Want to venture onto the dark web? The hidden side of the internet can feel like a scary and mysterious place to be. And it is – if you don’t know how to navigate it correctly.
Fear not – we’ve done the digging for you! Find our round-up of the 20 best dark web websites, alongside the specific .onion links you need to start browsing on Tor. We’ll also look more closely at the dark web, what it is, and how it works so you can stay safe when exploring the unknown.
Dark web’s Best Marketplace
Courier Market
ztctvx4p3wmye6r3w2tduw4cozbnkrqw7kebnpya5vl7fvoshfemgjid.onion
Another dark net marketplace that you need to explore is the Courier Market. The entire website is in Germany, but the vendors are present worldwide. It accepts payments through bitcoins and the Escrow system and ensures that your identity remains anonymous during your purchases. It was one of the longest-running dark web business shops.
Dark web search engines
Ahmia
http://juhanurmihxlp77nkq76byazcldy2hlmovfu2epvl5ankdibsot4csyd.onion/
Search engines on the dark web are a bit of a contradiction because dark web sites by definition are not indexed by traditional search engines.
Ahmia, however, is not a traditional search engine. Founded by security researcher Juha Nurmi, Ahmia is essentially a list of “hidden” sites that do want to be found. Onion sites are “crawled” and added to the list provided their “robots.txt” file permits it, and if it is not on their blacklist of sites with abuse material. Site operators can also submit their own .onion sites for indexing.
Haystak
http://haystak5njsmn2hqkewecpaxetahtwhsbsa64jom2k22z5afxhnpxfid.onion/
Similar to Ahmia, Haystak is also an onion search engine that uses a custom dark web crawler and filters out dangerous content.
Haystak also offers a premium version that allows advanced search, access to historical content, and email alerts.
DuckDuckGo
https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion
The internet’s favorite alternative to Google made a name for itself by not logging your search activity yet still providing decent results. This focus on privacy makes it the Tor Browser’s default search engine and one of the best onion search engines.
Unlike Ahmia and Haystak, however, DuckDuckGo doesn’t search onion sites. Use it to search the normal internet from the privacy of your Tor Browser.
News, media, and other information organizations
ProPublica
http://p53lf57qovyuvwsc6xnrppyply3vtqm7l6pcobkmyqsiofyeznfu5uqd.onion/
The first online publication that won a Pulitzer became the first major publication with a .onion address.
ProPublica does a lot of things differently. Its source of funding is the deep wallet of the Sandler Foundation and various other similar organizations.
Browsing ProPublica’s work through its .onion site works well, and the site’s very existence is a big win for privacy and free speech.
Archive Today
http://archiveiya74codqgiixo33q62qlrqtkgmcitqx5u2oeqnmn5bpcbiyd.onion/
Archive.today (formerly known as Archive.is) is a platform that aims to preserve the web’s cultural and scientific heritage.
Founded in 2012, it stores snapshots of websites, making it possible to “go back in time” and see what websites used to look like and what information they contained.
Archive.today is considered an important tool to track changes across government and corporate websites, preserve cultural heritage, and keep knowledge outside of autocrats’ reach. You can archive any site you want, or retrieve historical records wherever available.
The New York Times
https://www.nytimesn7cgmftshazwhfgzm37qxb44r64ytbb2dj3x62d2lljsciiyd.onion
To make its journalism more accessible to readers around the world, the New York Times launched its onion service in 2017. You won’t find any “hidden” stories here—it’s the same content as the normal web edition—but users in countries with government censorship will appreciate having a secure way to access it.
BBC
https://www.bbcnewsd73hkzno2ini43t4gblxvycyac5aw4gnv7t2rccijh7745uqd.onion
Following the NYT, the BBC launched a dark web “mirror” of their international edition in 2019. Note that some features of the normal website are not available on the .onion version, including BBC iPlayer.
https://www.facebookwkhpilnemxj7asaniu7vnjjbiltxjqhye3mhbshg7kx5tfyd.onion
Why would one of the largest organizations known for its invasiveness and controversial clear-name policy have a .onion address?
