahmia is one of the most respected dark web search engines available today. It filters out illegal and scammy content while indexing only verified .onion links.
- It encrypts your connection, ensuring anonymity as you explore the dark web.
- This is largely due to harmful elements in the dark web, and Ahmia contains certain questionable and largely illicit links.
- Impreza Hosting also includes features like DDoS protection and cryptocurrency payment support.
- Not Evil is a reflection of what the community is looking for and what the community reports as abusive or inappropriate content.
- When it comes to the best dark web search engines, there are a few things to keep in mind.
News, Media, And Other Information Organizations

As you can imagine, the dark web has some forums filled with the types of characters who are best avoided. However, one of the less obscene discussion sites is Raddle, named and styled somewhat in the style of Reddit. The keyword in that example is “onioname,” which is right at the start of the .onion link. With a readable site name like that, people will know what to expect when they click on the link. SecureDrop protects your privacy by encrypting your data, which makes it unreadable. Also, it doesn’t log your IP address or any information about your browser or device.
In addition, mainstream search engines also track your searches and collect personal information. To search for the onion URLs, you need access to a deep web search engine. If you’re new to the deep/dark web, DuckDuckGo’s onion link should be your first port of call.
Stay Anonymous While You Browse
If you stumble upon any websites that seem illegal, just close the window. OnionShare is one of the best tools for that purpose, whether on the surface or deep web. The service remains free to use, and the secure design prevents access to third parties, eavesdroppers, and other malicious agents. OnionShare is a powerful open-source platform that lets you share and receive files anonymously, host websites, run an online service, or chat anonymously.
BBC News /afrique Afrique
Unlike many onion search engines and other listings, Real World Onion Sites doesn’t include links to the darker side of the dark web. Instead, it focuses on directing folks to useful services like the BBC News onion addresses, privacy-focused sites like Privacy International, and other tech and news outlets. As when visiting ordinary websites, stay alert to security risks on onion sites. Don’t click on suspicious links, be skeptical of what you read, and avoid dark web marketplaces if you don’t want to stumble on illegal activity or content.
Riseup Onion Index
It’s a cornerstone of transparency and investigative reporting on the dark web. ProPublica made history by becoming one of the first major investigative journalism outlets to launch a .onion mirror. This version of their site allows readers in restrictive countries to access groundbreaking journalism without censorship or surveillance. It is identical to the surface web version in content but built with privacy in mind. The organization regularly maintains this onion version and lists the official address on its clearnet site for verification.
However, the platform lacks an advanced search option and a wallet-free payment option. World Market is another largest dark web shops that deals with various goods and services. Its impressive anti-DDoS protection feature and easy-to-use interface make this marketplace stand out among the others.

The Tor browser is a modified Mozilla Firefox browser with numerous integrated scripts and add-ons to protect your privacy while browsing onion sites. AVG Secure VPN encrypts your internet traffic and obscures your IP address every time you use it to go online — dark web or not. With a variety of server locations around the world to choose from, you’ll be able to navigate the web more privately and access the content you want.

Regularly Verify And Bookmark Reliable Links
You can’t access these .onion sites from your normal web browser like the one you’re probably viewing this page on. Founded by security researcher Juha Nurmi, Ahmia is essentially a list of “hidden” sites that do want to be found. Onion sites are “crawled” and added to the list provided their “robots.txt” file permits it, and if it is not on their blacklist of sites with abuse material. Onion sites are considered part of the deep web because search engines like Google and Bing can’t index them. George is a seasoned Cybersecurity writer who has been writing guides and news about digital security for over five years.
These platforms are critical in supporting investigative journalism and human rights advocacy, especially in oppressive regimes. Forums play a crucial role in shaping the dark web’s social landscape, enabling users to exchange knowledge, share security advice, and discuss market reputations. Dread is arguably the most prominent forum, likened to Reddit but within the dark web.
Sci-Hub gives access to millions of scientific papers, mostly ones from behind paywalls. However, due to copyright infringement, Sci-Hub is considered illegal and banned in many countries. Impreza Hosting is a service that helps you host a site on the Tor network. It provides an .onion URL and an interface for you to manage your Tor site easily.
This virtual bookstore is one of the oldest search engines on the internet. It was created by “Tim Berners-Lee”, who was also the creator of HTML and the Web itself. However, unlike commercial search engines, This is run by a confederation of volunteers. The site started as a fork of the ahmia search engine, this will remain a central part of the site. mark it means it has been verified as a scam service and it should be avoided.|It serves as an open-access digital archive with a focus on banned, historical, and suppressed works. Unlike typical libraries, it doesn’t track user behavior and offers .onion access to preserve reader privacy. To boost anonymity, many users connect to Tor through a VPN, which hides Tor usage from their internet provider. For stronger protection, consider using Tails OS, a privacy-focused operating system that runs from a USB and leaves no trace behind. Many dark web search engines are available, and no single option is objectively the best. The dark web is just a part of the internet where users can communicate and browse privately, often beyond the reach of standard government monitoring.|Just remember that this is a Dark Web resource, which means that much of the content is likely in breach of copyright. That said, it is one of the most famous and popular Dark Web sites, and it does have legitimate uses. For instance, in the UK, any book older than 70 years old (past the date of the author’s death) is no longer subject to copyright restrictions.|The surface web consists of all websites indexed by traditional search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. This includes sites with publicly accessible content, such as news portals, blogs, and social media platforms. In contrast, the deep web encompasses parts of the internet not indexed by standard search engines. To find .onion links for dark web sites, you’ll need to use a dark web search engine. Many of them are safe for beginners to use since they filter out dangerous/illegal content to only provide safe .onion links. My favorites are DuckDuckGo (usually the Tor browser’s default search engine), The Hidden Wiki, and Ahmia.|It’s particularly useful for sensitive communications that need to remain private. TorLinks maintains one of the most reliable directories of verified .onion sites. Its strength lies in regular updates and community-driven verification of links. I especially like how TorLinks categorizes links based on their type, letting you easily find what you need.}