Duck AI (duck.ai) is DuckDuckGo's private AI chat service. It lets you talk to several AI models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Mistral without creating an account with any of them. It has a free tier with daily limits and paid plans for heavier use. You may also see it written as "duckai", "duck ia" or "duck duck ai". They all mean the same product.
What is Duck AI?
Duck AI is a chatbot hub from DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search company founded in 2008. Instead of building one model, it offers a choice of third-party models in a single chat window.
The main reason to use it is privacy. You get access to major models without giving each company an account, email address and usage history. It is separate from DuckDuckGo's search engine but follows the same privacy approach.
Is Duck AI free?
Yes, you can chat for free without an account, within a daily usage limit that varies by model. Paid DuckDuckGo subscription tiers raise those limits and add more advanced models. See the pricing section on this page for current plans.
Limits are counted per model, so lighter models stretch further than advanced ones.
Which AI models can you use in Duck AI?
You can switch between models from providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Mistral, plus open-weight options like gpt-oss and Gemma.
A practical rule: use a smaller, faster model for quick questions and drafts, and an advanced model for reasoning-heavy or long tasks.
How does Duck AI protect your privacy?
DuckDuckGo removes metadata that could identify you, such as your IP address, before passing requests to the model providers. It states that providers are contractually barred from training on your chats and apply zero data retention, deleting your prompts and responses immediately after generating a reply, with limited exceptions such as short-term prompt caching (up to 1 hour) and legal or security obligations.
Privacy has limits. Anything you type is still processed by the chosen provider, so avoid entering passwords, financial details or sensitive personal data.
How do you use Duck AI?
- Go to duck.ai in your browser, or open it through the DuckDuckGo browser.
- Pick a model.
- Type your question and send it.
- Start a new chat when you change topics, so context stays clean.
Check DuckDuckGo's help pages for the current list of supported platforms and apps.
Who is Duck AI for?
Choose Duck AI when privacy and trying several models matter most, or when you want quick answers without signing up anywhere. Choose a provider's own app when you need its full feature set, file tools or the highest limits.
If you want other AI tools to try, browse the rest of the tools on this site.