Facebook is aware of attempts by many governments to restrict access to a tool that allows strangers across the web to talk and collaborate freely. While its .onion address doesn’t make it much easier to maintain an anonymous account, it does make Facebook more accessible in places where it’s censored.
CIA
http://ciadotgov4sjwlzihbbgxnqg3xiyrg7so2r2o3lt5wz5ypk4sxyjstad.onion
The CIA might seem an odd inclusion in a list for privacy enthusiasts, but Tor actually has an unlikely history with the U.S. government: it was first developed by the U.S. Navy to help informants posted in foreign countries to relay information back safely. In that spirit, the CIA launched an onion site to help people around the world access its resources securely.
Email services
ProtonMail
https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion
Based in Switzerland, ProtonMail is an encrypted email service that is very popular with cryptocurrency enthusiasts. It’s not free, but it’s extremely secure.
Riseup
http://vww6ybal4bd7szmgncyruucpgfkqahzddi37ktceo3ah7ngmcopnpyyd.onion
Riseup is a volunteer-run email provider for activists around the world.
Founded around 1999 by activists in Seattle, it has since grown to over six million users worldwide. It publishes a newsletter in multiple languages and not only runs onion services for its website but all its email and chat services.
Other privacy tools and services
Keybase
http://keybase5wmilwokqirssclfnsqrjdsi7jdir5wy7y7iu3tanwmtp6oid.onion/
Keybase is an exciting identity service that aims to make it easy for you to link the presence of your online identities together in a cryptographic way. You can upload your PGP key or have the site create one for you, and use it to cryptographically link your Twitter profile, Github account, or Bitcoin address together.
Keybase also offers extremely user-friendly secure chat and file-sharing services through its app.
ZeroBin
http://zerobinftagjpeeebbvyzjcqyjpmjvynj5qlexwyxe7l3vqejxnqv5qd.onion/
Pastebins are text sharing services, useful for sending and sharing large snippets of code or text. ZeroBin offers an extra secure version of this service by only encrypting and decrypting text in the browser, meaning their servers have no knowledge of what is passing through it.
SecureDrop
http://sdolvtfhatvsysc6l34d65ymdwxcujausv7k5jk4cy5ttzhjoi6fzvyd.onion/
A favorite of journalists and their anonymous sources, SecureDrop makes it easy to share confidential information without revealing your identity. Many news publications, like the ones listed above, have a SecureDrop on their .onion sites.
Impreza Hosting
https://imprezareshna326gqgmbdzwmnad2wnjmeowh45bs2buxarh5qummjad.onion
Impreza Hosting is a service that helps you host a site on the Tor network. It provides an .onion URL and an interface for you to manage your Tor site easily. It also boasts that no personal information is required to use the service, and payment can be made with cryptocurrency.
Libraries
Just Another Library
http://libraryfyuybp7oyidyya3ah5xvwgyx6weauoini7zyz555litmmumad.onion/
Offering books for free, shadow libraries face the morality question of copyright vs. access to information and knowledge. Just Another Library is one such service, with a wealth of books covering computer programming, science, and niche hobbies (sailors’ knots, anyone?). It also offers works of art, course material, and audiobooks for download.
But, as is the case with visiting any free book site, you’ll have to decide how OK you are with reading a book without paying for it.
Comic Book Library
http://nv3x2jozywh63fkohn5mwp2d73vasusjixn3im3ueof52fmbjsigw6ad.onion/
Comic Book Library is not just about evading copyright and offering books for free. Because so many of the comic books are vintage and not easily available, it’s more about letting you explore the cultural artifact that is the comic book, going back to the 1930s—the Golden Age of comic books.
Bonus: Sci-Hub
While technically not an onion site, we’re including Sci-Hub (sci-hub.se) as an interesting example of a site you can access via Tor. Sci-Hub gives access to millions of scientific papers, mostly ones from behind paywalls. However, due to copyright infringement, Sci-Hub is considered illegal and banned in many countries. Just like any other site.
