By expanding its AI subscription, DuckDuckGo positions itself against rivals like Quora’s Poe while signalling plans for higher-priced tiers offering more advanced models, though it has yet to specify usage limits for its current $9.99 plan
Privacy-focused technology company DuckDuckGo has expanded its paid subscription plan to include access to the newest artificial intelligence models, offering users a more private way to engage with leading AI tools.
DuckDuckGo introduced its $9.99 per month subscription last year, initially bundling services such as a VPN, personal data removal, and identity theft protection. The company announced on Thursday (September 4) that the same plan now includes premium access to advanced AI models via its chatbot platform, Duck.ai.
Wider model access for subscribers
The free tier of Duck.ai already provides access to popular AI systems, including Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Haiku, Meta’s Llama 4 Scout, Mistral AI’s Small 3 24B, and OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini. With the subscription, however, users can explore more powerful options such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o and GPT-5, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4, and Meta’s Llama Maverick.
According to the company, these larger models excel at handling detailed instructions, maintaining context across longer conversations, and delivering richer, more nuanced answers. “The DuckDuckGo subscription offers a way to use some of these models, but with more privacy,” the company said in its update.
The move positions DuckDuckGo as a competitor to other multi-model platforms such as Quora’s Poe, which offers subscriptions starting at $5 per month. The company also indicated plans to roll out additional, higher-priced tiers that will unlock access to even more advanced AI models, though it did not clarify if the current subscription carries any usage limits.
