Overview of Search, AI/LLM and Maps Providers

Which ones are "original", which ones just front-ends?

Almost everything we use to access knowledge and information - such as web search, AI chats, and maps - is dominated by a few giant companies and a large number of smaller competitors. But not every service uses their own data and technology, many are a front-end for other providers.

The below tables are a quick overview which technologies and data source are used, for example which search index powers the search results of a search engine, which Large Language Model (LLM) family powers the various AI chatbots that have recently popped up, and which map providers are there. For example, Google, Bing, and Brave Search use their own search index, while DuckDuckGo, Startpage, and Yahoo are just regurgitating other providers' search results. Likewise, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, xAI's Grok, Google's Gemini, Meta AI's Llama, and Mistral's Le Chat run their own LLM families, while others, including big names like Microsoft Copilot or Perplexity, rely on these models rather than creating their own.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all providers and I also don't intend to make this into a larger, more complicated comparison table like some of the others on this website.

Last updated: 3 July 2026

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Selected AI Providers

Logo	Name	Developer	Country	Flagship model intelligence Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 2026.06.26	LLM family	Access via	Open weights models	Web search used for responses	Image/video generation	Can be used without account?	Zero-knowledge encryption using TEETrusted Execution Environment
Own LLMs - Western providers
	ChatGPT	OpenAI	USA 🇺🇸	GPT-5.5 Intelligence: 55	GPT	Web, apps, API	Partial (gpt-oss)but no top LLMs	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Claude	Anthropic	USA 🇺🇸	Claude Fable 5 Intelligence: 60	Claude	Web, apps, API	No	Yes	No	No	No
	Gemini	Google	USA 🇺🇸	Gemini 3.5 Flash Intelligence: 50	Gemini	Web, apps, API	Partial (Gemma)but no top LLMs	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Grok	xAI	USA 🇺🇸	Grok Build 0.1 Intelligence: 40	Grok	Web, apps, API	Mostly noonly Grok-1	Yesand real-time data from X	Yes	Yes	No
	Meta AI	Meta	USA 🇺🇸	Muse Spark Intelligence: 43	Llama, Muse	Web, apps, APILlama family only, not Muse	Mostly yesLlama family, but not the newer and more powerful Muse LLM	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Mistral Vibe (formerly Le Chat)	Mistral	France 🇫🇷	Mistral Medium 3.5 Intelligence: 30	Mistral	Web, apps, API	Mostly yesThe majority of Mistral models are open weight	Yes	Images only	Yes	No
Own LLMs - Chinese providers
	DeepSeek	DeepSeek	China 🇨🇳	DeepSeek V4 Pro Intelligence: 44	DeepSeek	Web, apps, API	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
	Kimi Chat	Moonshot AI	China 🇨🇳	Kimi 2.6 Thinking Intelligence: 43	Kimi	Web, apps, API	Yes	Yes	Yes	NoAccount creation requires phone number or login via Google account	No
	MiMo Chat	Xiaomi	China 🇨🇳	MiMo-V2.5-Pro Intelligence: 42	MiMo	Web, API	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	MiniMax Agent	MiniMax	China 🇨🇳	MiniMax-M3 Intelligence: 44	MiniMax	Web, apps, API	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Qwen	Alibaba	China 🇨🇳	Qwen3.7 Max Intelligence: 46	Qwen	Web, apps, API	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Z.ai Chat	Z.ai	China 🇨🇳	GLM 5.2 Intelligence: 51	GLM	Web, API	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Uses third-party LLMs
	Copilot	Microsoft	USA 🇺🇸		GPT, Claude	Web, API	No	Yes	Images only	Yes	No
	Perplexity	Perplexity	USA 🇺🇸		user choice Perplexity also has its own model called Sonar, which is based on Meta's Llama model↫	Web, apps, API	Partialchoice of various LLMs including open weight ones; Perplexity's Sonar model is proprietary	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Uses third-party LLMs & advertises privacy
	Ask Brave	Brave	USA 🇺🇸		Qwen+ Brave's LLM context API ↫	Web	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Confer	Confer	USA 🇺🇸		undisclosed	Web, apps	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
	Duck AI	DuckDuckGo	USA 🇺🇸		user choice ↫	Web, apps	Partialchoice of various LLMs including open weight ones	Yes	Images only	Yes	gpt-oss only
	Euria	Infomaniak	Switzerland 🇨🇭		multiple LLMs used ↫	Web, app	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Kagi Assistant	Kagi	USA 🇺🇸		user choice ↫	Web	Partialchoice of various LLMs including open weight ones	Yes	No	No	No
	Lumo	Proton	Switzerland 🇨🇭		multiple LLMs used ↫	Web, app	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Tinfoil Chat	Tinfoil Inc.	USA 🇺🇸		user choice ↫	Web, apps, API	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Selected Search Engines

