Is startpage.com legit?
Startpage.com appears to be a mostly safe and established privacy-focused search engine. While its long history and strong technical security are reassuring, the presence of hidden content and lack of easy contact information warrant a closer look.
Software & Downloads average: 78/100 · based on 75 sites
Checked: April 18, 2026 at 8:25 AM UTC · Refresh
Is startpage.com a scam? Here's what we found.
While the site boasts modern TLS 1.3 encryption, robust content security, and a clean Google Web Risk report, the unexplained presence of excessive hidden elements is a significant concern that detracts from an otherwise strong security posture.
With nearly 29 years of age, Startpage.com has a remarkably strong and transparent identity, indicating a long-standing and established presence online. The public WHOIS information further solidifies its legitimate foundation.
The site holds a respectable Tranco rank and is clean on DNS blacklists, suggesting a generally good reputation. The absence of a Trustpilot profile is not a red flag for a service of this type, which often prioritizes privacy over public review platforms.
Startpage.com clearly provides essential legal pages and maintains a social media presence. However, the lack of readily available contact information on the homepage is a notable drawback for user trust and accessibility.
The presence of both a privacy policy and terms of service pages demonstrates a commitment to legal and user obligations, which is crucial for a privacy-focused service. This indicates a good level of compliance with expected standards.
The technical setup is solid, with strong DNSSEC and comprehensive email authentication (SPF, DMARC), ensuring secure communication. The only minor flaw is a misconfigured sitemap, which doesn't impact core functionality but hints at a small oversight.
Signals Detected
This is a well-known, high-traffic website
No structured data markup found
This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies
Excessive hidden content found — may indicate cloaking or deceptive content
Domain created 1997-10-11T04:00:00Z (28 years, 11 months ago)
Registered through eNom, LLC
Expires in 905 days
DNSSEC status from WHOIS
crt.sh returned status 429
robots.txt has 11 directives
Site has custom branding and social media metadata
Resolves to: 67.63.59.233
Mail servers: aspmx.l.google.com., alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., alt4.aspmx.l.google.com., alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
Domain has SPF email authentication configured
Domain has DMARC email authentication configured
DNS providers: dns3.p01.nsone.net., dns4.p01.nsone.net., dns1.p01.nsone.net., dns2.p01.nsone.net.
Valid certificate, expires in 206 days
Certificate issued by GoGetSSL
Connection uses TLS 1.3
Not found on any DNS blacklists
Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS
Site has Content Security Policy configured
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
Web server: nginx
No threats detected by Google Web Risk
Sitemap URL returns non-XML content
Website is live and responding
No obvious contact information found on homepage
Website has both privacy policy and terms of service pages
Website links to multiple social media platforms
Could not query Wayback Machine
Fast page load
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