Yandex
Russian web search engine and internet services company.
HN commenters use Yandex for less-filtered results, including pirated and controversial content,12345 and for strong results on tech and niche queries.678 The most common caveat is its ties to the Russian state,910 and several keep it as a fallback for specific searches rather than a daily driver.11121314
Why people recommend it
Less censorship · 3
Seen as filtering results less than Google and other engines.
“providers like Yandex are required to access an uncensored internet”
“for things even they don't want to show you, there's https://yandex.com”
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“my now go to for anything related to hacking, pirated anything, topics of censorship or controversial discussion”
Pirated content · 3
Surfaces piracy and copyright-infringing sites that other engines hide.
“I love Yandex. It's like the only "open" search engine that actively lets you search for pirate content”
“my now go to for anything related to hacking, pirated anything, topics of censorship or controversial discussion”
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“there are some kinds of queries where my interests and Yandex's interests happen to align”
Result quality · 3
Described as still behaving like a search engine, with on-target results.
“I use Yandex, because that one still behaves like a search engine.”
“Yandex is one of the larger search engines that's performing really well on a lot of tech and niche areas compared to google or even duckduckgo atm.”
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“Yandex. On the money. No erroneous results - operator filter working as expected”
Tech and niche · 2
Performs well on tech, hacking and niche topics compared with Google or DuckDuckGo.
“Yandex is one of the larger search engines that's performing really well on a lot of tech and niche areas compared to google or even duckduckgo atm.”
“my now go to for anything related to hacking, pirated anything, topics of censorship or controversial discussion”
Search operators · 1
One user found operator filters worked as expected where DuckDuckGo failed.
“Yandex. On the money. No erroneous results - operator filter working as expected”
Caveats and dissent
Russian state ties · 2
Some commenters object to its links to the Russian military and Kremlin influence.
“I love Yandex. It's like the only "open" search engine that actively lets you search for pirate content”
“there are some kinds of queries where my interests and Yandex's interests happen to align”
Own censorship · 2
Commenters note it still censors or shapes some results, just differently from Google.
“providers like Yandex are required to access an uncensored internet”
“there are some kinds of queries where my interests and Yandex's interests happen to align”
Fallback only · 3
Mostly used for specific queries rather than as a primary search engine.
“for things even they don't want to show you, there's https://yandex.com”
“there are some kinds of queries where my interests and Yandex's interests happen to align”
Show 1 more
“for some stuff I use Yandex (shrug)”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- When did Google get so weird? 2 mentions
- People are rejoicing about the removal of Russian bots from social media 1 mention
- google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update 1 mention
- Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker 1 mention
- Ask HN: Are there any new competitors to Google search in 2026? 1 mention
- Ask HN: Has Google Deprecated Inurl:? 1 mention
Data: yandex.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 9
“I love Yandex. It's like the only "open" search engine that actively lets you search for pirate content”
“providers like Yandex are required to access an uncensored internet”
“I use Yandex, because that one still behaves like a search engine.”
“there are some kinds of queries where my interests and Yandex's interests happen to align”
“for things even they don't want to show you, there's https://yandex.com”
“Yandex is one of the larger search engines that's performing really well on a lot of tech and niche areas compared to google or even duckduckgo atm.”
“Yandex. On the money. No erroneous results - operator filter working as expected”
“for some stuff I use Yandex (shrug)”
“my now go to for anything related to hacking, pirated anything, topics of censorship or controversial discussion”