Logo	Name	Developer	Country	Search index	Open source	Image search	Image reverse search	Instant answers calculations, weather, stock/crypto prices, FX rates, unit conversions	Can set region? useful for VPN users	Filter search results by time	Can be used without account?
(Mostly) uses own search index
	Bing	Microsoft	USA 🇺🇸	Bing	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Brave Search	Brave	USA 🇺🇸	Brave	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Google	Google	USA 🇺🇸	Google	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Marginalia	Marginalia	Sweden 🇸🇪	Marginalia	YesCrawler software and web interface are free and open source. Marginalia can be self-hosted. The search index data is not downloadable but can be retrieved through an API and is provided under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license (not truly "free" because of the non-commercial restriction).	No	No	Limited	No	via settingssearch results can be filtered by dates by applying a custom setting, but date filters can't be applied individually for each search	Yes
	Mojeek	Mojeek	UK 🇬🇧	Mojeek	No	Yes	No	Limited	Yes	No	Yes
	Qwant	Qwant	France 🇫🇷	StaanA new European search index created by a joint venture of Qwant and Ecosia. As of August 2025, Qwant already sourced 50% of its search results from Staan. & Bing	No	Yes	No	Limited	Yes	"Freshness" filtersCan select options like "last week" or "last month", but no custom date range possible	Yes
	Yandex	Yandex	Russia 🇷🇺	Yandex	No	Yes	Yes	Limited	Yes	"Freshness" filtersCan select options like "last week" or "last month", but no custom date range possible	Yes
(Mostly) uses third-party search index
	DuckDuckGo	DuckDuckGo	USA 🇺🇸	mostly Bing ↫	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Ecosia	Ecosia	Germany 🇩🇪	StaanA new European search index created by a joint venture of Qwant and Ecosia. As of August 2025, Ecosia sourced 33% of its search results from Staan., Google, Bing ↫	No	Yes	No	Partially	Yes	"Freshness" filtersCan select options like "last week" or "last month", but no custom date range possible	Yes
	Kagi	Kagi	USA 🇺🇸	various, incl. its own (Teclis) ↫	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
	Startpage	Startpage	Netherlands 🇳🇱	Google & Bing	No	Yes	No	Partially	Yes	"Freshness" filtersCan select options like "last week" or "last month", but no custom date range possible	Yes
	Yahoo Search	Yahoo	USA 🇺🇸	Bing	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	"Freshness" filtersCan select options like "last week" or "last month", but no custom date range possible	Yes

Selected Map Providers

Logo	Name	Developer	Country	Map data	Data license	Satellite images	3D aerial view	Streetview	Live traffic info	Public transport info	Shop/POI info opening times, phone #, photos, reviews etc.
	Apple Maps	Apple	USA 🇺🇸	Apple, Open­Street­Map, TomTom	Proprietary	Yes	iOS app only	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Bing Maps	Microsoft	USA 🇺🇸	Microsoft, TomTom, Open­Street­Map	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	Removed	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Google Maps	Google	USA 🇺🇸	Google	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	HERE WeGo	HERE	Netherlands 🇳🇱	HERE	Proprietary	Yes	No texturesIn the normal map view (not satellite view) it can show 3D extruded buildings as white rectangles (simple block models) in supported cities when you tilt the view, but no true 3D photorealistic buildings. The satellite layer stays flat even when tilted, without textured 3D building models like Google/Apple Maps offer.	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Open­Street­Map	Open­Street­Map	UK 🇬🇧	Open­Street­Map	Free (ODbL)	No	No	No	No	Static / 3rd-partyThe OSM website can show public transport as a map layer, showing static data such as the location of bus stops and train stations, but there is no routing in the web app. Mobile apps based on OSM, like CoMaps, Organic Maps, or OsmAnd, support public transport routing but the data is coming directly from the public transport agencies' API rather than from OSM.	PartiallyOpening times, phone number, website URL are often contributed by users but no photos or reviews.
	Yandex Maps	Yandex	Russia 🇷🇺	Yandex	Proprietary	Yes	No texturesIn the normal map view (not satellite view) it can show 3D extruded buildings as white rectangles (simple block models) in supported cities when you tilt the view, but no true 3D photorealistic buildings. The satellite layer stays flat even when tilted, without textured 3D building models like Google/Apple Maps offer.	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes